Did Cain and Abel Have Instructions on Sacrifice?

Did Cain and Abel have precise instructions on the question of Sacrifice? What is meant by the statement in Hebrews 11:4 that “By faith Abel offered up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain”?

We are not told in Genesis that Cain and Abel had been instructed how and what they were required to sacrifice, but the fact that they brought offerings indicates that some teaching on the subject had come to them, probably through their parents. Neither are we told, and this is important, in what category the offerings of the two brothers are to be placed. We read later in the O.T. of burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, offerings of the first fruits, drink offerings, and so on, but the regulations governing these offerings in the days of the Levitical priesthood may not have applied in exactly the same ways when there were only four human beings on the earth. For example, the later stipulations involving the use of an altar and the services of a priest are clearly inapplicable to the time of Cain and Abel.

The record in Genesis 4 seems to us to suggest that the offerings brought by these two men were in the nature of a thank offering or freewill offering. We read: “Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.” The words regarding Abel, that “he also brought...” denote that there was a similarity between the actions of the two brothers, where as some would argue that there was no similarity, but only contrast.

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Author: P. H. Adams

Keywords: Cain and Abel, Abel and Cain, Cain's sacrifice, sacrifice, blood sacrifice, more excellent sacrifice

Bible reference(s): Gen 4:3-5, Gen 4:7, 1Jo 3:12

Source: “Problems,” The Testimony, Vol. 14, No. 168, December 1944, pp. 243-4.

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