Abel: A Man of Passion

Background

After the fall of the human race, Adam and his wife were cast out of the holy garden, to settle east of Eden. The first family was cast away from the sanctuary (Eden, the place of communion with God), to a land of danger where God was invisible to them. It is in their migration that they keep the dominion mandate and have Cain (the gotten one), their first child. It is unknown how many children they had prior to Cain, but the idea is that Cain was the first child, then Abel who was the second, then other sons and daughters prior to the birth of Seth [(Genesis 4:14) (I’m getting ahead of myself)].

Enter Abel

As previously stated Abel was the second child to be born to Adam and Eve. In the text there is no prose given to suggest the reason why he was given this name but, in Hebrew his name means “vapor or breath.” It is interesting to note that the idea of vapor in the Bible is usually meant symbolize something that is “here today and gone tomorrow,” this is the author of Ecclesiastes’ favorite word. Therefore, his name seems to be prophetic in that Abel would have a relatively short life. Both brothers had occupations as they grew; Cain was in charge of farming and Abel was in charge of the pasture (raising animals). In those days, both Cain and Abel were supposed to offer first fruit sacrifices to the Lord. This is probably the continuation of what Adam was supposed to do in Eden. In the book of Leviticus, the priests were to offer the first fruits of the land and since Adam was a priest in the tabernacle (Eden) he was to offer the first fruits of his land. Abel offered his firstborn animals to the Lord and he was pleased, Cain did not offer the first of his harvest and the Lord was displeased. It was not so much what Cain and Abel offered that was pleasing/displeasing, it was the mode and reason for the offering. Like previously stated Cain and Abel were supposed to be offering the first of their harvest, the scriptures say that Abel offered the “pleasing sacrifice” which was the “firstborn” and it does not say that Cain offered the first of his harvest. So by consequence one can say that Cain offered God whatever he found in his garden. This was a violation of the second commandment by trying to worship God his own way. This was climax of both of their lives. Abel showed his “faith” (Hebrews 11:4) by offering what was in accord with the law and Cain showed his disbelief by rebelling against God. In verse six, God offered repentance toward Cain but he further hardened his heart to the act of murder. Cain murdered Abel and was the first recorded act of murder in the Bible. This action was the consequence of him violating the law written upon the hearts of man. In verse nine we see that God cursed Cain’s because Abel’s blood was “crying” (Genesis 4:10) for vengeance. Cain was cursed to live a life of a “vagrant” (Genesis 4:11) and was unable to produce anything from the ground. This is seemingly why his ancestors weren’t really known for their agricultural pursuits and ate animals before man was given the right to eat animals. However, God gave grace to Cain by giving him the “mark” (Genesis 4:15) so he would not be killed, while trying to curb the murder of human beings.

Implications

There are two major implications that happened as a result of the life of Abel. The murder of Abel caused two spiritual lines in human history (1 John 3:12; Matthew 23:35), the line of Cain and the line of Abel. The line of Cain would be filled bloodshed, hate, persecution of the godly, and sexual immorality. While the line of Abel would be filled with: obedience, persecution from evildoers and chastity. Furthermore, the life he lead would be a type of Christ. As Abel lived to be obedient and was martyred fort it, so would Christ who lived a life without sin and suffered under the hands of ungodly men. But unlike Abel, Christ’s blood “spoke” (Hebrews 12:24) better since, Abel’s blood cried for vengeance, Christ’s blood cried for the atonement of his elect. Abel lived a life of passionate obedience towards God, even unto death, let us carry on the legacy he gave to us, the legacy of passionate obedience.

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