Genesis 4:3-7 – “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.  Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it…’”

This passage provides the first example of people worshiping the Lord by offering sacrifices. Right here, in the very first case of sacrifices being brought to God, God himself makes it clear that He will accept one type of sacrifice and not another. It was important for the Lord to establish immediately, at the outset, what He expects in the sacrifices mankind offers to Him.

In modern times, it is a widespread belief that God accepts any sacrifice people bring, just because He appreciates the good intentions. In the world, this is partly based on an attitude that it is so unusual for people to want to give anything to an invisible God, that He should be grateful for whatever He can get. Among religious Christians, this same position comes from a mistaken application of the biblical application that God primarily looks at the heart. (See 1 Sam. 16:70; Rom 12:1-2). Obviously God looks at the state of the heart more than the outward show. But if the Lord has expressed a preference for a certain type of sacrifice, or has requested a particular offering, a heart set on really pleasing God would not offer something contrary to his instructions. As seen above, the very first occasion when people offered sacrifices, God made explicit what He wanted.

In fact, prior to Cain & Abel, the Lord had showed their parents that an animal needed to die to cover the shame of sin. (Gen 3:21) The sons, therefore, had information about the Lord’s way of doing things.

Each brother brought a sacrifice from his own profession. (v.2) As far as human reasoning goes, Cain could easily rationalize his offering as being superior to Abel’s, just from that fact that his offering — the firstfruits of his farming efforts- represented far more human labor than sheep, who do not require a lot of physical effort in their tending (compared to farming).

A modern person might find Cain’s sacrifice superior because it didn’t violate animal rights. Abel’s offering killed a living thing, an innocent creature, that can never be recovered. Wouldn’t God prefer a vegetarian sacrifice? Isn’t that more enlightened? Yet this line of mortal reasoning misses the mark just as much as Cain’s

The problem with Cain’s sacrifice was that it did not fit within God’s unfolding Project of salvation. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Lamb that was slain “from the creation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) From the very beginning, God planned to redeem fallen humankind through the Blood of Jesus. He had already revealed this, in a limited way, to Adam and Eve when animals were killed to cover the shame from their sin. (Gen 3:21-24) This is God’s great project throughout human history, and is what the history in the Bible is all about. Only when we are working within God’s project are we going to receive the end benefit of it, namely, salvation. Of course, in later times God included grain offerings as part of the sacrificial system in ancient Israel (Leviticus 2:16 describes this at length, as does Lev 6:13-26), but these were not central to the offerings as were the animal sacrifices, nor did they atone for sin. They were more of a thank offering for the Lord’s provision of a good harvest. In Genesis 4, Cain was using the grain offering as a substitute, or in place of, offering a sheep. That contradicts God’s Project of Salvation.

Abel discerned God’s project and Cain did not. He discerned this by faith, looking back at the Lord’s revelation to Adam and Eve, and forward to the death of Jesus on the Cross. “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Heb 11:3.

Only the sacrifice offered within God’s project is effective. God has a project of salvation. He has invested all of his work within human history to the furtherance and fulfillment of this project. This project is centered on the Lamb (the fulfillment is the Rapture of those who have applied the Lamb’s sacrifice to their lives). Only by the Blood of Jesus can we approach God. No other innovation on our part will work. Just as Abel offered the sacrifice that was accepted, with his sacrificial lamb, we want to offer an acceptable sacrifice through the Blood of Jesus. We can be assured, by faith, that the Lord is pleased with our worship when we invoke the Blood of Lamb, when we affirm His Project and apply it to our own lives.

CONCLUSION – Obviously, we want to please God. We want our worship to be acceptable to Him. The Lord has revealed that the Blood of Jesus is the means by which we approach him, the means by which sins are atoned for, the means by which our souls are revived and refreshed. We begin every worship, every prayer, with the Blood of Jesus. As we do so, we know that the Lord brings us within his Project, so that we receive salvation, so that we will be prepared for the Rapture. There is a sense in which Abel himself became a symbol of the Lord Jesus, as he knew the right sacrifice, but died himself in connection with his sacrifice. Cain implemented his resentment by slaying his brother in the fields (the place where Cain’s sacrifice had come from). Jesus likewise shed his own blood in offering the p erfect sacrifice. Hebrews 12:23-25 says, “…to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

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This lesson is available in other languages:

French (Français) - Les sacrifices de Caïn et d’Abel – Genèse 4:3-7

Arabic - تضحيات قايين وهابيل – (Arabic – Cain & Abel)

Hindi - कैन और हाबिल के बलिदान – उत्पत्ति 4:3-7 (Hindi- Cain & Abel)

Punjabi 1 - قائن تے ہابل دئیاں قربانیاں (Punjabi – The Sacrifices of Cain & Abel)

Punjabi 2 - Sacrifices of Cain & Abel – Punjabi – Alternate translation

Swahili (Kiswahili) - Dhabihu Ya Kaini Na Abeli (SWAHILI- The Sacrifice Of Cain & Abel)

Urdu - قائن اور ہابل (Cain & Abel – Urdu)

Yoruba - EBO KAINI ATI ABELI – Genesisi 4:3-7 (YORUBA – Sacrifices of Cain & Abel)