The God Who Remembers
>>>>> Read Genesis 8:1 - 9:16 <<<<<
Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. . . I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind . . . Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant. . . .Gen. 9:11, 13, 15, 16
How many times do we see a rainbow in the sky and say, “God put that there to remind us that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood?” However, that is not exactly why God put it there. We are studying the Bible to know God and His ways – the Spirit of God recorded very specific events, using carefully chosen words, in order to communicate all that is necessary for us to know and understand God. It is important that we keep all that in mind as we read; paying particular attention not only to individual words, but also to the order of events. God has written a revelation of Himself in this book – the flood and the rainbow in these chapters are incidental to God’s primary purpose.
God told Noah about the ark, and why he was to build it, in chapter 6. He also said, “I will establish My covenant with you…” (vs 8). By faith, Noah entered into the ark; then the floodgates of the sky were released, and earth opened up to allow the fountains of the deep to pour forth. Noah and his family were kept safe as judgment and destruction overtook the whole earth – in fact, they were more than safe – they were remembered by God. They were kept close to His heart: “God remembered Noah and all the animals . . . that were with him in the ark” (Gen. 8:1).
The first thing Noah did when he left the ark was to build an altar to the Lord. This is the first altar mentioned in the Bible. Sacrifices have been mentioned, but we have not been told about altars. I believe this adds the element of worship to Noah’s sacrifice. After Noah built the altar, we never hear of the ark again, for Noah did not worship the ark; he placed his faith in the God of the ark. We have heard of men searching for Noah’s ark, because they want to worship artifacts; but worship belongs exclusively to God – and He does not allow men to find such artifacts. In coming chapters, we will read about many altars, as worship becomes more a part of the lives of God’s people.
Noah offered God one of every clean animal and every clean bird. God’s reaction is noteworthy: “[God] smelled the soothing aroma,”– His broken heart was soothed by Noah’s worship. So pleased was God, that He said to Himself “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood (8:21). This is amazing! God has one faithful man – one man whose confidence and trust in Him leads to worship – and God’s reaction is: “I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done.” Furthermore, the cleansing waters of judgment had made no change in the character of man's heart; his heart is still evil (Jn 3:6 tells us "that which is born of the flesh is flesh”), yet God still says, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
God does not expect anything good to come out of man; nevertheless, He has set Noah on new ground. The blood of Noah’s sacrifices became the foundation of another promise from God. For the first time, God makes a covenant with man (see the verses quoted following the title). He mentioned this covenant in chapter 6 – now that Noah has acted in faith and responded in worship, God reveals the details of the covenant and seals it with a sign. He will put a bow [literal translation] into the sky so that He (God) will see it and remember the covenant.
Don’t miss this – God is characterizing Himself as the One who remembers – but what is it that He remembers? He remembers mercy and He remembers His covenant with Noah. “I will see the rainbow and remember the covenant between me and you and all living creatures.” He does not say to us “remember,” any more than He says it to the other living creatures. Instead, He is saying something about Himself: He is saying that He is a God who remembers, and He will remember this covenant forever.
God is a God who delights in mercy – not in judgment. In His mercy He will not count upon the memory or actions of man; He makes it clear that He knows what man is, but He will have mercy and accept man’s worship in any case. The whole story of Noah, with his 120 years of preaching salvation, and the very visible work on the ark of salvation, reminds us of 2Peter 3 where we are told that He is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. This is the heart of God.
I will never again look at a rainbow and think ‘no more worldwide floods;’ instead I’ll reflect on God as He remembers His covenant with Noah – a covenant made because one man believed God and acted in faith. That rainbow connects us with God’s mercy and love as it has gone out to His people for 4000 years. We can point to a rainbow and say to our children, “God is remembering how much He loves the people He created on earth.” LJ 7/09
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
God’s Heart is Flooded With Sorrow
God’s Heart is Flooded With Sorrow
>>>>> Read Genesis 5 - 7 <<<<<
The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. He said, “I will wipe out mankind . . . from the face of the earth. Gen. 6:6, 7
Enoch walked with God and warned people about their sin, yet his life and words had no effect on the people of his day. They weren’t even moved by his mysterious disappearance; they just went on with their lives as if God didn’t exist. More than that, they took every opportunity to distance themselves from Him.
