LIFE LESSONS
CAIN AND ABEL
DR. JIM DIXON
GENESIS 4: 1-16, HEBREWS 11:1-4, 1 JOHN 3:11-12
SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
Carl Sagan died in 1996 at the age of sixty-two. He was a scientist, a writer, and an educator. He received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 1960 from the University of Chicago. He was perhaps most known as the writer and the narrator of the public television program called “Cosmos.” He was a secularist. He was a naturalist. His view of the universe left no room for God. He was a secular Darwinist, and he viewed man simply as an evolved animal, very close to the other animals. For this reason, Carl Sagan became an animal rights activist. He fought to prevent the use of animals in any medical testing or in any medical experimentation.
In the year 1994, Carl Sagan came down with a deadly and rare blood disorder and it was terminal. His life could be extended only by an innovative medical treatment that had been developed through the use of animals in medical experimentation. So, he was at a moral or ethical crossroad. What would he do?
Finally, he chose to receive this new medical treatment. His life was briefly extended. He said that he decided after all that man was ascended above the animals and that no life on earth is more precious than human life.
Now, whatever your view of the use of animals in medical experimentation, you must agree: No life on earth is more precious than human life. We saw that last week as we examined the story of Adam and Eve, created in the imago Dei, the image of God, the breath of God upon them, the crown of God’s creation. No life on this earth is more precious to God than human life. For this reason, we have the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not murder.”
We saw when we studied the commandments that the Hebrew word for murder there is the word “ratsach.” It does not refer to the killing of animals. It does not refer to capital punishment or self-defense or killing in war. It refers to the premeditated murder of another human being. This morning we come to the story of the first murderer. We come to the story of Cain and Abel. I have three teachings.
The first teaching concerns stewardship. The Bible tells us that Cain was a farmer. He was a tiller of the ground. The Bible tells us that Abel was a shepherd. He was a keeper of sheep. On this Labor Day Weekend, it is appropriate to mention that any work beneficial to mankind is noble in the sight of God. It is noble to be a farmer. It is noble to be a shepherd.
We are told that, in the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground, an appropriate offering for a farmer, while Abel brought an offering to the Lord of the firstlings of his flock, an appropriate offering for a shepherd.
They brought these offerings to the Lord perhaps as a sin offering. Bible scholars debate this. Were these offerings sin offerings or were they love offerings or were they expressions of thanksgiving? Contextually we simply do not know. If they were sin offerings, they predated the Jewish sacrificial system, which was fulfilled in Christ.
If they were love offerings, if they were offerings of thanksgiving, they predated the Levitical tithe. Of course, the tithe is first mentioned in Genesis, chapter 14, in the context of Abraham and Melchizedek. But Bible scholars agree on this: Whatever their motive, it was an expression of their awareness of the fact that they were stewards. Cain and Abel knew that they were stewards.
The English word steward comes from the Old English, the word stigwearden. The word stig refers to any enclosure which surrounds that which is valuable. The word wearden means “to guard or to protect.” So, a stigwearden was a person who guarded or protected what was within an enclosure. It might be grain, it might be crops, it might be animals, but a stigwearden guarded what was within an enclosure. The stigwearden did not own what was within the enclosure. The stigwearden was simply a steward. He was responsible for cultivating it, prospering it, protecting it, and multiplying it. One day he would have to give an account. Eventually, in the evolution of the word stigwearden, it became stywarden and then stywarden became steward.
Well, Cain understood that he was a steward, and he had crops within his enclosure but they did not belong to him. They belonged to God. Abel understood that in his enclosure he had animals but they did not belong to him. They belonged to God. Everything belonged to God. They were just stewards. They understood this and they expressed this concept of everything belonging to God by bringing to God an offering from within the enclosure.
Of course, what is within your enclosure? What has God placed within your enclosure over which He’s made you steward? Are you aware of the fact that everything within your enclosure belongs to God? It does not belong to you. Your bank account, your house, your car… none of it belongs to you. It all belongs to God. Are you bringing offerings?
There is an old joke about a woman whose dog died. She came to the Baptist Church, and she asked the pastor there if he would do a funeral for her dog. The pastor of the Baptist Church said, “Well, no. We do not do dog funerals. We do not really believe that dogs have eternal souls, and it would not be appropriate to do a funeral for a canine. You might go down the street to the Presbyterian Church. There at the Presbyterian Church, I know they do a lot of liturgy and more of a ritual. They may have a sacrament for dogs and the death of dogs. Go down there to the Presbyterian Church.” So, she did.
