Dear reader, for many years I was wondering why God did not accept Cain’s offering. This article shows you why God rejected Cain’s offering.
What the Bible says.
Before we move any further, let us first look at what the written word of God in the Bible says. Genesis 4:3-5 says:
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:3-5
Was God unfair to Cain?
From a human perspective, God seems unfair to Cain. After all, Cain was a farmer and offered God the best fruits he had. However, as we shall see, heaven viewed Cain’s and Abel’s offerings differently.
Abel offered God a blood sacrifice.
The difference between Abel’s and Cain’s offerings lies in the fact that Abel offered God a blood sacrifice. Heaven accepted Abel’s offering because blood sacrifice is linked to the concept of atonement for sin, where animal blood symbolizes the sacrifice of an innocent life for the guilty.
This practice first appears in Genesis, where God uses animal skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve after the Fall, and later appears in the Old Testament as a central aspect of Levitical worship.
Abel’s offering represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Even though Abel was not aware of this fact, from a heavenly perspective, Abel’s offering foretold what would happen in the future. This is why Abel’s sacrifice pleased God a lot. Unknown to Abel, his sacrifice portrayed Jesus’ death on the cross as the ultimate, once-for-all blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, fulfilling the symbolic nature of the Old Testament sacrifices.
Here is what Cain was supposed to do.
If Cain had had a revelation about the power of blood sacrifices, he would have sold some of his harvest, bought a bull, and sacrificed it to God. This offering would have pleased God more than the fruits of the land he cultivated.
