Cain and Abel - why was God displeased with Cain's offering?

Question

In Genesis, Adam and Eve's sons both made offerings to God. Cain gave Him grains and plants and Abel gave a sacrificed animal. God liked Abel's gift, but not Cain's - which led Cain to be jealous and kill his brother. Why was God unimpressed by what Cain had offered in the first place? My Bible doesn't really explain.

Answer 1

Since the Bible is not known for giving intricate details i.e. there's no information about Adam and Eve between their expulsion from the garden and the birth of Cain, we don't know whether they had certain "rules" to abide by when it came to offerings or whether it was just a matter of Cain not putting his heart into his.

The Bible does say that Able "brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" whereas Cain "brought of the fruit of the ground". It doesn't say that Cain brought the firstfruits...just the fruit.

So, either because of "law" or because of a lack of caring, Cain gave an inferior offering.

This was a very good question and I hope I was able to answer it for you.

Answer 2

It wasn't so much the fact that Cain offered God some vegetation and Abel offered sheep. It was Cain's attitude. Cain didn't have faith but Abel did. [See Hebrews 11:4] Abel loved God but Cain showed that he really didn't love God and he didn't love his brother. Notice what the Bible says at 1 John 3:10-12: "The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: He that doesn't carry on righteousness doesn't originate with God, neither does he that does not love his brother. For this is the message that we heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother. And for what sake did he slaughter him? Because his works were wicked and those of his brother were righteous." Cain was full of jealousy, strife and anger and God was already aware of Cain's attitude. Cain was the first human called on by God himself to repent of his wrong ways.[See Genesis 4:7] But instead he allowed his jealousy and anger to fester to the point of motivating him to kill his brother. It was Cain's wicked attitude that made his sacrifice unacceptable to Jehovah God.

Answer 3

From early times men have presented offerings to God. In the first recorded instance, Adam's oldest son Caon presented the firstfruits of the ground, and Adams younger son Abel, the firstlings of his flock. Evidently the attitudes and motives of the two brothers were different, for God approved Abels offering but looked with disfavor on Cains. Abel must have had faith in God's promise of liberation through thepromised Seed and likely realized that blood would have to be shed, someone would have to be 'bruised in the heel' so that mankind might be uplifted to the perfection that Adam and Eve had lost.(Ge 3:15) Acknowledging himself as a sinner, he was led by faith to present an offering requiring the shedding of blood, thereby accurately foreshadowing the real sacrifice for sins , Jesus Christ.- Ge. 4:1-4; Heb. 11:4

Answer 4

if we try to read some verses in the Bible, we can learn that offering must be done thru animals without blemish, aminals have BLOOD. This is very important, becasue without shedding of blood no remission of sins as what the Bible clearly says in Heb 9:22.

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." - Heb 9:22 KJV

Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof then he offered unto God then God respect Abel. why? becasue their is shedding of BLOOD.

Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD but God not respect Cain offering. Why? because the requirement of the offering must have BLOOD.

Answer 5

Cain didn't give with the right attitude. This confused me for many years also. I didn't understand why God would except one offering and not another. But it's all based on 1) our motive 2) attitude. Cain had issues with one or both of these. We serve a loving and just God he had a reason for not accepting Cains offering,.

Answer 6

Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, "in the course of time" brought offerings to the Lord (Genesis 4:3). Without doubt, they were doing this because God had revealed it to them. Some question, “How were Cain and Abel supposed to know what to sacrifice?” The answer is that God must have instructed them. It is clear that the offering was to be a substitutionary atonement, because we read in Hebrews 11:4, "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did." When Abel came for worship, it was by faith that he brought his offering, "fat portions from some of the first-born of his flock" (Genesis 4:4). The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, and it was accepted.

His brother Cain brought "some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord" (Genesis 4:3). But on Cain and his offering the Lord did not look with favor. We do not know how He expressed His rejection, but it was evident. In Jude’s epistle, verse 11, we read, "They have taken the way of Cain," referring to lawless men. This may mean that they, like Cain, disobediently devised their own ways of worship; they did not come by faith. Cain’s offering, while acceptable in his own eyes, was not acceptable to the Lord. The result was that Cain became very angry, and later, in the field, he killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8).

Answer 7

Cain brought the wrong kind of offering because his heart was wrong. As a result, he brought the product of his hard work and not the offering that God had revealed He expected.

Hebrews 11:4, states, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks." Notice first that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice, so the kind of sacrifice he offered was better than that of Cain. The offering of the herd was a picture of the coming sacrifice of Christ. The offering of the fruit of the ground was a picture of the works of man. Notice that it came from the ground that God had just cursed (Genesis 3:17).

But why did Cain bring the wrong sacrifice? Hebrews 11:4 also tells us that the sacrifice of Abel bore witness to the fact that he was righteous. Simple logic tells us that the sacrifice of Cain bore witness to the fact that he was wicked. But we do not have to rest solely on logic. 1John 3:12 states, "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Though this refers to the slaying of Abel and not the sacrifice of Cain, it shows us the root of the problem--the wicked heart of Cain. Why did Cain have this wicked heart? Evidently, because he did not have the faith that Abel had in God.

God rejected the offering of Cain because it was the wrong offering. Cain brought the wrong offering because he rejected the revealed word of God. He rejected the word of God because his heart was wicked. His heart was wicked because he refused to have faith in God.

Answer 8

One interpretation is that the story is purely metaphorical. Cain represented the countryside and pagan way of life. Able represented the religious faithful. So the writer was attacking the pagans and elevating the 'faithful'.

Answer 9

Abel's bringing the best of his flock and making an animal sacrifice showed that he appreciated the value of the best quality offering as well as the need for blood to be poured out for redemption.
Cain's offering was not backed by the most upright motives. The fact that Cain became terrribly jealous to the point of homicide shows that he did not have the right heart condition.

Answer 10

Because Cain's offering did not come with an offer of a head job