Why cains offering was not accepted

Cain did not offer his sacrifice by faith. Therefore, he did not worship according to the word of God. And God rejected his offering.

Cain was presumptuous. The way of Cain is the way of presumption. Those who, in like manner, presume to design their own system of worship are children of Cain. Those who, just like Cain, neglect the clear teaching of the Lord in matters of salvation and invent for themselves their own system of access to the sacrifice of Christ are practicing the religion of Cain.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me: Then shall I be upright, And I shall be clear from great transgression Ps. Genesis ; 2 Corinthians ; Romans ; Hebrews ; Psalm Jackson, Jared. Access date: November 12, Topical Index.

About Contact. By Jared Jackson. And why was that? So where there is no shedding of blood, means there is no remission of sin. Cain and Abel were indeed before the law of Moses.

So did Cain actually know that the shedding of blood was a requirement for a sin offering? Wanting proof from the Bible is actually a great characteristic to have.

It actually sounds like God was reminding Cain what an acceptable offering for sin was. However, God says you must take dominion over sin and this is by the appropriate sin offering. God could not hold Cain accountable for the offering he brought unless he spoke to Cain about it one way or another. But since the truth was shared to them there was no room for excuses because sin was exposed.

Based on these scriptures we can see that Jesus is the Word that was made flesh and this is the same Word from the very beginning. Knowing this we are able to see the situation with Cain clearly. I know God had this conversation with Cain at some point before because of the scriptures.

If God never told him, then Cain would have had an excuse for his sin. Just like Jesus said in John about the world. See John God was actually being patient and trying to teach Cain. Cain knowing what God said still brought the wrong type of offering.

Maybe his parents, Adam and Eve explained how God sacrificed an animal to cover their sin. As you can see God had to make coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve. So maybe Adam and Eve explained this to Cain and Abel. Maybe God told Cain and Abel directly about sin offerings.

However, we can conclude based on the previous scriptures discussed that God let Cain know what type of offering was considered appropriate and acceptable. Only God knew the correct answer to that.

The good news is that He also told us the answer. See Romans All God wants is His kids back. There was only one sacrifice that could truly remove our sin and restore us back to our original state before sin. It only covered their sins for a year and had to constantly be repeated year after year. However, God found pleasure in the perfect offering of Jesus Christ. Those types of offerings were just a foreshadow of Jesus.

Jesus, however, counted it as joy to be our offering and atonement of sin. You and I were the joy set before Jesus. He was delighted and wanted to lay down His own life so we could finally have dominion over sin. So sin could finally be removed from us once and for all. He was happy that we could finally be restored back to our true identity which is found in Christ as if we never sinned. Although Abel sinned, he was declared righteous because he took dominion over sin via the sacrifice of the lamb.

What made him righteous was the offering which was the shedding of blood from the lamb. See Genesis ,7. Abel also had a choice to make about what type of offering to bring. Just like how Cain had a choice. Abel could have brought anything and hoped God was okay with it. However, Abel chose an offering that God said was acceptable. Today we all have a choice to make regarding sin and an offering for it. The people who choose the same way Abel did with his offering will become born again believers.

This group of people will respond to God based on what He said is acceptable for today and that is Jesus Christ. Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only way to receive remission of sins and eternal life in heaven. God says He is the only offering for sin and He is the only true way to the Father. The only way to take dominion over sin according to God is through the offering of Jesus Christ. This is just like Jesus for born again believers today.

See verse Jesus never sinned but sin still needed to be judged and blood still needed to be shed. This verse is referring to Jesus drawing all the judgment for our sins on His body at the cross. By this statement of love, it will actually draw people to Him. He did this so we could be righteous and also restore our relationship back to God our Father as if we never sinned. Sin was a huge issue and there must be judgment for it. He came to save us and set us free from the judgment of sin.

Our judgment was poured out on Jesus at the Cross. Though Cain's offering was rejected there is no reason given as to why.

God's Sovereign Choice Some commentators argue that the reason for Abel's acceptance and Cain's rejection is based solely upon the sovereign choice of God. There was nothing different about either of the offerings. God, rather chose to accept one and reject the other without providing us any reason as to why. Therefore it is fruitless to try to discover the reason for God's decisions for they are His and His alone.

