A
More Excellent Sacrifice
In Hebrews 11, the Faith Chapter of
scripture, the writer cites Abel as his first example of genuine faith
and how faith translates into actions of which God approves. Abel
teaches us offerings of a sacrificial nature were a key component in
God's relationship with fallen man from the outset of history. The
companion passage in Genesis 4:3-8 provides background for the diverse
approaches Cain and Abel took. These texts enable us to connect the
dots to determine exactly what it meant for Abel to offer a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain.
Our text is Hebrews 11:4:
“By faith Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that
he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead
yet speaketh.”
The phrase by faith is
a translation of the Greek pistis in
the dative case. There is no
preposition in the original text. The literal sense is: “With reference
to faith, Abel offered.” We must remember revelation is
ALWAYS the
foundation for faith. Faith CANNOT operate apart from revelation! Faith
is NEVER blind. The definition of faith given in 11:1 tells us Abel was
confidently expecting something from God by way of his offering and
confident he would receive it. His faith was evidence he would obtain
from God what he expected. The contextual facts of Hebrews 11 lead us
to ask: (1) What did Abel hope (expect) to receive from God?, and (2)
What evidence did Abel have he would receive what he expected?
Let's answer the second question
first. The interpreter of scripture is
not entitled to invent truth if it's not set forth in the pages of Holy
Writ. But he is allowed to reasonably infer what scripture abundantly
suggests. The LORD God told Adam if he ate from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil—the SOLE restriction to an otherwise TOTAL
freedom—he would surely
die in the day he ate thereof (Genesis
2:16-17). After Adam and Eve sinned and before God drove them from the
Garden, scripture says: “Unto
Adam also and to his wife did the LORD
God make coats of skins, and clothed them”
(3:21).
In so doing, God introduced the
principle of substitution as a
redemptive component that would run throughout biblical history and
culminate in the Cross of Christ. Spiritual death occurred immediately.
Physical death came with the animals, from which God made coats of
skins. From the animals that died FOR them came clothing to hide their
nakedness, a foreshadowing of the gospel of Christ, who died FOR our
sins and clothes the believer with his own righteousness. What Abel
learned from his parents was evidence based on this revelation: Certain
death because of sin could be deferred through the death of a
substitute, from which a divine attestation of righteousness by faith
was obtainable.
Now we'll address the first question.
For what was Abel looking? The
answer is in 4:7: acceptance! God had “respect” unto
Abel's
offering (4:4) but not to Cain's (4:5). The Hebrew word respect conveys
the idea of a favorable look or gaze. When God looked at Abel's
offering, he did so with favorability. But he didn't look upon Cain's
offering with the same favor. It is not within the scope of this
document to examine HOW God “testified” to the gifts of Abel.
But there
is ample biblical evidence to suggest fire fell from heaven to consume
his offering. God withheld that same fire from Cain's offering, which
caused Cain to be wroth, his countenance to fall (4:5). In his attempt
to reason with Cain, God used the word “accepted” to describe what
happened to Abel and what COULD happen to him IF he would DO WELL
(4:7).
It is important to note the Lord's
problem with Cain was in WHAT he
did, not in WHY he did it. It is argued by some the problem with Cain's
offering might have been in his attitude in bringing it, not
necessarily in the nature of the offering. In other words, Cain might
have done the right thing for the wrong reason. The tandem of action
and motivation can take four forms: (1) Right thing for right reason;
(2) Right thing for wrong reason; (3) Wrong thing for right reason, and
(4) Wrong thing for wrong reason. Abel's offering took form #1. Cain's
offering took form #4. Forms #2 and #3 are distinct possibilities
in life, even in Christian service. But they're not applicable to the offering of Cain. The suggestion
God might have accepted Cain's offering IF he had brought it with a
better attitude is both unbiblical and untenable. It's a subtle assault
on the gospel foreshadowed in the offering of Abel and the coats of
skins God provided for his parents. Moreover, it suggests Cain's
attitude (WHY) was unrelated to his offering (WHAT) and therefore
unrelated to sin. If Cain's attitude was unrelated to the disobedience
of bringing a substandard sin offering before the Lord, what
exactly was
wrong with his attitude?
More
excellent is the translation of πλείων (pleiōn), a
comparative
word meaning “greater in quality or quantity.” In our
context, the idea
of quality is clearly in view. In the gospels, Jesus used the word to
describe himself as “greater
than Jonah” (Matthew 12:41) and “greater
than Solomon” (12:42). When Jesus saw worshipers giving
their temple
offerings, he said a poor widow had “cast in more” than all the
others (Mark 12:43). In our Lord's reckoning, perhaps he had both
quality AND quantity in mind. In Abel's case, his was a more excellent
sacrifice in terms of quality; of SORT rather than SIZE.
Sacrifice
is θυσία
(thysia), “a sacrifice, a victim.” It is used 29
times in the NT and always translated “sacrifice.” Its root is the verb
θύω
(thyō), “to slay, kill, slaughter.” Each time scripture uses
“sacrifice” (θυσία)
it refers to a killing, a bloodletting. It is
important to note that while all sacrifices are offerings, not all
offerings are sacrifices. There were OT offerings related to
worship and
thanksgiving that did not require blood. But ANY offering related to
sins or trespasses ALWAYS required blood. Abel offered a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, which included the killing of the
“firstlings of his flock” (4:4). Cain's offering from the “fruit of the
ground” involved no killing whatsoever (4:3). In that regard, Abel
offered a more excellent sacrifice.
What was the fundamental problem with
Cain's offering? There was NO
sacrifice in it! The offering of Abel was a sin offering that had to do with sin against God, a sense of
deservedness to die because of sin and the need to seek acceptance
through the bloodletting of a substitute. This is the revelatory
evidence Abel acquired from his parents, the basis for the acceptance
he was seeking and expecting. Cain, on the other hand, rejected that same
evidence to his own peril.
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