Old Testament - Genesis 4 - January 11, 2022

 1/11/2022 – Genesis 4

Adam and Eve, now out of the Garden of Eden, are now given an opportunity to grow. They  are now working for their sustenance, facing opposition, making mistakes, learning to repent, and learning to trust God’s commandments. They have children. Abel is “a keeper of sheep” & Cain is “a tiller of the ground” AND they are working to keep the commandments of God---one of which was to give offerings to the Lord. Abel gave “the firstlings of his flock” and Cain gave “the fruit of the ground”. The Lord accepts Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s sacrifice, which causes Cain to become “very wroth and his countenance fell” (v5)  

As I see it, the Lord wants to teach us how to draw closer to Him. Cain’s giving up the fruit of his labors was certainly a sacrifice, but it was not a thing that would bring an understanding of God’s laws. Abel’s bringing the ‘firstlings of his flock, to give up its life, acted as a precursor, and teaching for them to understand what Christ would do for us in the future. He DID give up their life, and in doing so established the atonement and resurrection.  Abel’s sacrifice is an action of learning to help him understand that Jesus, the Lord’s first born, will come to the earth, devote His life to bringing all closer to God, and then willing giving his blood and his life so that all of mankind can accomplish the purpose of our being on earth: to have faith in the Lord’s teachings, to follow those teachings to the best of our ability, to help others to want to do the same, and then we have the promise that we can return to Him and be able to continue growing after we have obtained a physical body and after we have shown that we can have faith in our Father’s plan even when we are no longer in His presence. 

In v’s 6-7, we see that the Lord comes to Cain, asking “why art thou wroth?”, and then teaching Cain “If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted: and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. [and then the Lord tells Cain how that would affect Cain’s actions and final destination] And unto thee shall be his [Satan’s] desire….” 

Cain did not take the Lord’s words into his heart or into his mind. Cain did not alter his thoughts or his actions because in v 8 we learn that “Cain talked with Abel…when they were in the field…Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

The Lord came once again to Cain, asking where Abel was. Cain would not answer the Lord’s question as he tried to shift the Lord’s attention: “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord’s gospel principles most certainly lead us to have not just concern for others, but love for others.  So the Lord then tells Cain exactly what he has done in secret, and the fact that Cain’s life will be much more difficult because of his actions against the commandments that he had been given. In Moses 5:28-31 We learn that after rejecting the Lord, Cain began to communicate directly with Satan, and step by step Satan directed Cain’s actions until Cain reached the point where “he gloried in his wickedness”. 

Joseph Smith wrote about Abel’s future: “We read in Genesis 4:4, that Abel brought the firstlings of the flock and the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering. And again, ‘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.) How doth he yet speak? Why he magnified the Priesthood which was conferred upon him, and died a righteous man, and therefore has become an angel of God by receiving his body from the dead, holding still the keys of his dispensation; and was sent down from heaven unto Paul to minister consoling words, and to commit unto him a knowledge of the mysteries of godliness. And if this was not the case, I would ask, how did Paul know so much about Abel, and why should he talk about his speaking after he was dead? Hence, that he spoke after he was dead must be by being sent down out of heaven to administer.” (Teachings, pp. 168–69.)


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