3
¶ And in process of time it came to
pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 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: 5 But unto
Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his
countenance fell.
The process of
time is used several times in the Bible to indicate the passage of time.
For instance, 2Chronicles 21:19 begins with, And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two
years.
Cain gave a plant offering, a vegetable or fruit
offering, to God, as the Hindus do today in the Prasada, a vegetable offering
to a god. It is important to them that their god accepts only a strict
vegetable offering, so that nothing experiences pain or suffering. Prasada
means mercy in Sanskrit, the grace of the god they invoke.
Abel offered up the firstling of his flock. Something
living was sacrificed and died. Blood was shed. The issue here is this;
Hebrews
9:22 And almost all things are by the
law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Leviticus
17:11 For the life of the flesh is in
the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
There is no remissions of sins, no forgiveness for
sins, without the shedding of blood. Animal sacrifices, as clearly animals are
important to God, were substitutions for His own flesh which He sacrificed on
the Cross at Calvary and His own blood which He shed for our sins.
Acts
20:28 Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood.
Ephesians
5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweetsmelling savour.
Hebrews
9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews
13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Revelation
1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood,
And here, very clearly, regarding the law given to
Moses;
Hebrews
10:1 ¶ For the law having a shadow of
good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they
not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should
have had no more conscience of sins. 3
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every
year. 4 For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Animal sacrifices were a remembrance and an
acknowledgement of the sinful state of mankind. But, God Himself put our sins
away from us so that we would neither be held accountable for them nor would we
have to bring them to remembrance at established times. This possibility was
hinted at in the Old Testament;
Psalm
103:12 As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Read Revelation 1:5 above again. God did not regard
Cain’s offering but He did regard Abel’s. This made Cain angry, but did not
lead him to repent and do what God demanded. This reminds me of the religionist
today who will not so much as even acknowledge his own sinful state but insists
that reciting such things as The Lord’s Prayer, taking communion, or rushing to
the church building whenever the doors are open should be good enough to
justify himself or herself before God. I’ll do it my way, they think in their
hearts, and you ought to accept me because of my effort. We Christians, because
of Christ, do not offer animal sacrifices, but are to offer sacrifices pleasing
to God in regard to His sacrifice of Himself, Christ.
Psalm
141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Hosea
14:2 Take with you words, and turn to
the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so
will we render the calves of our lips.
Hebrews
13:15 By him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to his name.
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