Why Was Cain’s Sacrifice Rejected?

The record of Cain’s rejected sacrifice reads:

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah 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” (Gen. 4:3-5).

Here are the facts as recorded by Moses. Both Cain and Abel came to worship the Lord with a sacrifice. But there was a difference. Cain brought a sacrifice of the fruit of the ground. His offering was a bloodless sacrifice. However, Abel brought a bloody sacrifice, including the fat thereof.

The result of their worship before the Lord was that Jehovah had respect for Abel and his offering, but he did not have respect for Cain nor for his offering.

Why was there a difference in the Lord’s response to these two worshipers and their offerings?

Moses’s record makes it easy to understand the problem. The written account specifically denotes the differences between their offerings.

One was a produce offering; the other was a blood-bearing sacrifice.

New Testament Commentary on Cain’s Rejected Sacrifice

The Hebrew writer makes it even clearer:

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh” (11:4).

How did Abel present his sacrifice unto the Lord? It was by faith. Moses did not write that Cain offered his sacrifice by faith, and no New Testament writer comments on the faith of Cain demonstrated by this offering.

If Cain did not offer his gifts to God by faith, he was relying on his own perspective or intuition (2 Corinthians 5:7). Cain’s act of worship was rooted in what he believed to be a noble offering to the Lord.

No doubt, his produce was lovely to look upon. No doubt, he labored over those crops until the harvest. No doubt, he anticipated that all the hard work, time, and care he had invested in those offerings would be acceptable.

His expectation of acceptance is clearly demonstrated by his reaction to the Lord’s rejection of his sacrifice. But Cain’s offering was not rejected because he did not worship earnestly. Instead, his offering was rejected because it was made on the basis of his own presumption rather than by faith.

Faith is not simply a feeling of confident expectation. Cain had that. Rather, faith is the result of trusting God’s word, submitting the mind and body to its authority, and acting in accordance with what the Lord expects.

There is a truism attributed to a Chinese philosopher: “To know and not do is to not know.”

The same principle can be applied to faith: “To believe God, and not obey him, is to not believe him.” Or as James wrote, “faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:26). To whatever extent it could be said that Cain worshipped before the Lord, his activity was negated by the fact that it was not according to faith.

By contrast, Abel’s offering was made by faith.

Why is faith attributed to Abel? Paul defines the source of the kind of faith that is well-pleasing to God in Romans 10:17.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Let’s reason.

1. Abel offered his sacrifice by faith (Hebrews 11:4).
2. But faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17)
3. Therefore, Abel offered his sacrifice by hearing and obeying the word of God.

Cain did not offer his sacrifice by faith. Therefore, he did not worship according to God’s instructions. Thus, God rejected his offering.

Cain was presumptuous. Whether or not he consciously thought that God was not serious about what he commanded is irrelevant; his actions showed that he believed he had the right to substitute his own judgment for the Lord’s.

The way of Cain is the way of presumption. Those who, in like manner, presume to design their own system of worship are children of Cain.

Those who, like Cain, neglect the Lord’s clear teaching on salvation and invent their own system of access to the sacrifice of Christ are practicing the religion of Cain.

And God will not respect such presumptuousness.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me:
Then shall I be upright,
And I shall be clear from great transgression (Ps. 19:13)