Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve’s first two children, or at least, their first two male children. For some reason, the Bible doesn’t mention Eve ever having any daughters. Either she just didn’t have any, and God made more people so that the children of Adam and Eve could find spouses, or, they were considered to be not worth mentioning (a lot of literature from Ancient times is like that, females of the species were somewhat undervalued).
In any case, the Bible tells us that Abel raised animals, and Cain farmed fruits and vegetables. The Bible tells us that Abel offered unto God the firstlings of his flocks. It also tells us that Cain offered unto God from what he grew in the field. God respected Abel’s offering, and blessed him, but God didn’t respect Cain’s offering. We are never specifically told why that was. Perhaps Cain did not offer enough, or perhaps he didn’t offer the right thing (the Law of Moses would indicate that God has a preference for animal sacrifices).
I don’t really think that what we are talking about is a lack of whichever things were being sacrificed to God. I suspect that it would have been written down if Cain’s sacrifice had not been of the appropriate volume. It might have been difficult for Cain to be sure what the appropriate amount was that he should be sacrificing, but if he was jealous of the kind of blessing that Abel was getting, I think that he would have made a comparison of the amount of sacrifice and, if necessary, increased his. I suspect that he may have done just that, only to find that it didn’t make any difference. I know if I was jealous of a reward that my brother was getting in return for something he was doing, my first immediate action would be to do exactly what he was doing, only more and better.
It’s also possible that the real question wasn’t so much how much of, but what. As I mentioned before, the Law of Moses lists different things that should be sacrificed for different offenses, everything from turtledoves to lambs, but very little in terms of plant life. Perhaps Cain should have traded some grain with his brother for a lamb that he could have sacrificed. It may have been a matter of pride; Cain thinking that he shouldn’t have to rely on his brother in order to please God. At the same time, surely they did trade back and forth: Abel would have wanted potatoes to go with his steak, or bread to make sandwiches… I also have a hard time believing that Cain was a vegetarian, anyway. So, would it really have been a big deal to Cain to offer a sacrifice to God something that he had gotten in trade from Abel? Probably not. To be honest, though, I think that God would have accepted a sacrifice of corn or wheat or even flour from Cain if that had been the best that Cain had to offer.
Maybe it really stems from the attitude of their respective hearts. The Bible does specifically tell us that Abel offered the first fruits; it makes no such claim about Cain. This would tend to indicate that Cain didn’t respect God in the same way that Abel did; no wonder God didn’t respect Cain. Of course, you kind of have to wonder why no one ever explained to Cain what it was that he was doing wrong. Maybe someone did, and he just disregarded it. The Bible does tell us that God suggested to Cain that if he did well, he would be accepted, but apparently Cain disregarded what God told him. Perhaps no one else realized that Cain wasn’t offering the first fruits of his harvest. That is something that really would have been between Cain and God, because it’s really a matter of attitude. It’s hard to be sure what is in someone else’s heart. Sometimes people do all the right things for all the wrong reasons, and God sees, but the rest of think that person is doing well. Other people end up getting so many things wrong, and yet, in their hearts, have a real love and devotion for God, and God sees that, too, but the rest of us just see a failure. Adam and Eve, and even Abel, may not have realized that Cain was doing wrong, up until he invented murder.
One interesting thing, as an aside: After God confronted Cain about Abel’s death; He put a mark on Cain. Many people seem to think that the mark was a scarlet letter of sorts, that it let every one know what Cain had done wrong. This is not the case; the mark was there to show that Cain was under God’s protection, and that no man was to try to exact vengeance for the death of Abel.

Creation

I heard a comment the other day that the creation account in Genesis is ‘ridiculous’ because the herbs and grasses and trees were created the day before the sun was. This is true, plants were created on day three, and the sun and moon on day four. That’s an interesting point, and, to be honest, that slipped by me before. On the face of it, that does seem some kind of odd, to say the least. My first instinct was to reply that plants don’t need light every day, just because they were created 24 hours before the sun, doesn’t really mean that there was a problem. That didn’t seem right to me; there had to be a better answer, and not just because I don’t believe that the days in Genesis were necessarily the 24-hour days that we have now. Of course, any of us that have read about people growing illicit marijuana plants indoors under artificial light, realize that you don’t need sunlight for plants to grow, you just need light. God created light on day one…
Another comment about Creation was made that in Genesis chapter 1 it says that on the sixth day God created man, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. This would have been two days after God created plants, as mentioned above. But, in chapter two, it says that God created Adam first, and then created ‘the garden’, and created Eve later. Why does Genesis 1 say that God created man and woman at the same time, two days after creating plants, and then Genesis 2 says that God created man first, then plants, and then the woman? Let me point out first that Genesis 1 doesn’t say that God created man and woman at the same time, only on the same day. Granted, it’s declared in one verse in the first chapter, but spread out over several verses in chapter two, which can create the impression that little or no time has passed between the creation of man and woman in the first chapter, while also creating the impression that a great deal of time has passed between the two in the second chapter. Notice that there is no mention of nightfall between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve (although Adam did sleep—prophecy of general anesthesia?). As far as the creation of plants, chapter 1 says He created the plants, chapter 2 says He planted a garden; that’s not the same thing (ask anyone who’s ever planted a garden). So, chapter 1 gives us a general overview of Creation, but then chapter 2 gives us details about the creation of man.
Side note: I mentioned general anesthesia earlier; of course, God didn’t have to use general anesthesia to remove Adam’s rib, He could have used local anesthesia and kept it extremely local. When I heard about this as a kid, it made sense to me, because I didn’t know about local anesthesia. As an adult, I realize that part of the reason that the surgeons who prefer general is that it keeps the patient from moving around. That wouldn’t be a problem for God, either. So why did God put Adam to sleep? I don’t know, but I’m sure it seemed like the best idea at the time. If I had to guess, my best guess that God knew Adam well enough to know that Adam would have serious issues at watching his side open up, and a part of himself come out, and then watching the wound miraculously heal. It might have given him nightmares for life.
Another criticism: After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, and then heard God’s voice, they hid themselves. God called out, “Where art thou?” What kind of omnipotent God loses track of His creation? How could He not know where Adam and Eve were? Generally, I don’t hear that criticism from parents, because we, as parents, understand that. When we know our children are doing something they shouldn’t, we will frequently ask questions that we know the answers to, to try to encourage them to confess. Just because He asked the question, it doesn’t necessarily follow that He didn’t know the answer. I’ve heard that in law school, they teach prospective lawyers that they should never ask a question unless they already know the answer. God never does, either.