September 3, 2009 - Two Religions In Making

Meditation on Genesis 4

Why did God accept Abel's offering and not Cain's? Let us examine the evidence carefully. Verse three said, "So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground." (NASB) "The course of time" in Hebrews means "at the end of the cycle of days" which refers to the Sabbath. This is the first time in the Bible mentioned that man kept Sabbath by offering sacrifices. Apparently Adam had instructed his sons about offering.

Cain just offered something he produced for he was a tiller of the ground. (v. 2)

"Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering" (v. 4) What made Abel's offering special was that he offered his best because the animal was the firstborn and he offered the fat portion which was the best in the sight of God.

Therefore we can see that God is interested in the attitude of the worshipper's heart. Abel's worship with his best then signified he came before God with faith. (Hebrews 11:4) But Cain's was not. In fact, Cain's change of countenance and extreme anger showed that his attitude before God was really an attitude of disrespect and irreverent. No wonder John considered him evil. (1 John 3:12)

Let us learn a great lesson of worship from the lives of these two brothers. How we must come before God every time with true faith and not a self-centered attitude. These two attitudes represent two entirely different religious systems. One is totally God centered. The other kind of religion is just for getting blessings and fulfilling one's obligation.

Those who come before God with faith though even dead yet can still speak, the Bible says.