Letter to the Hebrews Volume 121

 The Faith of those Elders in Early Human History Part 1

Hebrews 11:4 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: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. KJV

Adam and Eve upon being cast out of the Garden of Eden (after their sin) no longer had at their disposal all of the Trees within the Garden that supplied their food, therefore, as God had declared to Adam that he 'would eat bread by the sweat of his brow', Adam had to gather up food from the earth in order to feed himself, his wife and the children that she began to give birth to (Genesis 3:16). Adam knew that his sin was covered (for him) by God through the slaying of an animal, as the skin of the animal was used to cover he and his wife Eve from their physical & spiritual nakedness, as it is written, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21) (KJV). From this Adam understood that it was by the shedding of blood that sin was covered by God, therefore, it is certain that Adam past down this understanding to the children that came from his seed/sperm. Two of them were Abel and Cain. The writer of Hebrews now documents for us the distinction between the two brothers by how they each regarded God and how God saw them, as it is written here, "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: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." (Hebrews 11:4) (KJV). The story of these two brothers and their worship of God is documented for us by Moses (the writer of the first 5 books of the Bible) with these words, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that 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. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." (Genesis 4:1-5) (KJV). The story of Cain and Abel document for us disobedience to God verses obedience to God. Cain was taught by his Father Adam that the offering or sacrifice to God had to be a blood sacrifice, yet he chose (free will) to disregard the truth and approach God in his own way or manner. We see the continuance of this very thing from that time until right now where people 'choose' (free will) to make up their own God (not the God of the Bible) or they want to approach the God of the Bible in their own way by showing Him how 'GOOD' they are by all the great things they do down here on the earth. They resist, refuse, and reject the only true way to approach God, and that is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Blood Sacrifice and Atonement that He made for man/woman on the Cross at Calvary, as it is written, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6) KJV). The animal sacrifice of Abel pointed to Jesus Christ' death, buriel, and resurrection from the dead. The sacrifice of Cain of the fruit of the ground pointed to his own human goodness and effort to appraoch and please God. Abel was righteous before God not because he was good or that he was a better man than his brother Cain, no he was righteous because he believed God and his faith/trust testified to God of his righteouness. Simple, Abel approached God the way God required and Cain did not.

Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of Hebrews 11:4, "The Apostle proceeds to examples of faith, and begins with Abel: it may seem strange that Adam and Eve are not mentioned; this omission is not because they were not believers; but either because of the fall and ruin of mankind by them; or because the Apostle speaks only of such who had received some eminent testimony by faith, and therefore passes by many believers, and hastens to Abraham, the father of the Jews. The superior excellency of Abel's sacrifice to Cain's, lay both in the matter, and in the manner of it; the one was offered heartily to the Lord, the other only in show; the one was offered in faith, the other not; Abel looked through his sacrifice to the sacrifice of Christ, not so Cain. Abel's sacrifice was a lamb, a type of Christ, the Lamb of God; a firstling, a figure of Him who is the firstborn of every creature; one of the fattest of his flock, expressive of the excellency of Christ; and this was offered up at the end of days, as Christ at the end of the world; and the superior excellency of the sacrifice of the one to that of the other, appears from God's regard to the one, and not to the other, Genesis 4:3 from whence it may be observed, that sacrifices were of divine institution, and were very early types of Christ; and that there always were two sorts of worshippers, spiritual and carnal ones, whom God can distinguish, for He seeth not as man seeth; that the acceptance of persons is in Christ, and is previous to their offerings; that whatsoever works do not spring from faith are unacceptable to God; that no dependence is to be had on birth privileges, or outward actions; and that electing and distinguishing grace very early took place, and appeared. By which he obtained witness that he was righteous; not righteous by his offering, nor by his faith, but by the righteousness of Christ, which his faith in His sacrifice looked unto; though it was by his faith that he obtained, or received a witness in his own conscience, from the Spirit of God, testifying that he was a justified person; and in consequence of this, he had an outward testimony bore to him in the Scriptures, that he was a righteous person hence he is called righteous Abel, Matthew 23:35. God testifying of his gifts: not of his own gifts, temporal or spiritual, but of Abel's gifts, which he offered to the Lord; that is, his sacrifices; of these he testified, when he showed respect either by an audible voice, declaring His acceptance of them; or by sending down fire from heaven, upon his sacrifice, which in later times was a symbol of acceptance. And by it, he being dead, yet speaketh; good men die, and some of them die a violent death, as did Abel, yet he speaks in the Scriptures, which have a voice in them, Luke 16:29 or by his blood, which calls for vengeance; or rather by, or because of his faith, though he is dead, 'he is yet spoken of', as the word may be rendered." Here also is what John Wesley had to say of Hebrews 11:4, "By faith - In the future Redeemer. Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice - The firstlings of his flock, implying both a confession of what his own sins deserved, and a desire of sharing in the great atonement. Than Cain - Whose offering testified no such faith, but a bare acknowledgment of God the Creator. By which faith he obtained both righteousness and a testimony of it: God testifying - Visibly that his gifts were accepted; probably by sending fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice, a token that justice seized on the sacrifice instead of the sinner who offered it. And by it - By this faith. Being dead, he yet speaketh - That a sinner is accepted only through faith in the Great Sacrifice."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…