During this period of history, before the great flood, men were left to their own consciences. The redeemer had been promised and man was able to seek God, but there were no special arrangements between God and men. He had not given instructions as to how man ought to govern himself, and the result was clear “. . . every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Violence and corruption filled the earth.
We don’t want to miss this bit of evidence regarding the nature of man and the message God is giving us in His carefully written Book. Conscience alone will NOT convict us of sin and bring us to a knowledge of God. It appears that conscience has very little influence over a person until the Spirit of God quickens the heart and mind. This period in man’s history gives a true picture of the nature of mankind – left to themselves, men have gone the way of Cain (inventing a religion that suits themselves) and have become subject to God’s judgment. God looked down at the world He created for His own personal enjoyment – at the creature He created for fellowship with Himself – and He was grieved. They had their own plans; they lived as if the earth belonged to them; and they broke God’s heart.
Genesis 6 tells us that He was sorry He had made man. I find it interesting that God’s holy wrath isn’t mentioned – His holiness or justice isn’t brought into view here – it was His broken heart that moved Him to judge the earth. Before He covered the earth with water, however, He found one righteous man. The man was Noah, and God commissioned him to do two things: to preach righteousness to the world (2 Pet. 2:5), and to construct an ark. Everything was to be destroyed; however, God provided a way of salvation because the desire of His heart was for men to come to Him. Noah preached for 120 years while he built the ark, but people were not convinced – and they were shut out of the ark.
God invited Noah (and his family) into the ark and “the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7:11). The door that shut Noah safely away from judgment is the same door that shut the sinful world out. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open (Rev. 3:7). The ‘door’ is prevalent in Scripture. There is a shut door in Matthew 25, when the unprepared virgins were seeking access to the wedding banquet saying, “Open the door for us!” The response they received was, “I don't know you.” Even more to the point, Jesus tells us in Luke 13 that the door is narrow and only a few will enter in. God’s heart is large for people to come to Him, but the way is restricted – His expressed grief, combined with such drastic judgment, offers dramatic insight into His nature. We may not be able to explain it, but we can see it!
The ark, with its one door, is a type of Christ – He is the narrow door and He is the vessel that protects His own from judgment. Although He is not named, Christ has been the subject of every chapter we have studied so far. Adam and Eve knew Him as the promised Redeemer; Abel knew Him as the blood sacrifice that allowed men to approach God; Enoch knew Him as the One who spares man from corruption and death; and Noah knew Him as the only One in whom he could rest while waiting on God to restore the earth. God gave Noah a preview to this insight: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved . . . John 10:9
We not only see Christ on every page of Scripture, but God gives continual insight into the nature of fallen man as well. We can believe it when we read, “Man is only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Throughout the whole of Scripture, the heart and nature of God is revealed against the backdrop of a corrupt world and the rebellious nature of man. In the background, in the unseen world of principalities and powers, Satan and his cohorts are constantly working to unseat God, disrupt His relationship with man and steal His glory. However, what I find so sweet about the Word of God is this: God confides in us about Himself, warns us of unseen dangers and advises us about what is to come. He tells us stories, so that we not only see Him, but we sense Him – and the story makes the process of learning enjoyable.
We have already begun to see ‘His ways.’ What I mean is this – we have learned something about His heart for mankind, and we have seen the way He continually intervenes so that He does not lose man completely. It is evident that He is a God of love and is loath to express wrath. As we go on, we will understand His purposes and internalize His principles; as a result, we can become people who know His ways – and not people who break His heart.
