Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.”
Most people know the story of Cain and Abel; however, the only part some know is just that Cain murdered Abel. What has been lost in modern times is the reason why Cain wanted to kill his brother in the first place. In the above passage the author of Hebrews reminds his readers that by faith Abel “brought God a better offering than Cain.” Thus, Cain killed Abel out of jealousy because of his brother’s offering!
Genesis 4:3-7 records, “3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
The reason why Abel’s offering was accepted is because he gave God the best from his flock- the first born. And the reason why Cain’s offering was rejected was because “in the course of time” he gave God whatever he had leftover from his fruits. Consequently, God told Cain that if did what was right like Abel (give his first and best), He would bless him too. However, if he allowed the sin of jealously to stay in his heart it would master him. Eventually, we know that Cain refused to do what Abel did and thus was conquered by his sin and murdered his own brother, Genesis 4:8.
The lesson of faith we can learn from Abel is: to always put God first in our finances and give Him our best. The modern way of doing this would be in your tithes and offerings. By faith, always give God 10% of your total income and prayerfully give an offering above that from your remaining 90% to sow seed into God’s kingdom.
Reflection
Do you have faith in God to give Him your best when it comes to money?
Action
- Read what God teaches about tithes and offerings in Malachi 3:6-12.
- Put your full trust and belief in what God says concerning your finances in regards to tithes and offerings.
- Like Abel, by faith, be a committed giver (of tithes and offerings) to your local church and receive God’s blessings, Matthew 6:19-21!
