"By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks". (Hebrews 11:4)
When reading Hebrews 11, I usually read right past verse 4. In the past, guess I never really understood what it meant. I mean, the story about Cain and Abel is one we're all very familiar with. So okay, Abel gave a better sacrifice than Cain.. God was pleased with Abel.. but Cain got mad and killed Abel his brother, seemingly out of jealousy..
But what's this really saying? Is it just a story about brother's fighting? Was it all about Cain's anger management issues? And what does it mean "through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks". What's that mean? I don't remember Abel ever saying a word.
I decided to go back and read the story in Genesis one more time..
"So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3-5)
Notice what Cain gave and compare it to what Abel gave.. Cain gave an offering from the fruit of the ground, but Abel brought the "firstlings of his flock". There's a difference between giving to God, and giving God the best you've got. In fact, Abel impressed God so much, he didn't even think to look at Cain's offering. The word used for "He had no regard" actually means God didn't even look at Cain's offering.
There's a story in the Gospel of Mark that reminds me of this whole concept..
And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:41-44)
The point being, what do we bring to God as our offering? The "firstlings", "all that we own",.. or do we give God a token offering, so we can say we gave Him something?
God's challenging me to be more like Abel, to simply give Him my best, and yes- even if it makes other people mad. And that is what Abel is saying. Yes, he still speaks.
