Why was God not satisfied with Cain's offering?

Question

"So it came in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering: but for Cain and his offering he had no regard."(Genesis 4:3-5)

Answer 1

Notice that Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. Cain brought in offerings from the ground but they were not his first-fruits. So in comparison to Abel's offering, Cain's offering was not as good. In the Old Testament the order of things is important. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

God has always required a blood sacrifice. God made the first one in the Garden of Eden for the sin of Adam and Eve, and therewith clothed them with the skins of the sacrifice. So Abel was obedient in obeying Gods command and took the best of his flock, giving his offering unto God. Cain however, as do alot of religions and people, decided to do things his way. Wherein God did not expect his offering.

Answer 3

God just does not like, and obviously never liked, dirt farmers. He has trounced on them with droughts, poor soil, a lot of rocks, and has force them to clear fields or trees, stone and other crap to produce things that people need to eat. Had God had any sense, he would have accepted the veggies because everyone knows that red meat is not good for you.

Farmers, on the other hand, have handed out some crap to God. Many, many, farmers still plant by the signs of the Zodiac, a pagan custom, knowing that God has completely forgotten that the huge time machine that the solar system has has served farmers well. I even know people who will not put up a fence unless there is a full moon because if you put in a post when the moon is not full, there will not be enough dirt to fill the post hole even after you have put the post in.

The word "pagan" comes from the Latin "paganus" which means a rural dweller and almost every one knows that a rural dweller is a farmer by trade. The word "heath" basically means uncultivated land and is related to the Germanic Heide. A heathen, however, is a pagan, so one who lives on the heath is, indeed, living in a rural community and farms.

The word "pagan" was first used in the sense that it is used today by the cosmopolitan Romans who had accepted Christianity as an insult to those in the rural areas that still held fast to the old religion, which included planting by the signs. The word heathen comes down the same way.

Pagan can be traced to other languages that borrowed words from Latin, such as peasant which is used in French and English, and Peon, which is used in Spanish, probably with a similar word in Portuguese. Farmers, peasants, peons, heathens are all insults used by city dwellers. Paganus, or Pagan, is nothing more than the Latin word for "Red Neck" which is an insult to those who are rural dwellers and mostly work with the soil.

So neither God, nor Christians, have any respect for those who till the soil and that was all started by God not accepting Cain's offering.

Was Cain supposed to offer up only his best green bean, sheath of wheat, or oats, or barley, or should he have taken his only red meated item, his best son or daughter, and burned them on the alter when he needed them to tend the fields.

It is best to live by the dictum of Bill P which is found in the Book of Bill P in verse 1 of chapter 1, "Never cuss a farmer while you are chewing your food."

Answer 4

I think its like Father K said...Cain just grabbed some stuff up and brought it, but Abel made sure he gave God his very best as an offering. Its like if you are going make an offering to God, like how you live your life...give your best, don't do it half ******...

Answer 5

Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain" [Heb. 11:4]. By "better" they mean he gave the best, while Cain just gave whatever was handy.

Answer 6

I have always been taught that it was not so much WHAT cain offered - but the fact that it was not the very BEST of what he brought as an offering. Abel sacrificed the very best he had.

Answer 7

Good question. We find in the book of Exodus what is an acceptable sacrifice to God. It is a lamb without blemish. Cain decided to sacrifice the fruit of his labor instead of what God saw as an acceptable sacrifice. It is a perfect example as to why we must live according to God's terms instead of deciding for ourselves what we think is OK and acceptable to God.

Answer 8

Cain offered the harvest of the earth, asssuming God would like this offering, to show his obedience to Him. He had the right faith, but the he did not obey God. Because Cain did the offering his way, not God's way, Cain was shamed for his offering.

Able sacrificed a spotless, firstborn lamb of the flock, knowing that this is what God wanted him to offer, to show faith in Him. Shedding of blood was required to show obedience to God, in addition to faith. Because Able followed what God wanted him to offer, Able was praised for his offering.

Answer 9

Because he chose to give of the fruit that fell to the ground.

God wants our firstfruits, which is the best of what we have, not the left overs. Just like when we tithe, we give our firstfruits. You don't say, " Okay God I am gonna give you what I have left over after I pay my bills." You give your tithe and trust God to see to the rest, and that means tithing off your gross not your net, who is more important God or uncle Sam? Personally when I enter my deposit for the paycheck, the first check I write is for my tithe and offerings before I even look at my bills.

Answer 10

It is said that Cain's sacrifice of fruit was deficient because it did not involve the she ding blood, which God required for forgiveness of sins. ( It was foreshadowing the slain Lamb )

Cain's sacrifice was deficient because Cain did not "do well" ( 7 ), not because the sacrifice was the "fruit of the ground".