DWDP Genesis 4:3-5 - Why God Rejected Cain's Offering

Send us a text

What happens when pride leads us to reject God's standards? In this illuminating episode of Devotions with Dr. Papa, we dive deep into the biblical account of history's first siblings and humanity's first murder. Drawing from Genesis 4:2-5, Dr. Jackson expertly unravels the profound spiritual lessons hidden within this ancient story that remain startlingly relevant today.

Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's? The answer transcends their occupations as shepherd and farmer. Abel, described as both "righteous" and a "prophet" by Jesus himself, offered his sacrifice in faith and obedience. Meanwhile, Cain—whom Scripture identifies as "of the wicked one"—rebelliously presented what he wanted to give rather than what God required. This fundamental difference reveals the true condition of their hearts and foreshadows the tragic consequences that would follow.

Dr. Papa masterfully connects this ancient narrative to our modern spiritual struggles, highlighting how pride—thinking our way is better than God's way—lies at the root of all sin. Through a compelling personal story about confronting a friend caught in infidelity, he demonstrates the stark contrast between responding to truth with humble repentance versus Cain's path of anger and resentment. The lesson becomes crystal clear: "A wise man receives the rebuke of a friend, but a foolish man, a proud man like Cain, does not."

This episode reminds us that our hope must be built on "nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness" and that God rejects our man-made substitutes for salvation just as He rejected Cain's offering. Whether you're struggling with pride, facing difficult truth in your life, or simply seeking deeper biblical understanding, this powerful teaching offers timeless wisdom for your spiritual journey. Listen now and discover what it truly means to approach God on His terms, not our own.

Support the show

https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.com

https://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more
than enough for the ills thatplague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Papa, can you tell me a story?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Do you really want me to tell you a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let's look into the written
Word, which reveals to us theliving Word, which is our Lord

(00:43):
Jesus Christ.
Well, today we're in Genesis,chapter 4, and we're going to
read verses 2 through 5.
Again, she gave birth to hisbrother, abel, and Abel was a
keeper of flocks, but Cain was atiller of the ground.
So it came about in the courseof time that Cain brought an

(01:05):
offering to the Lord of thefruit of the ground.
Abel, on his part, also broughtof the firstlings of his flock
and of their fat portions.
And the Lord had regard forAbel and for his offering, but
for Cain and for his offering hehad no regard.
So Cain became very angry andhis countenance fell.

(01:30):
Well, abel's name means vapor.
Already, eve was observing theconsequences of sin in the world
around her, resulting in thedeath of plants and animals.
Naming him Vapor was prophetic,although she did not know it at

(01:55):
that time.
The Bible tells us that Abelkept flocks.
Cain was a farmer.
Both of these are honorableprofessions.
One of my uncles was a farmerand he used to say to me he who
tills the sod, he worships God.
Although both had honorableprofessions, one of them was not

(02:20):
an honorable man.
From the Apostle John in 1 John,chapter 3 and verse 12, we
learn that Cain was of thewicked one and was thus the
first in a long line of theserpent's seed.
Abel, the younger brother, onthe other hand, was of the

(02:44):
household of faith.
He is the first one mentionedin the long line of men of faith
in Hebrews 11, verse 4.
Let's see what the Bible saysabout Abel in Hebrews 11.
By faith, abel offered to God abetter sacrifice than Cain,

(03:09):
through which he obtained thetestimony that he was righteous,
god testifying about his gifts,and through faith.
Though he is dead, he stillspeaks.
So you see that the fact thathe offered a sacrifice from his
flocks that was in compliancewith God's command, in obedience

(03:34):
to God's command, it wascredited to him as righteousness
, credited to him by his faithas righteousness.
More than that, and of greatinterest to you and me, is that
Jesus, in Matthew, called Abelrighteous and he calls him a

(03:58):
prophet.
By definition, a prophet is atruth teller.
Now, be honest, it's hard tolive with a compulsive truth
teller.
Can some of you out there sayamen?
I heard that it's hard to livewith a compulsive truth teller.

