By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
--Parallel verses:
Genesis 4:2b-12
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 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, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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.”
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
There are so many things that come to the surface for us to learn from the story of Cain and Abel. First is the topic of giving back to God. Why do we do this when all things come from God anyways?
Here are a few reasons to give back to God: 1) He commands that we give firstfruits, or a portion of our best, to him. Obedience is a choice we make that indicates our level of trust in our commander. 2) He wants us to sacrifice some of what we have for his purposes. He knows we will gain spiritual rewards and friendships and other blessings that will more than pay us back. 3) He does not want us to become greedy. Greed takes many forms: hoarding money, time, resources, intellect, or skills. He wants us to learn to share out of abundance and when we are in need.
The second point here is that Abel still speaks, though he is dead. So what does he say? Based on the story, I believe he likely says something like this: “Honor God above all else. I did and I was blessed. My brother Cain was angry and jealous of me for winning God’s favor. But following God did not allow me to return evil for evil. I trusted Cain and tried to repair the relationship. Even though he killed me, I would not have acted differently. Showing God’s love and mercy in truth is always an eternally winning strategy!”
What will I still speak of once I am dead? What will my faith actions tell the next generation?
Lord, help me to obey you in the good and bad times. Teach me to love those who treat me poorly along with those who are kind. And may my life speak your truth into the hearts and lives of those around me.