LJ 6/09
>>>>> Read Genesis 5 - 7 <<<<<
The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. He said, “I will wipe out mankind . . . from the face of the earth. Gen. 6:6, 7
Enoch walked with God and warned people about their sin, yet his life and words had no effect on the people of his day. They weren’t even moved by his mysterious disappearance; they just went on with their lives as if God didn’t exist. More than that, they took every opportunity to distance themselves from Him.
During this period of history, before the great flood, men were left to their own consciences. The redeemer had been promised and man was able to seek God, but there were no special arrangements between God and men. He had not given instructions as to how man ought to govern himself, and the result was clear “. . . every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Violence and corruption filled the earth.
We don’t want to miss this bit of evidence regarding the nature of man and the message God is giving us in His carefully written Book. Conscience alone will NOT convict us of sin and bring us to a knowledge of God. It appears that conscience has very little influence over a person until the Spirit of God quickens the heart and mind. This period in man’s history gives a true picture of the nature of mankind – left to themselves, men have gone the way of Cain (inventing a religion that suits themselves) and have become subject to God’s judgment. God looked down at the world He created for His own personal enjoyment – at the creature He created for fellowship with Himself – and He was grieved. They had their own plans; they lived as if the earth belonged to them; and they broke God’s heart.
Genesis 6 tells us that He was sorry He had made man. I find it interesting that God’s holy wrath isn’t mentioned – His holiness or justice isn’t brought into view here – it was His broken heart that moved Him to judge the earth. Before He covered the earth with water, however, He found one righteous man. The man was Noah, and God commissioned him to do two things: to preach righteousness to the world (2 Pet. 2:5), and to construct an ark. Everything was to be destroyed; however, God provided a way of salvation because the desire of His heart was for men to come to Him. Noah preached for 120 years while he built the ark, but people were not convinced – and they were shut out of the ark.
God invited Noah (and his family) into the ark and “the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7:11). The door that shut Noah safely away from judgment is the same door that shut the sinful world out. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open (Rev. 3:7). The ‘door’ is prevalent in Scripture. There is a shut door in Matthew 25, when the unprepared virgins were seeking access to the wedding banquet saying, “Open the door for us!” The response they received was, “I don't know you.” Even more to the point, Jesus tells us in Luke 13 that the door is narrow and only a few will enter in. God’s heart is large for people to come to Him, but the way is restricted – His expressed grief, combined with such drastic judgment, offers dramatic insight into His nature. We may not be able to explain it, but we can see it!
The ark, with its one door, is a type of Christ – He is the narrow door and He is the vessel that protects His own from judgment. Although He is not named, Christ has been the subject of every chapter we have studied so far. Adam and Eve knew Him as the promised Redeemer; Abel knew Him as the blood sacrifice that allowed men to approach God; Enoch knew Him as the One who spares man from corruption and death; and Noah knew Him as the only One in whom he could rest while waiting on God to restore the earth. God gave Noah a preview to this insight: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved . . . John 10:9
We not only see Christ on every page of Scripture, but God gives continual insight into the nature of fallen man as well. We can believe it when we read, “Man is only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Throughout the whole of Scripture, the heart and nature of God is revealed against the backdrop of a corrupt world and the rebellious nature of man. In the background, in the unseen world of principalities and powers, Satan and his cohorts are constantly working to unseat God, disrupt His relationship with man and steal His glory. However, what I find so sweet about the Word of God is this: God confides in us about Himself, warns us of unseen dangers and advises us about what is to come. He tells us stories, so that we not only see Him, but we sense Him – and the story makes the process of learning enjoyable.
We have already begun to see ‘His ways.’ What I mean is this – we have learned something about His heart for mankind, and we have seen the way He continually intervenes so that He does not lose man completely. It is evident that He is a God of love and is loath to express wrath. As we go on, we will understand His purposes and internalize His principles; as a result, we can become people who know His ways – and not people who break His heart.