Not Blood Sacrifice There are many who believe that Cain's offering was not accepted because it was not a blood sacrifice like Abel's. Instead, Cain brought the fruit of the cursed ground, the work of his hands. Many see in this episode the contrast between the God-revealed doctrine of blood sacrifice versus humanity trying to please God with their own self-efforts. Cain's offering is reminiscent of Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves after their sin in the Garden.

It is humanity attempting to work their way into a relationship with God instead of leaning on God's grace. Had Been Instituted We know that animal sacrifices had been instituted before this time. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them Genesis To make animal skins for Adam and Eve after they had sinned, sacrifices would have been made. New Testament In addition, the Book of Hebrews stresses the fact that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks Hebrews This has led many interpreters to conclude that the reason the sacrifice was rejected was because of the nature of it.

Not His Best Another possible reason for the rejection of Cain's offering is the fruit that he brought was not the best the land had produced. It is emphasized that Abel brought the firstfruits of his flock-the best that he had. Cain, on the other hand, merely brought ordinary fruit to the Lord-possibly of a poor quality. Therefore the difference between the two offerings is that Abel brought the best of what he had while Cain did not make an effort to bring his best to the Lord.

Cain's offering showed indifference or carelessness. The heart attitude of Cain was sinful and this led to his bringing an inferior offering. Cain did not offer his best to the Lord because there was a problem with sin in his life. The Bible says, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination Proverbs Wrong Motive Not Wrong Offering Other Bible students argue that God was not so much concerned with the type of sacrifice or the quality of the offering.

They contend that His main concern was with the attitude of Cain. Cain's offering was rejected because of his impure heart, not because it was the fruit of the land rather than a blood sacrifice. He may have brought the very best that he had, but he did so with entirely the wrong attitude.

This would be comparable to somebody giving a large sum of money to the church with a grudging attitude. Proper Offerings The last view is strengthened in what the Bible says about the offering. The Hebrew word translated offering is not the usual word for blood sacrifice. The most common meaning for this Hebrew term in Genesis 4 is gift. Therefore, both offerings were proper for the two brothers who were at worship. In later texts, to bring an offering to the Lord suggests building an altar and placing that offering on or before that altar.

Yet altar is nowhere used in Genesis 4 , and we must remain uncertain as to how the brothers brought to the Lord their respective sacrifices. Each brought an offering minha appropriate to his occupation. One would expect a farmer to bring an offering from the vintage of the ground and a shepherd to bring the sucklings of his flock. Outside of ritual codes minha could refer to any offering of grain, but animals might also be included here Offerings Not Sacrifices Both Cain and Abel brought proper offerings and there is nothing in the text to suggest the type of offering is the reason for God's rejection or acceptance.

On the contrary, the text is clear they brought offerings to the Lord and not sacrifices. The text is silent regarding anything wrong with the quality or type of Cain's offering. God showed acceptance to Abel, rather than Cain, because Abel made his offering to the Lord in faith. Cain's Response Apparently the rejection of Cain's offering was a public event.

This made Cain angry and he did not repent. Rather he responded in anger against the Lord. The Lord said to Cain: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at your door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it Genesis This is one of the most difficult verses in Scripture. Its exact translation and meaning has been the subject of much debate.

As it is translated here, the problem with Cain's offering lies with his attitude. Sin is depicted as a crouching animal waiting to pounce upon its prey. If the person does not resist the sin, then greater ruin can occur in his life. God tells Cain that he has the ability to fix the situation by mastering the sin that is controlling him. Unfortunately, Cain did not learn his lesson-it led him to committing a greater sin.

Upset at both God and his brother, Cain then went out and killed Abel Genesis This clearly showed that he did not learn the lesson that God tried to teach him. Cain is spoken of in Scripture as wicked while Abel is called righteous. Jesus called him righteous Abel Matthew The Apostle John wrote: not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.

And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous 1 John Jude said: Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah Jude Cain's Judgment The Lord judged Cain for killing his brother. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.