^‘By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks’ (Hebrews 11:4).

After his introduction, the writer of the letter now takes his readers back to what is often referred to as the ‘Primeval Prologue’ of Genesis chapters 1-11 with studies of the faith of the characters of Abel, Enoch and Noah all of whom  Would have been very well known to those who receives this letter.

In verse 4 Abel is commended for his faith in that he: ‘he offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as a righteous.’ The rest of the verse basically summaries the story in that he was killed by his jealous brother whose sacrifice the Lord rejected. However, in the last part of the verse the writer suggests that he acts as an example of faith to Christians of later generations.

There are many theories as to why Abel’s sacrifice was seen as acceptable by the Lord whereas Cain’s was not. Many commentators suggest it was because Abel’s was a blood sacrifice which somehow anticipates the redemptive element of later sacrifices. I guess that is possible, but there is a danger of stretching the text of Genesis 4:2-5 too far when the it is not explicit where such a point is concerned.^[1]  What seems far more likely to be the main point we should learn from the narrative is that the attitude of the givers was reflected in the gifts they gave.

 What is notable is that Abel’s offering was: ‘the firstborn of his flock’ and he offers: ‘the fat portions’ (Genesis 4:4).  His faith was such that he took his religion seriously, so he gave the best sacrifice he possibly could. However, there is no mention of this when it comes to Cain’s offering.  He did not offer first-fruits, which makes it very likely he was not offering the best of his harvest! So Bruce Waltke obverses: ‘Cain’s sin is tokenism.  He looks righteous, but in his heart he is not totally dependent on God, childlike, or grateful.’^[2] Abel’s offering was costly (in more ways than one) and so demonstrates his real faith. The writer of the letter notes that his faith was confirmed by God accepting his sacrifice.

The fact that Jesus refers to Abel in relation to the blood of righteous and innocent servants of God being shed by those who are enemies of God’s people and his cause in Matthew 23:34-36 again testifies to Abel’s costly faithful attitude acting as a lesson to Christians in  latter generations. Faith can often be costly!

[1] We have to remember that the killing of livestock for food would not have occurred until after the flood (Genesis 9:1-5).  Indeed the first death occurs after the fall of man in Genesis 3:21 where God cloths Adam and Eve with skins, the need for this brought about by their sin!  So the idea of sacrifice connected with sin and redemption at this point is not totally far-fetched and is worth considering!

[2]Bruce K. Waltke, with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis, A Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2001), 97.