And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
We all know what happened next. Abel caught a deadly beat down because God treated Cain like crap. But why did God dis Cain in the first place?
God’s a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy. I mean, if someone offered you a choice of prime-rib with wine sauce and a big old mug of good beer, or tofu-scramble with lemon grass and St. John’s wort, what would you do? I mean, provided you’re the Old Testament God, that is.
Good question. My general answer is that the God of the Old Testament was a real jerk. More questions arise in this chapter:
Genesis 4:14-17
<font color="#BB0000">14</font> “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Whoever finds him? Isn’t it just Mom and Pop left?*
<font color="#BB0000">15</font> So the LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
Again, who but Mom and Pop are left?*
<font color="#BB0000">16</font> Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
<font color="#BB0000">17</font> Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.*
Who’s his wife? His long lost sister? Or did God just create more faulty humans?*
I think God thought “Hmm, he can get more fruits and vegetables from his garden, but man this is one good piece of meat, obviously the best he can offer.”
An animal takes a couple of years to raise, but fruits and vegetables come around every year.
Honestly, the ancient Hebrews were supposed to be herders - the whole point to this is to get to the story of Abraham who was a herder or caravaneer (sp?)… so this is a lead in, a filler of ancient history to get up to Abraham. Not horribly logical or Christian to us now but it must have meant a lot when they were compiling Genesis.
The reason I heard is that God telling his people to settle down and be domestic animal raisers, instead of nuts-and-berries gatherers. I think his reaction was maybe a little harsh as well, but that’s God.
~Kyla
“You couldn’t fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine.”
The reason that God preferred Abel’s offering over Cain’s was because Abel’s offering was made with a pure and glad heart, whereas Cain’s heart was not pure, he resented having to make the sacrifice in the first place. Because his sacrifice was not willingly and joyfully made, the Lord rejected it.
We now return to your regularly scheduled posting, already in progress.
Since God had respect for Abel’s meat offering and I believe later it is stated that blood offerings are required for forgivness (I am sure God told them, it is just not written down until later) and did not have respect for Cain’s fruit and vegetable offering, then God wants a blood offering. Again, this is spelled out later I believe.
So God said, “Cain, this will not do. I have told you that it has to be a blood offering.”
Cain got mad and when God asked him why he was mad. Then told him if he did what God asked he would be accepted. If he disobeyed then he would be sinning.
Then Cain killed Abel. Definitely Cain was in the wrong.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
Part of it is that the text implies that Abel brought the best stuff he had (‘firstlings’ and ‘fat thereof’) while Cain just brought any old stuff he had lying around.
There is a school of thought that Adam and Eve were the first JEWS, not simply the first people. If this were the case there would have been plenty of others for Cain to choose from to have relations with.
There is a school of thought that Adam and Eve were the first JEWS, not simply the first people. If this were the case there would have been plenty of others for Cain to choose from to have relations with.
-Dragwyr
“If God had meant for man to eat waffles,
he would have given him lips like snowshoes”
-Rev. Billy C. Wirtz