Hebrews 11:4

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.

ADAM; WHERE ART THOU?

First of all, there is in this verse the glaring omission of the name of Adam, the mighty progenitor of the human race, neither he nor Eve, the mother of all living, being mentioned; and the circumstances that makes this omission so eloquent is that the author of Hebrews is embarking on a kind of roll-call of all the heroes of the past. It would appear that the opening chapters of Genesis were before him as he wrote. First there is mention of creation, following that a reference to Adam's son, as in this verse; and later Sarah was mentioned along with Abraham; but there is absolutely no word regarding the first parents. Therefore it was by design that Adam was purposely bypassed in this catalogue of ancient heroes of faith. Clarke's perceptive words on this are very moving.

It is very remarkable that among the whole there is not one word concerning poor Adam and his wife, though both Abraham and Sarah were mentioned. There was no good report concerning them; not a word of their repentance, faith or holiness. Alas! alas! did ever such bright suns set in so thick a cloud? Had there been anything praiseworthy in their life after the fall, it had surely come out here; the mention of their second son Abel would have suggested it. But God has covered the whole of their spiritual and eternal state with a thick and impenetrable veil. Conjectures relative to their fate would be very precarious; little else than hope can be exercised in their favor; but as to them the promise of Jesus was given, so we may believe they found redemption in that blood which was shed from the foundation of the world. Adam's rebellion against his Maker was too great and too glaring to permit his name ever to be mentioned with honor or respect.[9]

God walked in the garden in the cool of the evening and called, "Adam, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9); and both for Adam and his posterity, the words have come ringing down long centuries and milleniums of sin, darkness, bloodshed, wretchedness and sorrows innumerable; and they still flame like a fiery banner flung out of heaven over all the works and devices of men, "Adam, where art thou?" And where is he? He is lost, disinherited, sentenced to eternal death, tortured by the knowledge of what he should be haunting his pitiful consciousness of what he is. It is not of Adam that we speak, but of his race. "Where art thou?" The words live forever, calling people to consider, to view their hopeless estate, and to move toward that reconciliation that is possible through Christ.

By faith Abel offered unto God revealed the reason for his sacrifice being "more excellent" than that of Cain. See article below on "The Message of the Blood of Abel." It is a Biblical precept that "faith comes from hearing God's word" (Romans 10:17), and in the light of that it may be definitely concluded that Abel acted in accordance with God's command, whereas Cain did not.

A more excellent sacrifice, as these words stand in the common versions, is thought by scholars to be a reference to the number of offerings rather than to their quality, as explained by Macknight thus:

Accordingly, they observed that notwithstanding Cain ought to have offered a sin offering, he brought only of the fruit of the ground as an offering to the Lord, which was no proper sacrifice (because he omitted the sin offering); but Abel, "He also brought of the fattest of the firstlings of the flock, and of the fat thereof"; that is, besides the fruit of the ground, which was one of his gifts mentioned in the following verse, he also brought of the fattest of the firstlings of the flock; so that he offered a sin offering as well as a meat offering, and thereby showed both his sense of the divine goodness and of his own sinfulness. Whereas, Cain, having no sense of sin, thought himself obliged to offer nothing but a meat offering, and made it perhaps not of the firstfruits, or of the best of the fruits.[10]

Through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous raises the question of how such witness was communicated, which could have been in the manner of God's accepting the sacrifice (as by fire, perhaps); or it could have been in the scriptural record, which is more likely. What is written in the Bible by God is the witness of Abel's righteousness; and the reason for this conclusion is the revelation that this witness is still going on, as implied by the words "yet speaketh." Nor does this rule out the thought that God might have accepted Abel's offering by fire, as in the case of Elijah on Mt. Carmel, and in the case of Gideon. If such did happen, and if it did not happen with reference to Cain's offering, the immediate discomfiture of Cain would be explained.

