Last week I introduced the final section of our study in Christian discipleship, in which we will consider the examples of Hebrews 11 to help us better understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ. This morning, we come to the first example that the writer of Hebrews gives us: the example of Abel. To see this example, we need to read two texts – Hebrews 11:4, and the background passage – Genesis 4:1-16. From these texts I want you to notice two points – Faith offers a right sacrifice and faith righteously suffers.
In the first half of Hebrews 11:4, we get the answer to a nagging question from the OT. When you read the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4, you may come away feeling a bit dissatisfied because the story never answers for us what seems to be a very important question: why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted when Cain’s was rejected? After all, both men offer a sacrifice. But, this fact is where the similarities end. We get hints of the answer from the story itself. For one, in Genesis 4:3, we are told that Cain gave of the fruit of the ground, and then verse 4 tells us that Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. This is a notable and intentional distinction. Cain went through his garden and picked the tomatoes that had been chewed on by the horned caterpillar, the lettuce that was wilting, the beans that were too ripe to eat, and he gave that to the Lord as an offering. Abel, on the other hand, took the best of his flock – the firstborn. And, he didn’t just take the best animal, but he brought the best of that animal – the fat portions. Now, today, after 40 years of negative publicity towards fat, we’ve been programmed to think of fat as a bad thing. But, the ancients new it for what it is – the most flavorful and nutrient-dense part of an animal. Fat was the portion that God required in the Levitical law because it was the most treasured portion. So, Abel brings his best while Cain brings the rest.
Also, there is a distinction in the meaning behind each sacrifice. The Hebrew word for “offering” that we find in Genesis 4 is minha, which is usually associated with a bloodless tribute. In the Levitical system it was used to speak of a grain or oil offering. These offerings were given much like a tithe, as a sign of gratitude at the birth of a child or a marriage or when there was a specific prayer need. While these offerings were worshipful and sacrificial because they symbolized giving up something for God, they were not the same as a guilt offering. In keeping with this idea of an offering, Cain brings crops to offer to God as a tribute or a tithe. His offering communicates gratitude, but not guilt. However, Abel brings a blood offering. His offering, foreshadowing the Passover lamb and the bulls of the Day of Atonement, was given as an admission of his sinfulness before God and his need for atonement.
But, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea here. You might be thinking, “OK, so what Cain got wrong was the substance of his sacrifice. If he had just offered an animal, he would have been accepted.” Even if Cain had given the right substance, he still would have been rejected because he lacked the most important thing. Notice again what Hebrews says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous.” Oh, brothers and sisters, herein lies the very heart of the Gospel – salvation is by faith alone in the sacrifice of God alone! Notice, it is by faith that Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice. Yes, the sacrifice was of the right substance, but it would not have meant anything had Abel not offered it by faith. In other words, Abel knew that he was a sinner. He knew that his works could never save him. He knew that the only hope he had for being right with God was through a blood sacrifice. So, he made a blood sacrifice by faith and looking forward to the day when God would forgive all sin through the sacrifice of his Son. But, not only is faith the means by which offered an acceptable sacrifice, but it is also the means by which he was commended. See, the writer says “through which [that’s faith] he was commended as righteous.” The sacrifice didn’t make him righteous. The work of gathering up the lamb, killing it, skinning it, processing it, taking the fat portion and burning it – all that work didn’t make him righteous. It was the faith that God would forgive his sins through atonement that made him righteous before God.
So, consider my second point: faith righteously suffers. The second half of verse 4 says that through faith Abel still speaks. Again, there is an interesting quirk about this story in Genesis 4. You’ll notice as you read that we know a great deal about Cain. He is celebrated at his birth. He is a gardener like his father. He makes an offering. He kills his brother. He builds a city. Not only that, but there is initially great hope in Cain. Eve announces at his birth that she has gotten a man with the help of the Lord. There is such hope there for the continuing of the race after sin, but there is also hope that this child will be the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15 – that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Yet, that hope turns to dust when Cain instead crushes the head of his brother.
By contrast, very little is known about Abel. We know his name, that he offered an acceptable sacrifice, and that he was murdered. That’s it. In fact, even Abel’s name means “breath”. Yet, for all of his insignificance, he is commended by God for his faith. So, the writer says that through that faith he still speaks. Abel’s witness is not of power or conquest or good works. His witness is of faith – of simply admitting his need for a sacrifice and trusting in the grace of God.
Brothers and sisters, this is the only witness we need. We do not need the witness of man’s recognition. So often, people get sour in the church because the preacher didn’t thank me for that cake or the church didn’t recognize me for my gift. We expect to be called out, to receive a plaque, to be adored. But, as Jesus says in Matt. 5, people who give with this attitude have their reward in the applause of men, but they don’t have the reward of heaven. Instead, our witness should be a quiet, humble life of faith. When the world despises us, we take that suffering with the humility of faith. When men seek to harm us because of Christ, we suffer with faith. And, we do so knowing that our faith will speak long after we are gone, just as Abel’s did.
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