It Starts Small

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7

The other day, while working I had a sudden thought come to my mind. A grain offering. Sometimes I have to pause and wonder about where my own thoughts come from. Just these three words…a grain offering. I actually took my time reading through the Laws of Moses. It was very painful, to be honest. Most of it I will admit did not make sense to me. I am so thankful Jesus fulfilled the law! However, I had to figure out what and why I thought of this.

The Bible speaks about grain offerings: Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-18; 7:9-10; 10:12-13. I carefully read each scripture, but nothing was “jumping off the pages” at me. I decided to grab my concordance and search the word offering. Let me tell you…. Go look for yourself. The Bible has a lot to say about offerings. As I read down through the list, something caught my eye. Genesis 4.

We all know the story of Genesis 4. I knew there had to be something deeper than just knowing this was the story of the first murder in the Bible. God’s Word is living, breathing and just amazing. If we search in depth with Him, guiding us, I believe the scripture gain depth in our heart. I hope I can articulate what God showed me about offerings.

My first question written on my journal was why? Why are they giving offerings? Before this, we do not see anything (or at least it did not appear) that they were commanded to give offerings. We do not have any sort of explanation as to why they were giving offerings. I pondered this a bit and decided to find the next occurrences of offerings mentioned in the Bible. Keep a holder in Genesis and jump over to Exodus 3.

¹⁸ They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Exodus 3:18

Follow me a bit on this. Adam and Eve had perfect fellowship with God. There was nothing before their fall that interrupted them from fellowshipping with God. After the fall, is when these offerings started to be given. Notice for a moment that at this point, God was still audible speaking to them.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”¹⁰ Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!  Genesis 4:6, 9-10

Where were they and what were they doing? Cain and Able were giving offerings to God when God spoke directly to them. Where were the people and Israel and what were they doing? They were giving offering and meeting the God.

Is it possible that there was no understanding as to why they were offering, that the offering was not as important as the reasoning? Follow me to Hebrews 11.

⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Hebrews 11:4

What is faith? IS it possible that the offerings were a sign to God that the intent and purpose was to meet God in a place with an offering of sincerity by faith? That even though it was not completely understood why they were giving offering, they knew they would encounter the presence of the Lord?

We tend to think that Cain’s offering was not accepted because there was no blood sacrifice, but what if it is deeper than that? Grain sacrifices were acceptable. We learn about them in Leviticus. Let us back up to Genesis 4 and read it again.

² She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. Genesis 4:2-5

There are some things to note about this.

Work is Work

There are some who think that Cain’s offering was not accepted because God regarded being a shepherd as more important than gardening. However, we look back to before the fall of man. God put Adam in charge of taking care of all the garden. This meant being both. He cared for the animals and tended the plants. God made Adam to be a contributor. Where work became cursed is when work did not cooperate with them. This was after the fall. God said by the sweat of your brow….

¹⁷ And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
Genesis 3:17-19

God did not have a preference, one over the other. They brought their sacrifice. They both worked hard, obviously they had to if they were to bring something.

The type of Sacrifice

AS I wrote above. Both animals and grain sacrifices were acceptable, but let us take a look and examine these sacrifices.

³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. Genesis 4:3

All we know is Cain brought “some.” Let us ponder on this for a moment and contrast it to the description of Abel’s offering:

⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,  Genesis 4:4

While Cain brought some, Abel brought the first and the best parts of the first. What makes a good roast? The fat that is slowly cooked down and drips over the best cuts. It is full of the best flavor! Abel brought the “yummiest” part of the animal and offered it. Not only the best part, but the best of the first he had.

Remember those verses above covering grain sacrifices… well if you read through them you will discover there was a standard to grain offerings. The first, and the best of the first were required. Not just some of the crop, the first of the crop and the best of those first.

The Understanding and Wisdom

¹⁰ But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct—like irrational animals—by these things they are destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 10-11

Can we be real for a few minutes with each other? This way of Cain is an example of entitlement. Follow with me a moment. Cain jsut threw “some” stuff on an altar and said here you go God. Here are some veggies.