Through it he being dead yet speaketh should be compared with Hebrews 12:24, which has "The blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel." Taken together, the expressions justify the conclusion that there is a divine message in the blood of Abel. Did not God himself speak of the voice of the blood of Abel, saying, of the blood of Abel, that it cried unto him "from the ground" (Genesis 4:10)? With all propriety, therefore, it may be inquired, "What does the blood of Abel say?"

THE MESSAGE OF THE BLOOD OF ABEL

The blood of Abel says that God takes account of the injustices perpetrated against the innocent and that one day they will be avenged. The Lord said to Cain, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" (Genesis 4:10). This foretells the hour when God in righteous wrath shall cast evil out of his universe, taking vengeance upon them that deserve it (Romans 12:19). It was sin that cut down this young man in the morning of the world; and there is a score to be settled with sin. Abel, being dead, yet speaketh; his blood crieth from the ground, and not merely his, but the blood of all the innocents ever slain from that primeval violence until the end of the ages.

God has appointed a day in which he will settle accounts, and nothing can show the necessity of such a thing any more than the blood of Abel. No punishment of Cain could bring Abel back. He sank into the grave while the swift centuries fled, while Cain went out to build a city and continue his posterity in the earth. What about Abel? How is justice ever to be had for him without a judgment day? And that is exactly what the blood of Abel says, that there will indeed be a day of reckoning, that God is keeping the score, that vengeance shall be meted out to the evil-doer, and that the faithful shall be rewarded. Unless this is true, there is no sense talking of eternal justice, for there could be none. If the wheels of justice may grind only in time, there are innumerable cases in which the wicked shall have the better of it. The blood of Abel warns the murderer, and every wrong-doer, that the Creator will yet require that the account be settled. This is the thread of eternal and universal justice that runs all the way from Eden to the City Foursquare. Every man ever born on earth shall confront that day and hour of judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10) when Abel, and all the righteous, shall receive their reward and when the unrighteous shall likewise receive theirs. Abel's blood shall never cease to cry to God until that is accomplished.

The blood of Abel says that the righteous are hated without cause.

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you (1 John 3:11-13).

Other scriptures supporting this premise are Matthew 5:10-12; 1 Timothy 3:12; and John 15:18.

The blood of Abel says that it does make a difference how people worship God, that some things will pass in divine worship and that others will not. This was the principle overlooked by Cain to his eternal discredit; and yet the great majority of mankind in the twentieth century after Christ seem not to know this. Certainly, the New Testament leaves no doubt whatever on this point. In John 4:24; Mark 7:7; Acts 17:24,25; Revelation 22:18ff; 2 John 1:1:9; Matthew 15:6; and in 1 Corinthians 4:6, it is overwhelmingly plain that the great message of the new covenant on the subject of divine worship is in perfect agreement with the message of the blood of Abel, to the effect that the only acceptable way to worship God is in the manner God has commanded. In fact, from the beginning of time, only two ways appear in which God can be worshipped, the true way, and man's way, the one good, and the other evil; and man has before him only two choices, namely: (1) to worship as God has commanded, or (2) to worship in a manner that man supposes to be just as good! Cain should be sufficient warning that the second choice is folly.