She talked to the Presbyterian pastor, and the pastor said, “I’m sorry. We do not have such a ritual. We do not have such a liturgy. We don’t have a sacrament for dog funerals. You might go down the street to the Universalist Church. I do not know what they believe, but they seem to believe everything. They might do something for you.” The woman said, “Well, do you think that $5,000 would be sufficient to pay for the funeral?” The Presbyterian pastor paused, and he said, “Ma’am, why didn’t you tell me that your dog was Presbyterian?”
Now it is an old joke, but it does fit how most people feel about pastors… they’ll do anything for money. I think that is how most people view pastors. They will just do anything for money.
I saw just this last week that over the Internet there is this joke going around about two guys who were on an airplane and they crashed on an island. They survived the crash. They got out of the fuselage, got out of the wreckage, and one guy said, “I’m going to check the island out.” He went all over the island. The other guy just leaned back against the fuselage. The one guy came back from scouting the island and he said, “Boy, are we in trouble. The island is uninhabited. There is no food. There is no water. We’re dead.” The guy leaning against the fuselage just said, “It’s really no problem. I make more than $100,000 a week.” This did not seem to make any sense, so the other guy repeated himself, “You don’t understand. The island is uninhabited. There is no food. There is no water. We’re doomed.” The other guy said, “I repeat, there’s no problem. I make over $100,000 a week.”
Finally, the other guy, just incredulous, said, “What are you talking about? There is nobody on this island. There is no food on the island. There is no water on the island. We are doomed. It is over. We’re dead.”
The other guys said, “Don’t make me say this again. I make over $100,000 a week, more than $5.2 million a year, and I tithe to my local church. I promise you my pastor will find us!”
Those are the kinds of stories people tell about pastors. Of course, I do not know what any of you give. I do not want to know. I do not want it to affect the way I view you or treat you. It is between you and God. I just want what most pastors want, and that is for us all to be faithful. I speak about giving because it is in the Bible. I want all of you to be a blessing to the Lord and to bless the work of Christ on this earth. I want you to be blessed, and that is why pastors speak on the subject of money.
Years ago, Barb and I would sometimes buy frozen pizzas at the grocery store, particularly when Drew and Heather were younger. We would bring Totino’s frozen pizza home. We had put a little extra cheese on it. It tasted pretty good. We liked buying Totino’s pizza because Mr. and Mrs. Totino were Christians. They had opened a restaurant in Minneapolis in the 1950s. It became very successful, and in 1962, they went into the wholesale market and began to sell their frozen pizzas to grocery stores and supermarkets. In 1974, they sold everything to Pillsbury, and they received $20 million, and Mrs. Totino became the first woman Vice President of the Pillsbury Company.
As soon as they got that $20 million, Mr. and Mrs. Totino gave $2 million to a local Christian college, 10%. Then they gave another $2 million to their local church. They double tithed. They gave 20% before taxes. Then taxes took a big chunk out of the remainder. Mr. and Mrs. Totino said that they were Christians and they felt that, having so much money, tithing was not enough. Now I do not claim that I could know what a person with $20 million needs to do with regard to giving. All giving is between the individual and the Lord. But I do know this: Tithing is a minimal standard biblically, a proper giving for the Christian. Jesus said we need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The only question this morning with regard to the first point is, what about you? Are you seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness? Are you a great steward, and do you recognize His ownership, and do you bring your offerings?
The second point concerns righteousness. As we look at the story of Cain and Abel, we must deal with the subject of righteousness. When I was in high school, I remember taking a class in Algebra. I remember the teacher one day put a question on the board and he asked the class for the answer. I raised my hand. I said the answer was X-Y/20. He just shook his head. He began to ask other students. He asked perhaps 6 or 7 other students. Finally, another student said, “X-Y/20.” The teacher said, “That’s right. Very good.”
I raised my hand again. I said, “Well, that’s the same answer I gave.” The teacher said, “So what?” It made me angry. It just felt arbitrary and capricious. I gave the same answer as another student. His answer was acceptable, and my answer was not.
Is that what is going on with Cain and Abel? I mean, is God just arbitrary and capricious? Why did he accept one offering and not the other? Of course, there may have been prejudice. Is God prejudiced?
There is the old joke about prejudice with the Chinese man and the Jewish man talking to each other. Suddenly, in the course of their conversation, the Jewish man just hauls off and hits the Chinese man. The Chinese man said, “What’s that about? What was that for?” The Jewish man said, “That was because of Pearl Harbor.” The Chinese man said, “That wasn’t the Chinese. That was the Japanese.” The Jewish man said, “Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese… what’s the difference?”
