Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Genesis

[Olivia]

We were discussing in class the story of Cain and Abel and it was brought up that God was unsatisfied with Cain sacrifice but satisfied with Abel's sacrifice, why, if Cain did what God had asked and worked the land where as Abel was a herdsman. Students were commenting that God does not make any sense in what He does because Cain did what was asked but God was not satisfied. I thought that people are confused because although Abel was not directly working the land but being advantageous. Many students were very confused about many of the stories in Genesis because God is always testing the people my professor said at one point that God is doing all of these things because He regrets creating humankind...

[jimwalton]

It's too bad that people are so ready to assume that God doesn't make any sense, when they are the ones who haven't pursued it enough to understand.

And also: God isn't testing his people. God created people to love them and that they might serve as priests in his temple, living in fellowship with him forever. When they blew that, God initiated a plan to redeem them and reconcile them to himself. He makes a promise in chapter 3 that the seed of the woman will accomplish that. Here in this chapter we find that the next generation blows it also, but God still acts on their behalf to bring them into relationship with himself.

As far as the sacrifices here in chapter 4, the sacrifices of Cain and Abel are not depicted as addressing sin or seeking atonement—what the later sacrifices were all about. The word used designates them very generally as “gifts”—a word that is most closely associated with the grain offering later in Lev 2. They appear to be intended to express gratitude to God for his bounty. Therefore it is appropriate that Cain should bring an offering from the produce that he grew, for blood would not be mandatory in such an offering. It should be noted that Genesis does not preserve any record of God requesting such offerings, though he approved of it as a means of expressing thanks. Gratitude is not expressed, however, when the gift is grudgingly given, as is likely the case with Cain.

His sacrifice seems to have been brought with the wrong attitude. There is a right way and a wrong way to worship God. Read Isa. 1.10-17 and Prov. 21.27. It's not that Cain has brought the wrong thing, but he has brought it with the wrong heart, and it shows right away: Cain was extremely angry. If there was a problem, his first reaction should have been sorrow and repentance: "Oh, I'm sorry. How can I make this right?" But he's angry. First he worships with a wrong attitude. Now He's unrepentant.

The Lord questions him: "Why are you angry?" And then he comes out with what he saw in Cain: "Why is your face downcast?" In other words, "you have a heart problem." But then God gives him another chance to repent (see v. 7), and gives him fair warning that if he continues on this path, it will be his undoing. While Eve had been talked into her sin, Cain will not have even God talk him out of it, nor will he confess to it, nor yet accept his punishment.

In v. 8, Cain gives yet another evidence that his heart was in the wrong place, and he killed his brother.

So the issue isn't produce vs. animal. It's not that God is always testing people. It's not that God regrets creating humankind (though by chapter 6 that is expressed). We're not aware that God has asked for sacrifice, though that's possible given that sin is in the world. There is no mention of it. The two boys bring gifts to God to show their gratitude, but Cain doesn't seem grateful, but begrudging. God calls him on it, and Cain, instead of repenting, snubs his nose at God and plunges willfully into sin, just like his mama, but worse. This will be the trend as the chapters roll by: sin gets worse and worse and worse, despite God's attempts to warn (Gn. 2.17; 4.7), and make things right over and over.