The contrast between Cain and Abel, as reflected in their names, did not just concern their personalities; it was also manifested in their respective occupations. While Cain was “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession requiring physical hard work, Abel was “a keeper of sheep” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV), a profession implying sensitivity and compassion.

Cain was the producer of the fruit of the ground. Abel the keeper of the sheep. These two occupations not only explain the nature of the two offerings (fruit of the ground from Cain and a sheep from Abel) — they also account for the two different psychological attitudes and mentalities associated with the two offerings: Cain was working to “acquire” the fruit he would produce, while Abel was careful to “keep” the sheep he had received.

Read Genesis 4:1-5 and Hebrews 11:4. Why did God accept Abel’s offering and reject Cain’s offering? How are we to understand what happened here?

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“Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin; and they [Cain and Abel] were to show their faith in the blood of Christ as the promised atonement by offering the firstlings of the flock in sacrifice. Besides this, the first fruits of the earth were to be presented before the Lord as a thank offering.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 71.

While Abel complied with God’s instructions and offered the vegetable offering in addition to the animal burnt offering, Cain neglected to do so. He didn’t bring an animal to be sacrificed, but only an offering of “the fruit of the ground.” It was an act of open disobedience, in contrast to the attitude of his brother. This story has often been viewed as a classic case of salvation by faith (Abel and his blood offering) in contrast to an attempt to earn salvation by works (Cain and his fruit of the ground).

Although these offerings must have had spiritual significance, they did not have any magic value in themselves. They were always merely symbols, images, pointing to the God who provided the sinner not only sustenance but also redemption.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Genesis 4:1-2. What do we learn from these passages about the births of the two males?

The first event recorded by the biblical author immediately after Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a birth. In the Hebrew phrase in Genesis 4:1, the words “the LORD” (YHWH) are directly linked to the words “a man,” as the following literal translation indicates: “I have acquired a man, indeed the LORD Himself.” It is rendered by the International Standard Version as: “I have given birth to a male child — the LORD.”

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This literal translation suggests that Eve remembers the Messianic prophecy of Genesis 3:15 and believes that she has given birth to her Savior, the LORD. “The Saviour’s coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 31.

In fact, Cain occupies most of the story. He is not only the firstborn, a son that the parents almost “worshiped”; in the chapter, he is the only brother who, in the Genesis text, speaks. While Eve excitedly comments on Cain’s birth, she says nothing at Abel’s, at least nothing that is recorded in the text, in contrast to the birth of Cain. The narrator simply reports that she “bore again” (Genesis 4:2, NKJV).

The name Cain itself is derived from the Hebrew verb qanah, which means “to acquire” and denotes the acquisition, the possession of something precious and powerful. On the other hand, the Hebrew name Hebel, in English Abel, means “vapor” (Psalm 62:9, NKJV), or “breath” (Psalm 144:4, NKJV) and denotes elusiveness, emptiness, lack of substance; the same word, hebel (Abel), is used over and over in Ecclesiastes for “vanity.” Though we don’t want to read more into these short texts than is there, perhaps the idea is that Adam’s and Eve’s hope rested, they believed, only in Cain, because they believed he, not his brother, was the promised Messiah.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 4:1-26, Hebrews 11:4, Micah 6:7, Isaiah 1:11, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 John 3:12, Genesis 5:1-32, Genesis 6:1-5.

Memory Text: “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” (Genesis 4:7, NKJV).

In Genesis what follows immediately after the Fall, and then the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, are mainly births and deaths, all in fulfillment of God’s prophecies in the preceding chapter. As parallel chapters, Genesis chapters 3 and 4 contain many common themes and words: descriptions of sin (Genesis 3:6-8; compare with Genesis 4:8), curses from the ’adamah, “ground” (Genesis 3:17; compare with Genesis 4:11), and expulsion (Genesis 3:24; compare with Genesis 4:12, Genesis 4:16).

The reason for these parallels is to highlight the fulfillment of what went on before, the prophecies and predictions that God had given to Adam and Eve after the Fall. The first event after Adam’s expulsion is full of hope; it is the birth of the first son, an event that Eve sees as the fulfillment of the promise that she heard in the Messianic prophecy (Genesis 3:15). That is, she thought he could be the promised Messiah.

The next events: the crime of Cain, the crime of Lamech, the decreasing life span, and the increasing wickedness are all fulfillments of the curse uttered in Genesis 3:1-24.

Yet, even then, all hope is not lost.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 16.

Sunday–>

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Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qDSoW98YKo&w=560&h=315]

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Forgiven in Prison, Part 1

By Andrew McChesney

The volunteers chose slips of paper with the names of inmates who had signed up for Bible studies at a prison in Spain. But nobody took one slip of paper. “Doesn’t anyone want to meet with this man?” asked Dante Marvin Herrmann, a 36-year-old theology student at Sagunto Adventist College.

Image © Pacific Press

“He’s too difficult to work with,” said one volunteer.

“He always mocks God,” said another.

Dante prayed and sensed a still, small voice say, “Go visit Matías.”

A prison guard brought Matías, a young, clean-shaven man, to Dante in an empty dining hall of the prison’s maximum-security block. Unlike the serial killers and other hardened convicts locked up in the block, Matías didn’t have any visible tattoos or an angry scowl on his face.

“You don’t look like the other prisoners,” Dante said.

Matías laughed. “You don’t know who I am,” he said.

“I don’t really care who you are or what you did,” Dante said. “We all have made mistakes in our lives, and we can’t change the past.”

Matías took a close look at Dante. He saw blue tattoos covering his arms and stretched-out holes in his earlobes left by body piercing.

“Are you from the Seventh-day Adventist Church?” Matías asked. “You don’t look like the other Adventists.”

“God can change every one of us,” Dante replied. He told how he had sold his soul to the devil at 17, joined a street gang, and worked as a drug dealer before finding the love of God in the Bible and becoming an Adventist. When he finished, the hour allotted for Bible study was up.

“Can you visit me again, please?” the inmate said. “I want to learn about this unknown God whom you spoke about. I’ve never heard about a loving God. I’ve only heard about an angry, condemning God.”

Dante promised to return the next Sabbath.

Back at the college, Dante mentioned Matías to a teacher. “Do you know who he is?” the teacher asked. When Dante shook his head, the teacher suggested that he do an online news search. The online search prompted Dante to pray. “God, this is very serious,” he said. “Why did you send me to him?” He sensed a still, small voice reply, “Dante, I have grace for you. I have forgiven you. I can forgive him, too.”

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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