3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
I want to ask a question and I wonder if you have ever considered this question about this particular story. What took place that caused Cain to know that God did not look with favor on his offering but that God did look with favor on Abel's?
I started digging into this and found an interesting truth about early sacrifices. It has to do with Fire. You see in Old Testament times when a sacrifice was presented to God in the right way and with the right heart and if the sacrifice was acceptable to God He answered with fire. If the fire did not fall then the offering was rejected and the person offering the sacrifice was also rejected. So bad offering no fire. Bad heart in the matter no fire. So when Cain offered his sacrifice, which was not the correct sacrifice, no fire and he was humiliated. He should have been because the sacrifice that was required was a blood sacrifice and the one he offered was a grain offering. The true depth of this problem is brought to light when we understand the heart issue here. Abel came before God with a blood sacrifice and by it was declaring "God I am a sinner justly deserving death, I offer this fat offering from the first fruits of my flock as a symbol of my heart felt brokenness and setting this sacrifice as a symbol of the great sacrifice which is to come The Lamb of God" Cain on the other hand came at this time of confession and sin sacrifice with a thanks offering declaring, "Thank you for blessing me I really worked hard for this stuff and I brought some of it not the first fruits just some I was able to spare" I have purposely distance the two by extremes because it represents the true underlying problem with the Cain sacrifice, he had no remorse and was offering this sacrifice out of duty while the other was offering out of a heart broken over his current fallen condition.
You and I are called to offer up the Blood of the only begotten of the Father how we offer it and the intent of our heart speaks of our understanding of the situation here. Here is a great truth that follows the logic of this story and a complete breakdown of modern Christianity. In Old Testament times the acceptable sin sacrifice was to be without spot or blemish and was to be offered by a heart humble and acknowledging a true understanding of the desperateness of the situation/ The humility and preparedness of the person offering the sacrifice was so critical that the priest offering the sacrifice had a scarlet rope tied around his ankle just in case things weren't just right when he entered the Holy place to present the sacrifice. If his heart was not prepared or the sacrifice was not pure then he didn't walk out he was pulled out by his fellow priest because he would be dead. This was serious stuff. If all went right the sacrifice would be presented and the fire would fall from Heaven onto the altar and consume the sacrifice and the priest got to walk out. If not then the fire fell on him and he was a dead man.
Interesting if the blood sacrifice of bulls and rams brought fire from Heaven what should we get when we offer up the Blood of the Lamb? More next time.
You and I are called to offer up the Blood of the only begotten of the Father how we offer it and the intent of our heart speaks of our understanding of the situation here. Here is a great truth that follows the logic of this story and a complete breakdown of modern Christianity. In Old Testament times the acceptable sin sacrifice was to be without spot or blemish and was to be offered by a heart humble and acknowledging a true understanding of the desperateness of the situation/ The humility and preparedness of the person offering the sacrifice was so critical that the priest offering the sacrifice had a scarlet rope tied around his ankle just in case things weren't just right when he entered the Holy place to present the sacrifice. If his heart was not prepared or the sacrifice was not pure then he didn't walk out he was pulled out by his fellow priest because he would be dead. This was serious stuff. If all went right the sacrifice would be presented and the fire would fall from Heaven onto the altar and consume the sacrifice and the priest got to walk out. If not then the fire fell on him and he was a dead man.
Interesting if the blood sacrifice of bulls and rams brought fire from Heaven what should we get when we offer up the Blood of the Lamb? More next time.
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