LJ 6/09
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Know Him
* * * Know Him! * * *
Sons in Adam’s Likeness
>>> Read Genesis 4:11 - 5:32 <<<
If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you, and made my thoughts known to you. Proverbs 1:23
Adam and Eve were ushered out of their beautiful garden and into a world of thorns and thistles. They, and their children, were made to labor in order to have food to eat in this new world. Therefore, Cain worked the soil by the sweat of his brow and he feasted on the fruit of his labor. However, after he murdered his brother and refused to repent, God decreed that the ground would no longer produce for him. Cain was forced to become a wanderer on the earth – and he wandered right out of the presence of God (Gen. 4:16).
Wandering did not suit Cain, so he found a place to settle down. The details in Genesis 4 reveal how Cain’s descendants found ways to make themselves comfortable even in the cursed world, far from the Lord. They began to establish cities, and they commended themselves by naming the cities after themselves. Cities are places where people congregate in order to pool their ingenuity while encouraging one another in pursuits that make life easy. Indeed, Cain’s descendents improved their lives through the invention of bronze and iron implements; and they introduced the ‘polite arts’ with the development of musical instruments. However, every effort to improve the world made them more independent of God – the easier their lives became the easier it was to ignore Him.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21
In Lamech, we see the progressive moral decline that overtook the men of that day:
. . . Lamech took to himself two wives . . . he said to them, “I have killed [two people] . . . if Cain is avenged seven-fold, then Lamech seventy-seven fold.”
Gen. 4:15, 19, 23, 24
First, he became a polygamist, and then he twisted God’s grace on behalf of Cain into a protection for his own evil actions. The world system, under Satan’s influence, was established through Cain’s line. Satan encouraged men to invent their own brand of religion (he doesn’t even mind if it’s directed toward God), and he kept people occupied with making the world a better place. Chapter 4 was placed in our Bible to give us a picture of the world system and the corrupt heart of man. Keep that picture in your mind as you read chapter 5 – there you will see the contrasting line of Seth, and a subtle reminder of the promised redemption.
… when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God…. Adam had a son in his own likeness, in his own image. Gen 5:1-3
Verse one states that this is the written account of Adam’s line, and verse three clarifies what that means. God created man in the likeness of God, but Adam’s children were in his own likeness, in his own image. This is man’s history: he is no longer in the likeness of God – he is in the likeness of Adam. However, look back at 4:26 – Eve gave birth to a son named Seth and he had a son, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Although men are in the likeness of Adam, they are able to call upon the name of the Lord; this is grace. Yet, we are repeatedly reminded that the curse of death remains upon the race of man; it is said of every person mentioned in chapter 5 (except one) that he suffered death. Beginning with verse 5, every third verse ends with “and he died” – until you get to Enoch. The Spirit of God does not waste words – this is a purposeful pattern.
The generations ending in death are interrupted by this man who “walked with God and then he was no more, because God took him away” (5:24), followed by two more generations that end in death. The book of Jude tells us that Enoch prophesied against the ungodly, and Hebrews says that he “obtained the witness that, before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5). Enoch is the embodiment of a person who lives for God in a corrupt (chapter 4) and dying (chapter 5) world. The mention of Enoch in Genesis 5 is not incidental; it is God’s decisive intervention into a world of corruption and death.
God is beginning to tell us about Himself and His ways (purpose, principles, ends)! The image of God in man was ruined and men were choosing to live without Him – yet He set aside at least one person to represent Him on the earth. In this case, He took that person up to Himself. Enoch was taken up before floodwaters destroyed the earth – he pictures the rapture of the Church in the last days.
