Christianity Oasis Forum

[logi bear]

Genesis 4:1-7
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."
2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
NKJV

I was Instant messaging with a friend yesterday who had questions about this passage, and verses 6 and 7 made me smile. God's love, mercy, and patience towards Cain... Cain did not do what was asked of him, God had asked for an animal to given in offering, NOT because it pleased Him -
Hebrews 10: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
Hebrews 10: 8 Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law),
NKJV But because it was necessary. Necessary to make them understand the seriousness of sin. That sin brings death, and when you sin something must die. And while the blood of the animals did not wash away sin, only cover it. The offerings pointed ahead to Christ who would become the lamb and sacrifice Himself for us. And HIS blood washes away our sins. Cain gave an offering of vegetables because they were what he himself had grown, and perhaps he thought that in God's eyes if he offered up something he owned..... something he had worked hard to take care of.... then maybe it would mean more to God than if he took a lamb from his brothers flock to offer, which his brother owned, which his brother had worked hard to take care of.
However, this was not was not what God had asked for, and so God accepted Abel's offering, and did not accept Cains.
But did God condemn Cain? Did he tear him down? No! He encouraged Cain, He lifted him up, He gave him a pep talk. He said "why are you angry, why do you look sad? You know that if you do what I asked, I will gladly accept it. If you don't, sin will conquer you, but instead, Cain, you should conquer it!"
We know from the rest of the chapter that Cain did not listen, but nevertheless, when we fail God will encourage us, try to coax us back onto the right path, He will let us know that He is waiting with open arms if we choose to do the right thing. If you feel the God tugging at your heart, ministering to you like He did to Cain, don't ignore Him, do the right thing!

[popples]

amem lord thankyou for the pep talk