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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. The Book of Genesis covers 2,500 years of history. Chapters four and five cover 1,500 of those 2,500 years of history.
So we get a lot of generations, a big sweep in these two chapters. Chapter one, we saw the beginning of the universe. In chapter two, the beginning of the human race. In chapter three, the beginning of sin. In chapter four, the results and the progress of that sin. And on into chapter five, as we see more of that result, as we read that phrase that will be repeated over and over again in the fifth chapter, and he died, and he died, and he died, etc.
Every generation fulfilling what God said would happen, them dying off. So chapter three is the root of sin. Chapter four is the fruit of sin.
This is now the result of it. Adam is cast out of the garden, as is every human being since Adam. Adam tasted it. Adam and Eve were there, walked with God in the cool of the day, enjoyed fellowship, bliss, perfection, utopia, but they forfeited it. And now all of us ever since have been consigned to being outside the garden longing to get in. What Adam did was so pervasive and so invasive to the human race that it required what Paul referred to as the second Adam to undo the curse. Will we ever get back in the garden?
Oh yes. In heaven, in the new Jerusalem, in the new heaven, in the new earth will be the paradise of God with the tree of life described there in chapter 21. But I believe even before the new heaven and the new earth, before the new Jerusalem, there will be a thousand years of a restored, renewed earth and the conditions of that millennial kingdom on the earth will replicate what it was like in the Garden of Eden.
But it took Jesus to fix what Adam blew big time. And so that's the message of the Bible in a nutshell. I really love the outline that Dr. G. Campbell Morgan gives for the book of Genesis.
I've shared it with you before. Chapters 1 and 2, generation. It's the beginning of the universe, the beginning of man, etc.
Generation. And then chapters 3 through 11, degeneration. As we see sin and the results of sin. And then chapters 12 through 50, regeneration as that plan picks up through Abraham and his descendants.
So there has been a progression. It's outlined and articulated so beautifully by Paul in one verse in Romans chapter 5. By one man sin entered the world and death through sin. So that death spread to all men for all have sinned for death reigned from Adam to Moses. So sin entered, death entered, death spread and death reigned and we are seeing that unfold before our eyes. Well in chapter 4 where it says now Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived in Borkan, the chapter opens happily enough.
So far so good. She's pregnant with their firstborn child. Now they had never seen a pregnancy before, right?
They had no reference point. Neither Adam nor Eve. So imagine the amazement as Adam watched his wife begin to grow and what he must have thought and perhaps what he might have said. Honey I notice you've been gaining a little weight lately.
What's up with that? Or Eve what's all these little socks you're knitting? I don't know if she was doing that.
Or what do you mean you want pickles and ice cream? The whole experience was so new to them. Now it does say that Adam knew his wife Eve.
That doesn't mean they were introduced here. God's saying Adam this is Eve. Eve this is Adam.
Shake on it. The word no here in Hebrew speaks of to know with intimacy. They knew each other intimately. They had sexual relations that produced this child. Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived in Borkan which is a word a name that means gotten or acquired or at least it sounds like the Hebrew word for acquired. She said I have acquired a man from the Lord. Now typically in ancient cultures it was the husband who named the child.
That's just the way those cultures came down. Here Eve names the first human born, names him Cain, saying I have acquired a man from the Lord. I have acquired or I have gotten a man from the Lord and I believe that's because of the expectation of who this child would be. I am certain that Adam and Eve believed this was the fulfillment of the promise that God made in the previous chapter in verse 15. Notice in chapter 3 verse 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman. Between your seed and her seed he will head and you will bruise his heel. So when Cain was born she said I've gotten him or this is it.
This is the acquisition. This is the one who will deliver us and bring us back to the garden and fix all that the serpent and me and us have undone. I don't think there has ever been a higher hope for a child than the hope that Adam and Eve had for Cain.
In fact some scholars believe the translation is even more forceful. That rather than saying I have acquired a man from the Lord, they insist on the literal Hebrew that could be rendered, I have acquired a man even the Lord. That there was that high expectation that this would be the Lord's Messiah, Deliverer. Well they were so happy when that baby was finally born and Adam and Eve held that precious little package in their arms thinking this is it.
I've gotten him. This is the Deliverer. Not knowing they were holding the first murderer in their arms. This child would not be what they thought this child would become. Now we don't know for sure and I'm not going to press the issue but the language and I will admit it is very scarce as to giving us information here. It could have an inference that this child was spoiled.
I mean think about it. The first child ever, ever born. Now they didn't have parenting classes Adam and Eve. No one could teach them. They were it.
