GENESIS 4:3-6 - Why did God Reject Cain's Offering?

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. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ”

Why did God Reject Cain's Offering?

Given how sparse the story is with details, the question seems unavoidable. There's no explicit mention in the verse as to exactly what it was that Cain did wrong. So assuming God is fair and righteous it seems we're only left with two possibilities: 1) there was something physically wrong with Cain's offering or the manner in which he presented it, and/or 2) there was something wrong with Cain's heart.

If you think about the doctrine of atonement, it shifts the focus squarely on the former: regardless of his efforts or sincerity of heart, Cain's offering of fruits would remain hopelessly insufficient due to the fact that atonement can only be achieved via death and sacrifice - hence Christ's need to die for us.

Did Cain Know?

Did Cain know about this prerequisite of atonement? If so, it's a cut-and-dry case of Cain being consciously disobedient, but if not, well, it seems rather unfair to judge Cain for simply being ignorant or dimmer than Abel, or simply having the misfortune of being the farmer. To complicate things, there's definitely no prior-recorded mention in Genesis about the ins-and-outs of atonement to make it clear that God isn't just playing favourites.

Bloody Illustrations, Historical Context

I had spent a lot of time reading various disappointingly unsatisfactory explanations and was ready to mark this one as unresolved when I spoke to Pastor Dan who presented me with two very compelling explanations:

Consider Genesis 3:21 a few short verses earlier: "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." Looking up the word used for "skin" makes it clear that it refers not to fur or wool but to actual animal hide. And how do we get animal hide? By killing animals. So here we have Adam & Eve who have never seen anything die, and have no concept of death whatsoever. God brings them over to these cute little sheep - which Adam named - and... slaughters them before their very eyes, skins them, and drapes the bloody hides on their backs. Do you think that from that point onwards they ever forgot (or forgot to tell their children) that visceral illustration of the effects of sin and sacrifice?

Secondly, there is the historical aspect; Genesis was written by Moses, many generations after the fact, for people whom blood sacrifice was - and had been for centuries - an integral and ingrained part of culture (think Abraham and Isaac). It would have been a given to everyone during Moses' time that Cain's behaviour was foolish and disrespectful regardless of its sincerity, so much so that documenting the 'why' would seem completely unnecessary, in the same way that a sports writer would feel no need to justify calling a hockey playing stupid for picking up the puck with their hands and chucking it into the net - which might likewise bewilder a reader thousands of years in the future if hockey is no longer played (God forbid!).

(This take on the garments is very different from the positive spin I put on it in my previous entry on Genesis 3:21,23-24 - God's Hidden Compassion)

(back to Genesis 4)