God pours out His heart to you, and makes His thoughts known to you. Do you want to know His thoughts and understand His ways? Just ask Him (and then read His Word)! LJ 6/09
Sons in Adam’s Likeness
>>> Read Genesis 4:11 - 5:32 <<<
If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you, and made my thoughts known to you. Proverbs 1:23
Adam and Eve were ushered out of their beautiful garden and into a world of thorns and thistles. They, and their children, were made to labor in order to have food to eat in this new world. Therefore, Cain worked the soil by the sweat of his brow and he feasted on the fruit of his labor. However, after he murdered his brother and refused to repent, God decreed that the ground would no longer produce for him. Cain was forced to become a wanderer on the earth – and he wandered right out of the presence of God (Gen. 4:16).
Wandering did not suit Cain, so he found a place to settle down. The details in Genesis 4 reveal how Cain’s descendants found ways to make themselves comfortable even in the cursed world, far from the Lord. They began to establish cities, and they commended themselves by naming the cities after themselves. Cities are places where people congregate in order to pool their ingenuity while encouraging one another in pursuits that make life easy. Indeed, Cain’s descendents improved their lives through the invention of bronze and iron implements; and they introduced the ‘polite arts’ with the development of musical instruments. However, every effort to improve the world made them more independent of God – the easier their lives became the easier it was to ignore Him.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21
In Lamech, we see the progressive moral decline that overtook the men of that day:
. . . Lamech took to himself two wives . . . he said to them, “I have killed [two people] . . . if Cain is avenged seven-fold, then Lamech seventy-seven fold.”
Gen. 4:15, 19, 23, 24
First, he became a polygamist, and then he twisted God’s grace on behalf of Cain into a protection for his own evil actions. The world system, under Satan’s influence, was established through Cain’s line. Satan encouraged men to invent their own brand of religion (he doesn’t even mind if it’s directed toward God), and he kept people occupied with making the world a better place. Chapter 4 was placed in our Bible to give us a picture of the world system and the corrupt heart of man. Keep that picture in your mind as you read chapter 5 – there you will see the contrasting line of Seth, and a subtle reminder of the promised redemption.
… when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God…. Adam had a son in his own likeness, in his own image. Gen 5:1-3
Verse one states that this is the written account of Adam’s line, and verse three clarifies what that means. God created man in the likeness of God, but Adam’s children were in his own likeness, in his own image. This is man’s history: he is no longer in the likeness of God – he is in the likeness of Adam. However, look back at 4:26 – Eve gave birth to a son named Seth and he had a son, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Although men are in the likeness of Adam, they are able to call upon the name of the Lord; this is grace. Yet, we are repeatedly reminded that the curse of death remains upon the race of man; it is said of every person mentioned in chapter 5 (except one) that he suffered death. Beginning with verse 5, every third verse ends with “and he died” – until you get to Enoch. The Spirit of God does not waste words – this is a purposeful pattern.
The generations ending in death are interrupted by this man who “walked with God and then he was no more, because God took him away” (5:24), followed by two more generations that end in death. The book of Jude tells us that Enoch prophesied against the ungodly, and Hebrews says that he “obtained the witness that, before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5). Enoch is the embodiment of a person who lives for God in a corrupt (chapter 4) and dying (chapter 5) world. The mention of Enoch in Genesis 5 is not incidental; it is God’s decisive intervention into a world of corruption and death.
God is beginning to tell us about Himself and His ways (purpose, principles, ends)! The image of God in man was ruined and men were choosing to live without Him – yet He set aside at least one person to represent Him on the earth. In this case, He took that person up to Himself. Enoch was taken up before floodwaters destroyed the earth – he pictures the rapture of the Church in the last days.
God pours out His heart to you, and makes His thoughts known to you. Do you want to know His thoughts and understand His ways? Just ask Him (and then read His Word)! LJ 6/09
Monday, September 7, 2009
Cain and Able: The Natural and Spiritual Man
Cain and Abel: The Natural Man and the Spiritual Man
>>>>>Read Genesis 4:1-16 <<<<<
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. Hebrews 11:4
What do you suppose Adam and Eve told their children about God? Surely, they talked about the lovely garden and how God visited them there. They must have told their boys about the awful moment when they felt ashamed and afraid for the first time in their lives. And they must have cringed when describing how Jehovah cut the throat of one (or maybe two) of their beloved, innocent animals in order to make coverings for their shame and guilt. No blood had ever been shed before – it was a shocking display!
