Why did God disregard Cain’s offerings and only accepted Abel’s? Is God then responsible for Abel’s death because His rejection made Cain Jealous? Isn’t Cain’s selfishness induced by God’s choice alone? Why does Cain have to master avoiding that desire of killing Abel?
Answer:
This question refers to the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. One way to explain why God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s is to note that Abel brought the ‘firstborn of his flock’ (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought just ‘an offering of the fruit of the ground’ (Genesis 4:3), implying that Abel’s offering was more costly and expressed truer and deeper devotion (Hebrews 11:4). In a sense, it is not the offering per se that is in question. The Bible does not suggest that offering of certain items to God works automatically, but rather that the worshipper’s faith in who God is, and his contrition before Him matters. In this passage Cain’s lack of faith, and real devotion are seen clearly in his response of resentment towards his brother, his uncooperative answers to God, and finally his brutal murder of his brother! So, Cain’s killing of Abel, rather than being a result of God’s rejection of his offering, or God’s ‘choice alone’, was actually the outward display of the evil that was already in Cain’s heart. God didn’t reject the offering leading to Cain becoming evil and resentful. No, Cain was already evil and resentful, and it showed in his meager devotion. That is why God rejected his offering! This is confirmed in the New Testament, in 1 John 3:12, where it is noted that Cain killed Abel because, “his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous”. God’s admonition to Cain to master his sin (Genesis 4:7) is the same admonition that God gives to all mankind – we cannot make the excuse that we are sinful because God has made us that way. No, we are sinful because we have willfully rejected God’s designs and plans for life, and God holds us personally responsible. And yet, when confronted with our sin, God is the one that makes a way of restitution in sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross, for our sins, in our place. We must run to Him – turn away from our sins, and believe in Him – that is the way of dealing with our sin.

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