They couldn't consult with friends who'd had babies before or their parents since they had none. So they just had to raise Cain. And they did. They were Abel.
You know, okay. Verse two. Then she bore again this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Now Abel means breath or vapor or that which ascends. It could speak of something temporary or it could have the idea of something ascending heavenward up toward God. Like when a sacrifice was made in the Old Testament and the smoke went up or later on incense in the tabernacle and it was ascending toward God as a form of prayer to God. Maybe it was the hope that this child will ascend to God and be a spiritual child.
Maybe even there was some favoritism as I mentioned of Cain over Abel. This is the one. This is the deliverer.
I've gotten him. And then the second child Abel. May he be as spiritual as his brother. If he's the deliverer I hope this one at least ascends and is spiritually ascendant like his brother. We don't know for sure but the language certainly could imply that.
That they were showing favoritism which will really be a setup for what is going to happen. Now the story goes on to tell us that Abel was a keeper of the sheep so he became a shepherd. Cain was a teller of the ground so he became a gardener.
It took two different roads but they were brothers. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel for his offering but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching if you want to understand something it's important to examine its foundations. That's why still that's why studying the book of Genesis is so vital to understanding the rest of the Bible. In Skip Heitzig's book You Can Understand the Book of Genesis he takes you on a fascinating journey to where it all began. From Adam and Eve and the fall of man to the birth of the nation of Israel so you can understand the amazing story of God's love and our redemption in Christ. We'll send you a copy of You Can Understand the Book of Genesis as thanks for your gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Admittedly again the text leaves a lot out as far as wording is concerned.
So we have some hints. First of all notice the phrase in verse 3 in the process of time. Literally it is at the end of days and infers that there was a set time that God prescribed they come and offer him a sacrifice. The inference is that God had given instruction no doubt to Adam and Eve and Adam and Eve passed and Adam and Eve passed it down to Cain and Abel that God required a sacrifice when they come and make an offering of worship to him. And it was no doubt based upon what they had seen in the Garden of Eden. You take an animal, you kill the animal, you offer that to God. That's what we saw the Lord do in covering our own sin boys. But here it says that Abel brought the firstborn of the flock and their fat but he didn't respect Cain in his offering because Cain verse 3 brought an offering of fruit out of the ground unto the Lord. Now what does it mean he respected it? I think it means he received it. Now this is the way I'm picturing it.
Again it may not be accurate but this is how I'm picturing it. Do you remember when the prophet Elijah was on Mount Carmel and had the little contest between the prophets, the false prophets of Baal and himself and the Lord was pleased with what Elijah had done so that fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice on the altar. It could be that fire fell from heaven and consumed this animal sacrifice thus signifying that the Lord respected what Abel had brought but nothing happened with what Cain had brought.
Now I know some of you are going to read this and think that's not fair. He brought the best that he could. He brought what he had and it was probably even more beautiful don't you think? Don't you think that the offering of the ground of grains and plants would be arranged in such a way that it was certainly more beautiful than dripping blood on a platter or on an altar of a dead animal and I'm sure that Cain would bring the sacrifice.
He was a gardener and he thought oh this is great. Look what I've done. Look what I have made. Look how I've arranged it. I'm going to bring this before the Lord.
He's really going to dig this. Abel on the other hand wasn't so excited because he was a shepherd and I don't know if you've ever seen the taking of a life of any animal. It is certainly not pleasant to see any creature die to see the throat slit of a lamb and it bleed out and lose its life. It would have made him sad. So you could say it's not fair. Look how beautiful it was and it was the very best he had. Ah but it had no blood.
That's the whole point. Now the answer is given as to this whole dilemma by turning to the New Testament book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11. I'm going to turn there and I'm going to read to you a verse which gives us the answer and tells us what's going on.
This is Hebrews 11 verse 4. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks. So it says he did it by faith. Now there's three reasons or three ways that Abel's sacrifice was superior to Cain's. Number one the kind of offering that he brought.
The kind of offering. It was a blood sacrifice and he did it by faith. That is I believe by faith that a substitution must be made.
An animal must die on my behalf. As I bring this offering before the Lord I'm making a testimony that I believe in the necessity of substitutionary atonement. And that's the idea behind verse four by faith.
He did it by faith. Cain brought what he had but he left out the blood. So the kind of sacrifice. Number two the quality of sacrifice.
The quality. There is no mention of the quality of Cain's offering. There is a mention in Genesis of the quality of Abel's sacrifice.
