Recovery Devotional 275 The Gifts of Cain

JMD Devotional 275 Genesis 4:3-7 The Gifts of Cain

And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect and regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.

The Bible narrative on this account is brief and to the point, leaving room for interpretation and conjecture. Why was Cain’s offering unacceptable and Abel’s pleasing to the Lord? My impression is that it is because one gave from his abundance while the other made a genuine sacrifice. In the long run, no one would miss one basket of fruit gleaned from a harvest, it cost Cain little. But Abel was probably attached to his livestock; and loved the [assumed] little lamb. The first record of an animal slain was earlier, when God confronted his parents hiding in the garden due to their ‘nakedness’. Sin, rebellion and acting out broke their relationship to God and the world, it introduced fear, pain and suffering to paradise. God slew an animal and clothed them in its skin to show them that their actions had consequences; that their sin hurt others, and that fixing the situation for them required the sacrifice of another’s life. Able commemorated that sacrifice in his offering, which pleased God. On Mount Sinai Abraham was sorely tested when he put God ahead of his own son Isaac, and was stopped in the act by an angel from slaying him. These foreshadow Golgotha where the ultimate; the One, True and effectual sacrifice took place for humanity. Sin is not minor business, and we owe an immeasurable debt to God for saving us in our helpless estate.

So what of Cain and the ‘sin crouching at his door?’ Cain’s pride was offended, which resulted not in repentance, but a sullen countenance. When God rejected Cain’s offering, He exposed the duplicity of Cain’s motives and the shallowness of his desire to give. He was out to impress God. There was no humility, nor yielding nor submission; but fierce anger and rebellion that culminated in the murder of his righteous brother. What if Churches today are being built more on the gifts of Cain than the sacrifices of Abel? The wealthy giving out of their abundance rather than the Widow’s mite? Perhaps that explains why parishioners dissatisfied with their leadership make a negative vote with their tithe (or lack of it). Churches have to cater to the whims of the worldly to make their budgets; to be entertaining and so careful not to offend anyone; to water down the message. Getting people to tithe at all is a challenge in our self-indulgent culture…where is the sacrificial give above one’s obligation to bless God and promote His Kingdom? Can we trace our pattern of giving to Cain or Abel?

Dear God,

Search me; I do not know when I am deceiving even myself. Is my motive pure? (I am afraid it often is not-forgive me!) How can You make a Saint out of this selfish man? “I, me, mine.” How can I keep insidious pride from slipping back into my heart? Help me to love Your Church, to be fully committed, to sacrifice genuinely and to give freely out of gratitude. Give me a cheerful, giving heart that knows how rich I am in Christ.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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