Just a moment later, the Chinese man just hauled off and hit the Jewish man. The Jewish man said, “What was that for?” The Chinese man said, “That was for the Titanic.” The Jewish man said, “Well, the Jews didn’t have anything to do with the Titanic. That was an iceberg.” The Chinese man said, “Iceberg, Feinberg, Steinberg… what’s the difference?”
We all know that prejudice is stupid. It is just stupid. It’s tragic. I hope you know God is not stupid and He is not prejudiced. He’s not arbitrary and He’s not capricious. He values us all equally. He valued Cain and Abel equally. So, there was a reason that one’s offering was acceptable, and the other’s offering was not. What was that reason?
There are those Bible scholars who believe that it had to do with the content of the offering. Abel’s offering was a blood offering. Cain’s offering was a grain offering. Perhaps God preferred blood offerings. But that’s not reasonable because Cain was a farmer, and he could only bring a grain offering. Furthermore, in the Levitical sacrificial laws, there was provision for both grain offerings and blood offerings.
Some Bible scholars say, “It had to do with the quality of their offerings.” Abel, we are told, brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. He gave God the very best. Maybe Cain did not bring of his first fruits. Of course, the problem is the passage in Genesis 4 does not really tell us. It does not tell us whether Cain brought his first fruits or whether Cain did not, so we really don’t know. That might have been part of what was going on. Certainly, God does not want our leftovers. God wants our very best. When we look at the rest of scripture, it is very evident that God was looking in their hearts
You come to the passage in Hebrews 11, and it says, “By faith, Abel offered to God a sacrifice more acceptable than Cain through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts. You look in 1 John, chapter 3: “And this is the message we have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous?” Again, there is the implication that Abel was more righteous.
In fact, you come to Matthew, chapter 23, verses 35 and 36, and you see our Lord Jesus speaking of the blood of the righteous from throughout history, beginning, Jesus said, “with innocent Abel and continuing to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, who was slain between the sanctuary and the altar.” But He speaks of Abel as innocent and righteous.
There is the issue here of righteousness, internal righteousness. God looks inside. The word “righteous” in the Greek is “dikaiosune,” and it comes from the Greek word “dikaios,” which means “right”—not as in right and left, but as in right and wrong. Righteousness refers to right actions, right thoughts, right motives, right feelings, and even right relationships when describing our relationship with God. Clearly, God looked down and He found something wrong in Cain. Something was wrong, perhaps, in his actions. Something was not right in his thoughts. Something was not right in his motives. Something was not right in his feelings. Something was wrong within. God looks on the inside.
Of course, God gives commandments, and He wants us to honor them, but even those who obey them may differ in their righteousness because God looks on the inside.
I noticed in the newspaper this past week that in Washington, D.C., there is a Supermarket Institute. According to the Supermarket Institute, one of the biggest problems for supermarkets nationwide is the problem of shopping cart theft, people steal shopping carts. In fact, the problem is so great that supermarkets across America lose $175 million every year on stolen shopping carts. They spend another $117 million trying to retrieve stolen shopping carts. In the aggregate, they lose almost $300 million every year on stolen shopping carts.
There is an organization in San Diego that wants to bring all this to an end. They are called CartTronics. They have a solution. They come to your supermarket. They put an antenna underground surrounding the entire parking lot of the supermarket. Then they put a radio-controlled locking system on each shopping cart. If people try to push the shopping cart past the boundary of the parking lot, the underground antennae send out a low radio frequency that triggers the locking device on the shopping cart and the wheels just freeze up. The shopping cartwheels will no longer move. The only way you are going to get that shopping cart off the property is to lift it up, and they are heavy.
Supermarkets that have used this system called “CAPS”—Cart Anti-theft Protection System—have experienced complete success. There’s no theft anymore. Nobody steals any more shopping carts. But it does not change the hearts of people. God looks down and He still sees that there are about three different types of people there. There are some people who try to steal the shopping carts and cannot get them past the parking lot because of the locking system. Then there are other people who would like to steal the shopping carts, but they do not even bother because they know that this system is in place. Of course, there are other people who do not steal shopping carts because they think it wrong, and they want to do what is right.
But God looks at the heart, even with regard to tithes and offerings. We may all bring them, but God looks at our heart. What is motivating you? Are you just trying to not get in trouble? What is motivating you? Are you simply wanting a personal blessing or do you long to be a blessing? Do you long to serve the work of Christ on this planet, in this world? God looks in the heart. He knows what is in your heart. He knows what is in my heart, and He’s looking for what is right, righteousness.