Adam and Eve talked to their sons about God’s mercy and grace. They explained that He desired fellowship with the human race, but a blood sacrifice was required as protection from Divine judgment. Abel clearly accepted these things; but Cain rebelled against them. Still, it would be wrong to characterize Cain as someone who ignored God or refused to worship Him. Cain worshipped, he acknowledged God, he gave gifts to God – yet his way was the way of death, for there was no deliverance in the way of Cain (Jude 10, 11).
God had made a way of deliverance from the wrath of God and from the self-nature that had become rooted in man’s character; Cain needed to acknowledge this and act upon it. Instead, he brought a bloodless sacrifice to God, one that represented his personal work. Cain was a tiller of the soil – in his mind, the fruit of his labor was valuable. However, it is the mind of God that matters, and Cain’s gift was not acceptable to Him. This gift represented his own effort and was not given with of a heart in subjection to God. God is holy and righteous, He requires a life poured out – every blood sacrifice is a testimony of the wrath of God against sin.
Cain’s refusal to bring the proper sacrifice to God reveals his refusal to receive the grace that would free him from the judgment of death. Cain was, in essence, saying, “I have something to offer God; there is nothing in me that should require the spilling of blood.” You see, God is not looking for us to give Him something; He is waiting for us to acknowledge that our sin requires death. When a sacrifice is humbly offered, God sees the blood that is poured out, and then He clothes the sinner with His grace and forgiveness. God is always the giver; man receives what God offers
We might ask, “Wasn’t Abel giving something to God in the sacrifice he offered?” The blood sacrifice was an acknowledgement that sin deserves death; it was not a gift to God. Abel believed that God was satisfied with the death of an innocent substitute as just payment for sin and he received what God was pleased to give: merciful forgiveness and freedom from judgment. Able was freed from personal guilt and understood that his sins were not counted against him.
Abel understood death and judgment – he raised and cared for sacrificial animals (men were vegetarians until after the flood, so Abel’s animals were not used for food). Wandering from pasture to pasture, he took care of his animals and offered up “the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions” to God (fat portions are the excellent part of the animal). This is a picture of the believer who understands the magnitude of sin’s offense to God, yet has trusted in Him alone. While Abel enjoyed the peaceful assurance of His acceptance, Cain refused to receive the grace of God and therefore became more self-focused and independent. He is a picture of the fleshly man.
These two brothers are set before us as men in contrast. One understands God’s heart and mind, the other insists that God take him on his own terms. Even as God refused to accept Cain’s offering, He offered grace to him saying, “Why are you angry? . . . If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Did Cain really want to be accepted? Or did he want God to overlook his fleshly nature – the very nature that makes him unfit for God’s presence? Cain believed in God – he knew that God was real – but he did not wish to accept God’s judgment against him or submit to Him. In the end, Cain acted according to his true nature when he vented his anger on the one who represented God on the earth – his brother Abel. And we should pay attention to the way he did it: 1John 3:12 tells us that he “slew” his brother. This word is a Greek term that means “cut the throat,” and is used when referring to Levitical sacrifices. Cain killed his own brother using the exact method he would have used if he were killing a sacrificial animal.
The Spirit of God has illustrated the character of a person who defies God and chooses darkness instead of light. Cain’s children will reflect this same character, passing it on to succeeding generations where it will continue to gain strength and express rebellion against God. Abel speaks to all the generations that followed after him – he speaks of deliverance from judgment and acceptance with God. The natural man and the spiritual man – the Bible repeatedly exposes the character of both, and clearly displays God’s thoughts about each. LJ 6/09
>>>>>Read Genesis 4:1-16 <<<<<
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. Hebrews 11:4
What do you suppose Adam and Eve told their children about God? Surely, they talked about the lovely garden and how God visited them there. They must have told their boys about the awful moment when they felt ashamed and afraid for the first time in their lives. And they must have cringed when describing how Jehovah cut the throat of one (or maybe two) of their beloved, innocent animals in order to make coverings for their shame and guilt. No blood had ever been shed before – it was a shocking display!