(04:20):
Truth-teller especially if theWord of God burns like a fire in
their belly.
Like the prophets of old, acompulsive truth-teller cannot
let sin slide.
They will call it out or die.
They will tell you the truth ofthe gospel or die.

(04:44):
They have a bad case of thecan't help it.
They can't help themselves.
When they see sin, they'regoing to call it out.
When they have an opportunityto share the gospel, they're
going to do it.
Now, abel was both a righteousman and a prophet.

(05:06):
When you are a sinner, you canrespond to a righteous,
compulsive truth-teller in oneof two ways you can embrace the
truth and love the truth-teller,or you can reject the truth and
hate that prophet, which iswhat Cain did because he was of

(05:32):
the wicked one.
The Jews rejected multiple OldTestament prophets who spoke
truth to them, such as Jeremiah,who they tried to kill, and
Zechariah, whom they did in factkill.
Jezebel and Ahab hunted Elijahlike a dog in order to kill him.

(05:56):
Why?
Because he was both righteousand a truth-teller.
He spoke for God.
If there's a truth teller inyour life, may I encourage you
to be humble.
Humble your heart and say youknow you're right.

(06:19):
Then turn to God and confessyour sin and ask Holy Spirit to
set you free, because thescripture says it was for
freedom that Christ hath set youfree.
Now let's go back to verses 3, 4, and 5 in Genesis, all the way

(06:42):
back to chapter 4.
It came about in the course oftime that Cain brought an
offering to the Lord of thefruit of the ground.
Abel, on his part, also broughtof the firstlings of his flock
and of their fat portions.
And the Lord had regard forAbel and for his offering.

(07:04):
But for Cain and for hisoffering he had no regard.
And what happened?
So Cain became very angry andhis countenance fell.
Cain provided food for thefamily, abel provided clothing,
clothing and lambs for sacrifice.

(07:27):
Adam and Eve no doubt passeddown the hard lesson that they
had learned Atonement, orcovering of sin required a blood
sacrifice.
Why?
The life is in the blood andpenalty for sin is death.

(07:49):
The soul that sins shall surelydie.
Exodus 34, 7 explains that morefully.
You've heard me say before thatsome folks just have the devil
in them and, as the Apostle Johnsays, the truth is not in them.

(08:11):
As it turns out, this was trueof Cain.
How can two sons raised in thesame house turn out so
differently?
Differently, abel was calledrighteous and a prophet, cain

(08:31):
was of the wicked one.
We ask that same question often, don't we?
Well, you understand, childrenmake their own choices, and Cain
made his own choice.
He knew that God required ablood sacrifice.
He knew that God required ablood sacrifice to cover sin and

(08:54):
in order to commune with him.
Nevertheless, he rebelledagainst that notion, possibly
against the admonition of hisrighteous, truth-telling brother
, and he brought produce fromhis garden rather than a lamb,

(09:19):
knowing full well it would notbe accepted by God.
He was a rebel at heart, intenton doing things his own way,
intent on spiting righteous Abeland defying God.
With a prideful heart, heoffered his fruit and vegetables

(09:43):
rather than the lamb prescribedby God.
Perhaps he resented having totrade his produce for a lamb
from the prophet's flock, whoknows?
But at any rate, his heart wasnot right with God.

(10:03):
Nor was his gift offered infaith, as was his brother's lamb
.
Therefore, god rejected hisgift.
Now read Hebrews 11, 4 again andyou'll understand it.
By faith, abel offered to God abetter sacrifice than than Cain

(10:25):
, through which he obtained thetestimony that he was righteous.
God testifying about his giftsand through faith.
Though he is dead, he stillspeaks, isn't that true?
Abel still testifies that byfaith, he chose to obey God and

(10:47):
was therefore declared righteous.
Cain still speaks, too, andtestifies that he rebelled
against God, choosing to offer agift that God rejected.
God rejected Cain's man-madesubstitute, just like God

(11:11):
rejects our man-madeself-righteousness.
That's why it's so importantfor us to comprehend that
nothing can erase a single sinexcept the blood of the Lamb.
Your and my hope, our hope, isbuilt on nothing less than

(11:35):
Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetestframe, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name, on Christ, the solid rockI stand.
All other ground is sinkingsand.
All other ground is sinkingsand.