Well, finally, in the story of Cain and Abel we have the subject of judgement. Even the distinction between Cain and Abel and their inward motives involves divine judgement. We see Cain’s anger and God’s warning and then Cain’s act of murder, and then the complete judgement of God comes upon him. He is driven away from the ground. He can no longer be a farmer. The earth will no longer yield its fruit. From the face of God he is driven. He becomes a fugitive and a wanderer over the earth. The judgement of God.
God wants each of us in this worship center this morning to understand He’s going to judge us. He is going to judge you. That should be a serious thought. He may not judge you in this life, but surely in the life to come.
The Bible really speaks of three judgements. There is the judgement of the living, Matthew 25, called “The Judgement of the Nations.” Then there is “The Judgement of the Dead,” Revelation, chapter 20, called “The Judgement of the Great White Throne.” In those first two judgements, one seems premillennial, the other postmillennial. But both of those first two judgements are judgements of works.
There is a third judgement called “The Bema,” which means “Judgement Seat,” mentioned in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, and in Romans, chapter 14. It is called “The Judgement Seat of God” or “The Judgement Seat of Christ.” It is the judgement of Christians. Of course, we are told in John, chapter 5, that “the Father has given all judgement to the Son, that all might honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father.”
Those first two judgements, the judgements of the living and the dead, are judgements of works. God’s going to notice everything. The books will be opened. Some of you saw yesterday afternoon the game between CSU and CU. We congratulate the Rams, and we know better things are in store for the Buffs. I think you also know that the Broncos begin their season next Sunday. Of course, the season continues all the way to the Super Bowl… not necessarily for the Broncos, but for the NFL.
In last year’s Super Bowl Game, NFL Films used 150 cinematographers. They brought 150 cinematographers, directors, and technicians, an entourage of forty trucks and trailers, using 28 state-of-the-art projectors and cameras, shooting 25 miles of film. They did not want to miss anything. They wanted to have every angle on every play. But that is impossible. Even instant replay is not perfect. Sometimes the evidence is inconclusive—not enough camera angles.
It is not going to be that way at the Judgement of the Great White Throne. It is not going to be that way at the Judgement of the Nations. Nothing is going to be inconclusive. There is not going to be an absence of camera angles. God sees everything inside of us and outside of us, everything we have done, everything we have thought. He sees it all. It is scary because, “There’s none righteous, no, not one.”
Perhaps at those judgements there will be some measure of mercy. Even upon Cain, God had mercy, putting upon him the mysterious mark to protect him from those who would kill him. We do not know what that mark or sign was. But as Christians there is this third judgement called “The Bema, The Judgement Seat.” It is not a judgement of heaven or hell because as Christians we are already bound for heaven. It will be a judgement of righteousness. I mean, God still sees everything, and we will receive varying rewards when we get there.
You see, the only way you can get to the Bema Seat is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then you are given imputed righteousness. It is just vested upon you. It is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you invite Him into your heart, His righteousness, His sinlessness, His perfection is imputed upon you and God views you through the spectacle of His Son. What an incredible offer the gospel is. When you do that, you move from the Judgement of the Nations or the Judgement of the Great White Throne to the Bema Seat. What an amazing deal. God still cares about righteousness, behaviorally and in our thoughts, but there is this relational righteousness given to us through faith in Christ.
I am reminded, as we close, of a story Max Lucado told. One of Max Lucado’s children played volleyball in middle school. On one Saturday, the school team had two volleyball games, one at 8:00 in the morning and the other at 11:00. There was a gap in between, and the middle school students needed to eat. Max Lucado said that his child and the other kids were all taken to a restaurant because one of the parents of one of the volleyball team members owned a restaurant.
All the kids were taken to the restaurant for a breakfast between these two games. There were other customers in the restaurant, paying customers, but the kids on the volleyball team did not have to pay because they knew the owner. The owner stood at the cash register, and as all the people filed through, the people who had to pay did so, but the other people, the kids on the volleyball team, were identified by the owner and they just passed through. It is going to be that way on Judgement Day if you believe in Christ. He will say, “I paid. I paid for this person. He paid for you if you have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, if you have accepted Him into your heart. If you have not accepted Christ, you’re going to have to pay, and you don’t want to be in that position.
As we close this morning this whole subject of Cain and Abel and we see that it relates to stewardship and righteousness and judgement, we want to make sure that our hearts are right before God. If you have never asked Jesus into your heart, this is your opportunity. Let us look to the Lord with a word of prayer.