He says he brought the brought the firstlings and their fat or literally even the fattest ones. In other words he brought the very best he had to God. Nothing was too good for God. He didn't go out to his flock and say okay which is the weakest scrawniest sickliest lamb that's going to die anyway? I'll give that one to God. He gave the best to God.
That happens to be a pattern of giving to the Lord throughout the scripture. Rather than seeing some dumpy old thing that we have in the house that's really not doing us any good we've used it. In fact we've broken it and to look at that broken down piano or or broken piece of furniture and say let's give it to the church. We've destroyed it anyway. It's not serving us anymore. It's not really good enough for our house. Let's give it to the church.
Surely they can use it. The idea is to give God the best. When David wanted to build a temple for the Lord he was looking for a place in a high place in Jerusalem which is today the temple mount was at that time the threshing floor of Arana and he went to him and said I want to buy your land.
Arana said you're the king. You're doing it for God. I'll give it to you and David said no.
I will not offer to the Lord burnt offerings from that which cost me nothing. It's got to cost me. I've got to feel it.
It's got to pinch. So you give it to me. You sell it to me for full price and I'll buy it and we'll build a temple and God can have sacrifices at that temple.
So the kind of offering, the quality of offering and third the character behind the offering. Now watch this. Verse five he did not respect back in Genesis 4 verse 5 he did not respect Cain and his offering and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain why are you angry and why is your countenance fallen? He just it was moping. He was bummed out. God said why are thou bummed out? If you do well will you not be accepted?
Did you notice the wording? If you do well, if you live right, if you're practicing truth in your own personal life. If you do well will you not be accepted? If you do not do well sin is lying or crouching at the door and its desire is for you but you should rule over it. God never separates the worship that you bring from the worshiper that brings whatever it is you bring. He always looks at the heart of the worshiper. He looks at the worship but he attaches the outward form of worship whatever it might be. The raising of hands, the singing of songs, the giving of time, the giving of treasure and he looks at a person's heart and here Cain is showing his true colors.
He's showing his heart. He's angry and he's got murder in his heart. The seed of murder is in the heart because the seed of murder is what? Anger.
Anger. Jesus said you've heard that it was said in times of old you shall not murder but I say unto you if you're angry at your brother without a cause you've already committed murder. Cain was a murderer in his heart long before Cain was a murderer with his hands and so he brings the sacrifice. He brings the worshiper.
Now keep this in mind, the Bible never talks about Cain as if he's some heathen, some pagan. He's a worshiper. He's a false worshiper.
He's bringing his own stuff that would bring a sense of pride and he's angry. He's got the wrong attitude so God says if you do well will you not be accepted. Jesus in Matthew chapter 15 quoting Isaiah spoke about the worshippers in Jerusalem in Israel. He said well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying this people draws near to me with their lips but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me. It's interesting we judge worship outwardly. The same group that would say it's not fair for God not to respect what Cain brought is the same group who would look outwardly at worship I believe. See let's say you take two people in a worship service and you see one person with the hands raised and they're even swaying a little bit and they're singing loudly and clearly and tears are rolling down their cheeks there's such an intensity we would look at that and say boy that person is really worshiping but if we catch somebody out of the corner of our eye and their hands are sort of like this or their hands are down and they're just sort of saying the words but they're not singing too loudly we might judge them and say that person needs to learn how to worship. I got to get this crowd motivated but what is worship? It all begins with the heart and it's possible to raise the hands and sing loudly and be intense while you're thinking they're going to notice me as my hands are raised and as I sing really loud and especially with these tears they're going to think I'm really worshiping. Now you've entered into a danger zone right or maybe they're thinking look at that outfit that she's wearing or I don't like this song.
I never really like this song or this is going way too long. It's possible to say something with our lips but not be engaged with the heart. Do you remember the story Jesus told of the two men that went up to the temple to pray the Pharisee and the tax collector and Jesus said the Pharisee, listen to this, the Pharisee prayed thus with himself.
Interesting description. Is it possible to pray not to God but to yourself? Uh-huh. You pray it you say it out loud and you listen to yourself you go you know that was pretty good. That was a pretty cool prayer. This is what he prayed, God I thank you that I'm not like other people. And he got so impressed with himself wasn't any true worship in that at all.
Cain brought worship but the character behind the worship was lacking the kind of offering he brought the quality of offering that he brought and then the character that's behind it all those three would make God accept one and reject the other. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go remember that when you give fifty dollars or more to help people in need of worship and you give fifty dollars or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Pastor Skip's insightful book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, to help you better understand the story of God's great love and his amazing plan for our redemption. To request your copy of You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