Adam and Eve talked to their sons about God’s mercy and grace. They explained that He desired fellowship with the human race, but a blood sacrifice was required as protection from Divine judgment. Abel clearly accepted these things; but Cain rebelled against them. Still, it would be wrong to characterize Cain as someone who ignored God or refused to worship Him. Cain worshipped, he acknowledged God, he gave gifts to God – yet his way was the way of death, for there was no deliverance in the way of Cain (Jude 10, 11).
God had made a way of deliverance from the wrath of God and from the self-nature that had become rooted in man’s character; Cain needed to acknowledge this and act upon it. Instead, he brought a bloodless sacrifice to God, one that represented his personal work. Cain was a tiller of the soil – in his mind, the fruit of his labor was valuable. However, it is the mind of God that matters, and Cain’s gift was not acceptable to Him. This gift represented his own effort and was not given with of a heart in subjection to God. God is holy and righteous, He requires a life poured out – every blood sacrifice is a testimony of the wrath of God against sin.
Cain’s refusal to bring the proper sacrifice to God reveals his refusal to receive the grace that would free him from the judgment of death. Cain was, in essence, saying, “I have something to offer God; there is nothing in me that should require the spilling of blood.” You see, God is not looking for us to give Him something; He is waiting for us to acknowledge that our sin requires death. When a sacrifice is humbly offered, God sees the blood that is poured out, and then He clothes the sinner with His grace and forgiveness. God is always the giver; man receives what God offers
We might ask, “Wasn’t Abel giving something to God in the sacrifice he offered?” The blood sacrifice was an acknowledgement that sin deserves death; it was not a gift to God. Abel believed that God was satisfied with the death of an innocent substitute as just payment for sin and he received what God was pleased to give: merciful forgiveness and freedom from judgment. Able was freed from personal guilt and understood that his sins were not counted against him.
Abel understood death and judgment – he raised and cared for sacrificial animals (men were vegetarians until after the flood, so Abel’s animals were not used for food). Wandering from pasture to pasture, he took care of his animals and offered up “the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions” to God (fat portions are the excellent part of the animal). This is a picture of the believer who understands the magnitude of sin’s offense to God, yet has trusted in Him alone. While Abel enjoyed the peaceful assurance of His acceptance, Cain refused to receive the grace of God and therefore became more self-focused and independent. He is a picture of the fleshly man.
These two brothers are set before us as men in contrast. One understands God’s heart and mind, the other insists that God take him on his own terms. Even as God refused to accept Cain’s offering, He offered grace to him saying, “Why are you angry? . . . If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Did Cain really want to be accepted? Or did he want God to overlook his fleshly nature – the very nature that makes him unfit for God’s presence? Cain believed in God – he knew that God was real – but he did not wish to accept God’s judgment against him or submit to Him. In the end, Cain acted according to his true nature when he vented his anger on the one who represented God on the earth – his brother Abel. And we should pay attention to the way he did it: 1John 3:12 tells us that he “slew” his brother. This word is a Greek term that means “cut the throat,” and is used when referring to Levitical sacrifices. Cain killed his own brother using the exact method he would have used if he were killing a sacrificial animal.
The Spirit of God has illustrated the character of a person who defies God and chooses darkness instead of light. Cain’s children will reflect this same character, passing it on to succeeding generations where it will continue to gain strength and express rebellion against God. Abel speaks to all the generations that followed after him – he speaks of deliverance from judgment and acceptance with God. The natural man and the spiritual man – the Bible repeatedly exposes the character of both, and clearly displays God’s thoughts about each. LJ 6/09
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