Why did God reject Cain's offering? seems unfair and no real explanation is given?

Question

Some assume that it was b/c Abel offered his "best'...but we don't really know that....do we? The bible isn't very clear about it.

I do not believe it says "best" in the bible.

Where does it state a "blood offering" was required?

KJV

Genisis4-3.And in process of time it came to pass,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.

KJV

Genisis4-3.And in process of time it came to pass,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.

Well..it states that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a tiller of the ground.....so BOTH could have given their best.....of what they had to offer.

No where does it state Cain brought inferior fruit.

Thanks..but I HAVE read it. And NO WHERE does it state Cain brought bad fruit w/ bruises!

And the firstling calf that Abel offered ....that doesn't mean it was his best...firstling means FIRST not best.

Answer 1

All I can offer is my own two cents from my study. (clink, clink)

Before looking at Cain and Able, we need to look at Adam and Eve's last time in the Garden before having to leave. They had already sinned before God and was punished (the ground cursed and pain in child birth). As hard as it is to believe, Adam and Eve's sins were paid for - therefore there is no "original sin" - but that's another post!

Before getting kicked out of the Garden, God made garments of skins and clothed them. Why? As we can see in later parts of scripture, God perfers animal sacrifice because of the blood. The blood "pays" for the sins of the offerer. That's why God gave them garmetns of skins - He had shown them what was the offering that He wanted - animal.

Adam then taught this to his sons Cain and Able. For Able it was easier since he already took care of the flock. Cain knew God accepted only animal offerings, but pride got in the way. Instead of going to his brother and trading a lamb for some harvest goods, Cain decided to simply offer up his goods instead of a lamb.

All Cain had to do was humble himself and ask to trade a lamb for some grain with his brother. But he was jealous that Able had it easy because he overlooked the flock.

So when Cain offered up his harvest to God, He refused it. Instead of realizing his mistake and doing something to fix it, he got angry. God then asked him what was wrong, that if he did the right thing, he would be a happier person. But Cain let anger fester in his heart until he murdered his brother.

This is a fine example of how people rather do their own thing than obey the rules God has given us for better living.

Answer 2

The Bible states that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord, and Abel, he brought of the firstlings of his flock. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering, He had not respect.

If someone brought you a fruit basket as a present and you opened it and found cuts and bruises on the fruit, and maybe a bite taken out here and there, and someone else brought you a bouquet of flowers, and each bud was perfect and smelled great, which would you accept?

God always wants our best efforts, and will not take second best. God had respect for Abel's offering because he gave the absolute best he had. Cain, on the other hand, gave what he thought God wanted, and it wasn't good enough, so God did not accept his offering.

Cain was punished afterwards for becoming jealous, which led to the murder of his brother. If he had done his best, he would have been accepted by the Lord, but the offering he gave got the acceptance it deserved.

Read Genesis 4:1-17 for a full explanation of what transpired. Those verses explain everything.

Answer 3

God accepted Abels offering because Abel brought the "firstling of the flock" which was his best and Cain did not bring his best but rather that of the inferior fruit. Check Gen. :4 or the Book of Jasher 1:15. God test's the heart and where your heart is there is your teasure! God doesn't care what we give as long as we do it his way and that we give our best, first.

Answer 4

in case you examine valiantly and faithfully for the time of the OT, you will discover similarities in the books. God would not reject people, they reject Him. Cain truthfully knew greater valuable. while making an offering to God, one ought to basically attitude God on the grounds of the blood of a substitutionary sacrifice. Cain rejected this revelation and got here with a chilly offering of end result and vegetables. you may study greater with regard to the prefer for blood being shed and the prefer for sacrifices in a e book titled "The Scarlet Thread". as quickly as we examine the Bible, pray that the Holy Spirit is guiding you to appreciate those issues. additionally, use a stable functionally equivalent or dynamic translation like the NIV. And get your self a stable commentary or 2 besides. Have an incredible day and walk in love! :)

Answer 5

Let us take what has been written before the Cain incident, that is in the Garden of Eden God Himself killed an innocent 'lamb' to cover Adam and Eve. That is the big clue for you to understand that there was a precident set here, that has followed through and is a part of the religous excercize of the Jew that is to be reinstated again after this 3rd temple gets rebuilt within this century. Let us take that a step farther and recognize that an innocent lamb [Jesus] was sacrificed at the cross of Calvary. That is essentially the Gospel of Jesus, He was sacrificed for our sins.

Answer 6

Genesis4:4Abel's offering was from his
first fruits, in other words he gave Jehovah from his best animals or other produce while Cain gave his offering from the useless that were only good for refuse. This can be likened to someone giving you a gift that has been on the list to put into the rubbish, so it was a ritual rather from the heart. In verse 6 God said to Cain:"Why are you hot with anger, and why has your countenance fallen?"
verse 7 God said to him:"If you turn to doing good, will there not be an exaltation? But if you do not turn to doing good there is sin crouching at the entrance, and for you it is craving, and will you, for your part, get the mastery over it?
So the reason that God's rejection was not unfair to Cain, because God told him how he could get this approval, it was by doing good so Cain was obviously not doing good, but instead of listening to God and turning to doing good Cain went even further because of his Jealousy toward his brother who was doing good, and killed Abnel his brother because of his jealousy, when all he needed to do is turn to doing good and he would have been granted God's favour also, but he obviously did not turn to doing good nd when he killed his brother he was not doing the right thing and it would definately bring him favour from God. tThe Bible does say that Jealousy is rottenness to the bones!(Proverbs14:30) No Jehovah wasn't unfair to Cain, because He knows what is in the heart and he did warn Cain to turn to good igf he wantsto be aproved but Cain did not listen to himand that is clearly said in the Bible thjis situation was not unfair to Cain but it wasunfair to Abelel who lost his life ecause of his brothers Jealousy!

Answer 7

I thin its obviously because your god is a vicious ,bloodthirsty,*******.I mean cain's offering was very peaceful,burning vegetables is a lot less violent than brutally cutting dolly the sheep's throat ,spilling her blood on the ground and then beating the buzzards off her carcass with a stick,while you frantically try to light a fire under her so god can have some before the scavengers,right?

Answer 8

We say God rejected but knowing the heart of GOD, I believe God was wanting to simply SHOW/teach that the correct way to sacrifice was to put ones full heart in it and that blood sacrifices (which were very common and understood in the Cain/Able era) was a Better sacrifice that CAIN could have still brought. The Blood SPeaks. (even as Ables spoke 2 God from the ground) Possibly God wanted to foreshadow His son Jesus the Christ. Pray about it and expect a satisfying answer to present itself.

Answer 9

We don't exactly get an answer. We can read earlier though, that one of the curses God placed on Adam would be to eat the herb of the field. We also find that Cain offered the fruit of the ground or something like that. So, in effect, Cain was offering what God was cursing Adam to eat because of his sins.

Answer 10

Abel sacrificed a lamb that he loved and Cain simply offered the pridefulness of his agriculture.