By Faith, Abel – Hebrews 11

By Faith, Abel, Hebrews 11 Series, July 28, 2019, Cornerstone Community Church, Kouts, IN.

Genesis 4:1-10
Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!

Abel’s story: a tale of two offerings, and two offerers.
Abel – Hebrew “Hevel”, same word as Ecclesiastes 1:2 and other verses, “merest breath, temporary, fleeting”. Some translations in Ecclesiastes: meaningless, utter futility, vanity, but “breath” is closest. Could refer to the shortness of his life, as Ecclesiastes refers to all of our short lives on earth.

Cain: Hebrew meaning acquired.

NOTE: offerings weren’t instituted until Moses. Both grain and animal offerings were required.

Cain: some of the grain. Abel: fat portions from some of the first-born of his flock.

Abel’s offering required blood.
Genesis 3:15 hints at the blood, when God says to the serpent that Eve’s offspring (messiah) would crush his head, but the serpent would bruise his heel.
Messiah would crush Satan, but would shed his blood in the process.

Genesis 3:21 the first sacrifice, when God made garments of skin (from dead animals) to clothe Adam and Eve and COVER THEIR SHAME. The first leather jackets!

Leviticus 17:10 The life is in the blood. Although both grain and blood offerings were in the law, it was a complete program. Blood offerings were always part of the whole system. Even the poor could bring pigeons or doves (i.e. Joseph and Mary) rather than bulls or goats or lambs, but blood was still required to atone for sin.

However, not just the offering, but the persons, the hearts. (God looks at the heart). For Eve, Cain was her firstborn, Abel almost an afterthought. But the LORD had regard for Abel AND his offering, but not for Cain AND his offering.

Cain manifested his bad heart by his actions.

Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

Abel acted in FAITH, and still speaks through his faith.

Types – Abel
Heb. 10:1 tells us that the law (Old Testament) is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves.
Jesus said that all of the Old Testament was about him
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.
Luke 24:27 (road to Emmaus) And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Abel: a forerunner in many ways:
first type of the Messiah, as Abel’s blood was shed and he died for his faith.
The first martyr
First to enter heaven
First shepherd (like Jesus the Good Shepherd). The sacrifices in the law were all intended to foreshadow the Messiah, the Lamb of God, who would by a single sacrifice, take away our sins.

Jay shared last week about the concepts of time and eternity. Jesus and the work he would do was already a reality in eternity when Abel offered his sacrifice, and I think Abel had faith in that. Probably heard the promise in Gen 3:15 from his parents.

Later in Heb. 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (Hevel!) named after Abel.

Old Testament people lived by faith in the Messiah just as we do, only they looked ahead, we look back.

In many ways, Abel was the father of all of them, listed first in Hebrews 11 (note that Adam is not listed). He may have offered his blood sacrifice because he believed the promise of Genesis 3:15, that the Messiah would come and suffer for us all.

Abel: his heart for God, his faith in offering the sacrifice, makes him a type of us! Those of us who trust in the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all of our sins.

Types – Cain
Cain: a type of the world,
hating the good, hating Abel because of his faith and favor with God.
Father of religion, going through the motions of religious worship without the heart.
Father of the Pharisees, obsessed with keeping the laws but hating the Messiah in their midst and killing him.
Father of all persecutors of the faithful, a type of the antichrist.
Matthew 23:35 (Jesus, talking to the religious leaders of his day, spiritual ancestors of Cain) So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Abel = relationship
Cain = religion

Sacrifices
The OT was never about only obeying the law and offering the sacrifices.
Hebrews 11:13 again, they looked ahead in faith. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Sacrifices were only acceptable if the heart was right. Abel and Cain were the first examples of that concept.

As David and Amos write:
Psalm 51:16-19 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God. In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Amos 5:21-24 I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

Today’s bad sacrifices: Going to church, doing our “religious” things” for show, out of obligation, or any reason other than pleasing God. Anything we do outside of faith!
Our right sacrifices flow out of our faith in, and love for God. Out of his presence in us, his Holy Spirit. Out of broken and humble hearts, out of the righteousness Jesus gives us.

Abel is still speaking
By FAITH: Romans 12:1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
By FAITH, let’s consider ourselves strangers and aliens, Hevel, on this earth, and give our lives and hearts as a sacrifice to God.
Jesus in John 14:15 if you love me, you will keep (obey) my commands. Heidi Baker’s interpretation: Lord, I love you so much, how can I say no?

Simple relationship and obedience. Seeking God.
“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of consecration is?” Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and to let God fill it in as He will.” – The Baptist Challenge

Isaiah 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Offering our bodies as living sacrifices is like writing a blank check to God; we authorize Him to do anything he wants to do with our lives.

Matthew 16:25 For whoever would save his life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. A living sacrifice is trading in our lives for the one Jesus will live through us!
Simple, but hard. The more we can die to ourselves and allow him to fully live in us, experiencing his presence the greater our joy, whatever our circumstances!

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. We often think of a sacrifice as something painful, bad. Our lives given to God will have pain and trouble, but joy unspeakable! Abundant and to the full!

Examples:
Richard Wurmbrand, wrote Tortured for Christ and founded Voice of the Martyrs. Romanian pastor persecuted for his faith under Communism.
Darlene Deibler Rose, wrote Evidence Not Seen. Missionary in Indonesia imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. Amazing story of her relationship with the Lord in hard times.