“And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” (Gen 4:4-5).
Abel was a sheepherder.
He took care of sheep. Cain was a tiller of the land. He took care of crops. When it came time to offer God a sacrifice, Abel took the firstlings of his flock, that is the first and best of his sheep, and offered them as a sacrifice to the Lord. God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice and accepted it.
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground (Gen 4:3) as an offering unto the Lord, but God rejected Cain’s sacrifice. Why did God accept Abel’s offering while rejecting Cain’s?
The answer is there was no blood involved with Cain’s sacrifice. The Bible teaches that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11); that “without shedding of blood is no remission “of sin (Heb 9:22). God has chosen blood to be the only cleansing agent for sin and no other sacrifice will work. This is why no amount of good works or religious rituals can atone for sin.
It takes blood, and not animal blood. The animal blood of the Old Testament only covered man’s sin until the blood of Jesus was shed which washes away sin.
His blood alone is the only blood that will cleanse you of your sin.
Cain who tried to atone for his sins by a false sacrifice of good works. Abel came to God through the blood. And we can only be acceptable to God through the blood of Jesus. Only then can we be clean of sin and stand righteous before the Father.