I have to wonder a bit, as I reflect in the mirror of myself, have I done as Cain has done? “Here God, here is what you want, hope it makes you happy.”

“Why must it always be the first, God?”
“You made me, I did not ask to be here, and now you want the first of everything?”
“I did all the work – Here it is God, be happy with what I give.”

Does any of this hit anyone? Can anyone see what Cain has done. He took credit for his own work and just expected God to be pleased with his offering and then he became furious when God said it was not accepted.

Notice, that nowhere does it say God got mad at Cain. We tend to think falsely that God was mad at Cain. It was Cain that got mad at God? Why? Let us look at it again.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7

I hate to be called out for doing something wrong. What about you? There is nothing more infuriating that to be called out. God asked a question that was very important. He was opening dialog between himself and Cain. Cain, why are you mad. Of course God knew why, but he wanted Cain to come clean. Confess himself. He wanted Cain to be honest.

Why are we so scared of being honest with God, when God asks us the same question: Why are you mad, frustrated, sad, despondent, upest? When we study the life of Christ, he almost always answered questions with a question. Why? Because he is opening dialog with us. HE wants us to be honest. When we are honest with what we are truly thinking, doing, and saying, we hear our own selves and begin to realize that what we are thinking, saying and doing fall short of the mark….by miles. Can you imagine had the conversation gone to Cain sitting with God and discussing things, that Cain would have eventually seen that God wanted Cain’s offering to be a showing of faith and not just some ritual act?

The way of Cain is blasphemy. I used the CSB version above, but lets us look at it in the KJV.

¹⁰ But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Jude 10

The Greek translation, speak evil of is blasphemo. Obviously we see where we get the word blasphemy. To blaspheme is the revile, defame, speak evil of, hurt another’s reputation through slur or insult. Concerning God, it is to speak irreverence toward God himself, or what stands in peculiar relation to him. Cain did not think he owed God anything and just gave him “some.”

Cain was furious to be called out by God. You see, God knows our hearts! Cain might have built the most beautiful offering full of beautiful vegetables and fruits. It may have had bowls of grain, but what his offering did not have was sincerity. YOu can fake it at church and in front of others, but you can not fake out God. If your heart is rebellious, thinks evil, speaks evil, and only seeks to manipulate for one’s own selfishness, it does not matter if you tithe 50% of your income, God will not accept offering from the unrighteous.

By Faith

Abel, might not have understood offering, but he knew God was good and right. How, because in Hebrews we read by faith Abel. Abel came with the purpose and intent to be in the presence of God. He gave to God only what he had and it was the first and best of what he had. Abel understood that the very breath he breathed was from God. Did you know his name meant breath or vapor. His namesake was his understanding that his life belonged not to himself but to God. We do not know the extent of his flock, but we do know id he desired to be in the presence of God and he brought with him the best of what he had.

If our walk is not matching our talk, God knows. What do we do with this? Look, we can all find ourselves in the shoes of Cain. There are going to be days, or maybe you are in those days, where you just do not feel like worshipping. What are we to do? God back to the question God asked Cain:

Why are you ____________________________________? Answer Him honestly.

If we choose to ignore God’s request for dialog, we are in some big trouble. God warned Cain, consider why you are mad, because sin crouches at the door waiting to pounce on you. I think of a lion hidden in the bushes. One commentator said something interesting. They suggested it more like a snake coiled and ready to strike. As you storm through the door and ignore God’s request to confess, that snake bites you on the heel because you do not even know he is there. There is great insight to us when we sit with God and explain the why. God gave Cain a perfect opportunity to confess it.

Cain knew what to do, God told him he knew what was right. But Cain ignored it and we all know what came next.

IS God calling you to sit down and confess yourself to Him? Have a real conversation about why you are so mad, frustrated, furious, miserable, etc. Do not pass up this opportunity for introspection and insight God wants to reveal in you.