1. What was the name of the first son of Adam and Eve? "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." (Genesis 4:1)
2. What was the name of the second son? "And she again bare his brother Abel." (Genesis 4:2)
3. What, occupation did each follow? "And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." (Genesis 4:2)
4. What offering did Cain bring to the Lord? "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." (Genesis 4:3)
5. What was Abel's offering? "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" (Genesis 4:4)
6. How did the Lord regard Abel's offering? "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." (Genesis 4:4)
7. How did the Lord regard Cain's offering? "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." (Genesis 4:5)
8. What made Abel's offering more acceptable than Cain's? "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." (Hebrews 11:4)
9. What did Abel obtain by his offering? "By which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaks." (Hebrews 11:4)
10. What was the defect in Cain's offering? "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22)
11. Then since Cain did not take the proper steps to secure the remission of sins, what lay at his door? "If you do well, Shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him." (Genesis 4:7)
12. Through whose blood alone may remission of sins he obtained? "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." (Romans 3:23-25)
13. Then since Abel was accepted, in whom must he have had faith? "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:10-12)
14. What is the highest attainment of faith? "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)
"For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)
15. Since Abel was justified, was not his faith in Christ as perfect as ours can be?
16. What did Cain do to Abel? "And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." (Genesis 4:8)
17. Why did he do this? "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." (1 John 3:11-12)
18. Of what scripture was Abel the first to demonstrate the truth? "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)
19. Is it any wonder if the world hates the righteous? "If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." (John 15:18-20)
20. How should the righteous feel when they are persecuted for their faith? "Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12)
21. What consolation has the Christian in all tribulation? "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
Notes:
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." (Hebrews 11:4)
The difference between the two offerings was in the matter of faith. That is, it was faith in Abel, and a lack of faith in Cain, that made the offerings different.
By bringing "of the firstlings of his flock," Abel showed his faith in the fact that "without shedding of blood is no remission," and in the Lamb of God, whose blood alone can cleanse from sin. By this sacrifice he obtained witness that he was righteous. Here was a case of justification (making righteous) by faith. As with the woman in the days of Christ, (Matthew 9:22) so with Abel, his faith made him whole.
The same witness, and in exactly the same measure, may be obtained in this generation. Says Paul: "You have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:15-16)
And the beloved disciple says: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself; he that believes not God has made Him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." (1 John 5:9-11)
This witness is not primarily a certain feeling of pardon, but is the assurance of God's word, than which there can be no better witness. He who believes this witness, and knows that his sins are forgiven because he has complied with the conditions upon which God has promised that He will certainly pardon, will find joy and peace in believing. But the joy and peace will never come until the witness of God is accepted, for the sole reason that it is the word of God.
Although (Genesis 4:6-7) are not quoted in the lesson, the thorough student will certainly read them in studying the context, and the thoughtful student will wonder what their force may be. From the Authorized Version the reader gets the idea that Abel's desire would be to Cain, and that Cain would rule over him. But this seems forced and unnatural, because it is sin that the Lord is talking about, and Abel is not once mentioned in God's talk to Cain at this time.
Every Bible reader must have noticed that the masculine pronoun is often used to designate a neuter object, and by substituting the neuter for the masculine in this place the meaning will be more apparent. Following are the verses, with the marginal reading, as given in the Revised Version.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you wroth? and why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over it." (Genesis 4:6-7, RV)
This is harmonious throughout. Cain had not yet committed his great sin, but he was envious of Abel. Those envious feelings if not repressed would result, as they finally did, in murder, for in envy murder lies concealed.
So the Lord represented sin as a wild beast, just ready to spring upon its prey. It was there beside Cain's door, and its desire was to him; but as yet he had the power to rule over it, and drive it away. In this we are taught to shun the beginnings of sin.
"Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15)
Therefore the thoughts should be carefully guarded.
"Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)--Signs of the Times, January 20, 1888--Lesson 4 - Sabbath, January 28--Genesis 4.
E.J. Waggoner