Cain was the first innovator, and from that beginning he became a murderer and then a liar; and this provides a powerful emphasis upon the nature of the frightful sin of presumptuous intrusion by man into the sacred business of HOW he worships God. Millenniums have come and gone since those Adamic brothers stood the test in the shadow of the gates of Paradise, one of them to fail ignobly, the other to succeed gloriously (and pay the price of it with his blood); and yet, after the passing of those long generations, no man can show anything wrong with Cain's offering except this, it was Cain's choice and not God's order that prompted it. With all the specious logic of modern innovators, Cain might have tried to justify himself, saying, "If God wants smoke, my stack of wheat has that lamb outclassed a hundred ways; if God wants value, my wheat will buy two lambs; and, as for all that messy blood, I never liked that anyway. Surely God can save us if we never go near a drop of blood. Surely, God couldn't care about a thing like THAT; it's the spirit of the thing that counts anyway!" Cain could never have spoken like this? His spiritual descendants do; and there is reason to suppose he might have fortified his disobedience with some form of rationalism, even as sinful men do today. If the reader does not believe it, let him read the arguments that are advanced for changing the ordinance of Christ, called baptism, which every scholar on earth knows to have been originally the immersion of a penitent believer in water unto the remission of his sins, into other ceremonies bearing little or no resemblance to the true ordinance as practiced by the apostles and inspired evangelists of the new covenant; and, if still in doubt, let the reader peruse the dissertations of those who would introduce instruments of music into the worship of God, or who would hold to the doctrine of purgatory, or elevate Mary the mother of Jesus to a throne in heaven. The blood of Abel cries down six thousand years of recorded history that it does make a difference how people worship God, whether they accept and practice the commandments of the Father, or decide to walk after their own traditions.

The blood of Abel says that faith is the key to true and acceptable worship. (See Hebrews 11:6) "By faith" is the expression used over and over in this remarkable anthology of Biblical heroes. Although supported by intelligent reasoning, faith is superior to reason. Dr. George Buttrick once said, "Faith is still the strong man that carries the little child REASON upon his shoulders."[11] The manner in which this is true is illustrated by the example of Abel. From our vantage point, removed by thousands of years from that of Abel, people today can understand why God prescribed that a lamb should be sacrificed as a sin offering. It was a type of the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and was a key factor in the long chain of evidence by which God would truly identify the Messiah when he should, at last, come into the world; and, although this is plain enough to us, it could never have been plain to Abel and Cain, because faith was the only instrument by which it was possible for them to have pleased God or understood his purpose. But if there was a reason then, there is a reason now, why people should do what God has decreed, and not merely what they suppose might serve just as well.

The blood of Abel says that the only true righteousness is in obeying the commandments of God. "All thy commandments, O God, are righteousness" (Psalms 119:151). The commandments of the gospel are righteousness (Romans 1:15,16). Our Lord obeyed an ordinance of God which technically did not apply to him, and from which he might justly have claimed exemption, since he was sinless; but he was baptized in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:16). The righteousness of Zacharias and Elizabeth consisted of this, that "They walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless" (Luke 1:6). In a generation given to scoffing at "ordinances," it is well to behold in all of God's commandments and ordinances the sole basis of the only true righteousness. This was the fundamental lapse of ancient Israel, that they, "being ignorant of God's righteousness (that is, God's commandments), and seeking to establish their own righteousness (that is, their own religious traditions), they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God" from Romans 10:3). The scriptural meaning of the term "righteousness" is extremely important, because thousands of thousands today are falling into the error of ancient Israel and are walking in their own ways instead of God's. To all such persons, the Master addressed the question, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

Since the expression "by faith" or its equivalent "through faith" or "in faith" is so frequently used in this chapter, a more particular focus on the subject of walking by faith is appropriate.

WALKING BY FAITH

Since faith comes by hearing God's word (Romans 10:17), it follows that walking by faith means walking as directed by God's word. Negatively, it means: (1) that we should not walk by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7); (2) that we should not be guided by our own fallible, human feelings and emotions (Romans 8:4); (3) that we should not rely merely upon what seems right in our own eyes (Proverbs 14:12); (4) that we should not be guided by human traditions (Mark 7:9); (5) that we ought not to be influenced in our religious convictions and practices by the opinions of human majorities (Matthew 7:14); (6) that we must not allow the views and customs of our ancestors to be determinative (1 Peter 1:18); and (7) that we have no business consulting merely our own desires and pleasures where sacred things are involved, "For Christ pleased not himself" (Romans 15:3).

[9] Adam Clarke, op. cit., p. 762.

[10] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 560.

[11] Quotation from a sermon during "The Cole Lectures," Vanderbilt University, 1950.