(11:59):
Well, cain's proud countenancefell that day and became angry.
This rejection revealed whatwas really in his heart all
along.
He became angry at God, but histruth-telling brother, who had
no doubt discerned this prideissue in his brother's heart and

(12:24):
had warned him about it allalong, even before this time
received the brunt of his anger.
Now let me ask you, what's theroot of all sin?
You know the answer to thatit's pride, thinking that my way
is better than God's way.
And Cain's pride could notallow him to accept his

(12:48):
righteous, truth-tellingbrother's rebuke.
So he finally had all he couldstand and he refused to purchase
a lamb with his produce.
And he, with a prideful heart,presented his produce instead of
a lamb.
His pride got the better of him.

(13:11):
Now let me share a story fromthe country doctor's rusty,
dusty scrapbook.
Probably 25 years ago I had ameeting with a business
associate and he called me onhis cell phone to tell me that
he would be a little bit late.
And he obviously had me on athree-way call and he thought he

(13:33):
had hung up from me.
And the phone actually did nothang up.
And I was looking at my phone,my cell phone, and I realized
the call had not hung up.
And he switched to the otherperson on the three-way call and
it was a woman, not his wife.
And I heard him say to thiswoman that he was arranging a

(13:59):
rendezvous with her and I washorrified to hear him make very
careful arrangements with herfor this rendezvous.
And then he hung up and lessthan 10 minutes later he arrived
at our meeting place.
Now, during that 10 minutes, Ihad to make a decision.
This man was a friend of mine.

(14:21):
He was a Christian brother.
I knew his wife.
Was I going to just let itslide or was I going to say
something about it?
Well, I did some fast praying.
He shows up for the businessmeeting and before we even
started I looked at him and Isaid, brother, I have to confess
I was on your three-way phonecall and I heard everything you

(14:44):
had to say to that other woman.
Now, my friend could have doneone of two things he could have
bowed up in anger and stormedout of the meeting like Cain, or
he could have humbled himselfand asked me what to do, which
is exactly what he did.
He put his face in his handswith embarrassment, he actually

(15:05):
put his face on the table.
He was so mortified and withouteven looking at me, he was so
embarrassed.
He said, brother, I'm so sorry,you heard that and I'm so
embarrassed.
And without even looking up, hesaid what should I do?
And I said, brother, youalready know what you need to do
.
I said you need to break it offwith this other woman and I

(15:27):
said you need to confess to Godand you need to go home and make
it right with your wife and youneed to do it all today before
the sun goes down.
And then you need to call meback and let me know that you've
done all of those three things.
And we never even finished ourbusiness meeting.
He just got up from the table,he got in his car and he left

(15:48):
and before supper time was overthat night he had called me back
and he had done all those threethings.
And that was over 25 years agoand he's still happily married,
he's still active in his churchand he's still my very good
friend.
And I want you to understandthat a wise man receives the

(16:10):
rebuke of a friend, but afoolish man, a proud man like
Cain, does not.
And next week's lesson we'regoing to see the consequences of
a foolish and angry man, aproud man like Cain.
We're going to see theconsequences in his life of

(16:31):
being angry and being proud andnot being willing to receive the
rebuke of a righteous man.
You're listening to Devotionswith Dr Papa.
If you like what you hear, Ipray that you would like it.
Follow it, share it, downloadit, tell your friends about it.
We'll be back again next week,and until then, may the Lord

(16:53):
bless you real good.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Thank you for listening to this edition of
More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry or to
schedule a speaking engagement,go to their Facebook page,
instagram or webpage atjacksonfamilyministrycom.
Also, don't forget to check outDr Jackson's books that are
available on Amazon His thirdbook Turkey Tales and Bible

(17:17):
Truths, and his father'sbiography on Laughter Silvered
Wings the story of a countrydoctor, a family man, a patriot
and a political activist.
This podcast is produced by BobSloan Audio Productions.