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" And it came to pass time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord the fruit of the tierra.También Abel, for his part brought of the firstborn of his flock and the fat thereof. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering. But Cain and his offering he did not look pleased. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. "(Genesis 4:3-5)
The story of Cain and Abel is always also interesting, intriguing. The question that worries the learla is: Why God rejected Cain's offering and accepted Abel's? Was God showing favoritism, or bias? The answer to this question is of utmost importance to humans. According to most scholars and interpreters of Scripture Cain and Abel represent two different types of worshipers in which mankind is divided. Represent primarily two types of systems of salvation, one true and false. The Cain represents man's attempt to save himself by his own merits or works. The Abel represents the right way to salvation is right through the faith in the justice and merits achieved by the life and death of Jesus in our favor.
Certainly it can be concluded from reading the biblical Cain and Abel received the information needed by their parents, Adam and Eve about the proper way to worship and make sacrifices to God. Where it went wrong for Cain? One aspect of the life of Cain whose study may yield valuable information to answer this question and is the connection that existed between Cain and the earth.
- Cain and Earth
- Labrador land (Genesis 4:2)
- shared with God product earth (Genesis 4:3)
- land offered the blood of his brother Abel:
"Now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive of your hand the blood of your brother. (Genesis 4:11 emphasis added)
" Then the Lord God formed man of dust from earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden toward east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made the earth sprout every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, also in the midst of the garden, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:7-9)
God formed man from the dust of the earth and brought forth from it all edible tree, and this seems to include tambiem to the trees of life and that of knowledge of good and evil. Maybe Cain to hear the story of creation from the lips of her parents, she was impressed by these descriptions of the capabilities of the land. By working it certainly found itself the productive power of land and unfortunately began to assign a wrong value to it. Land and not God corvirtió in the center of their attention and adoration.
seems that Cain did not want to think through what God did to the land after the fall of Adam and Eve:
"he said to Adam: Because you have heard the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I I commanded, saying, "Thou shalt not eat of it," Cursed is the ground for your sake, with toil you shall eat it every day of your life. thorns and thistles to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat eat your face bread until you return to the earth because of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:17-19)
God cursed the earth because of sin. The man would work the soil with the sweat and pain to not be conformed to it. Further, the process from death to life from the land that occurred in the creation of man would be invested in life to death. In other words, the earth would no longer be a symbol of life but of death.
- " now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive thy hand the blood of your brother. When you till the soil, do not give more vigor, restless wanderer on the earth will be . "(Genesis 4: 11-12 emphasis added)
First, God says that Cain would not find satisfaction in their farm work and second would be a wanderer or tramp on it. These restrictions of God should not be seen as cursed, but rather as a redemptive acts. God loved Cain and did not want the land was an obstacle in the relationship between them. Using a current application, we can say that God does not want us to find full satisfaction in our trades, professions or activities. Nor do you want us to land contaminated our final home. So there is always a gap at the end of our activities and projects. God wants us to understand that only he can fully and completely satisfy ourselves. Cain
perceive the magnitude and reach of God's purposes. However, he refused to continue the redemptive plan. The biblical account tells us of their decision later:
"And Cain went out before the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and built a city and called it Enoch, as the name of his son. " (Genesis 4:16-17 emphasis added)
Cain built a city to protect themselves. Do not rely on God's promise to protect it. Transfer of the land trust to the city. In other words it became a God put at the center of their worship but somplemente replaced by another occupation, farmer became cosntructor cities.
After this analysis we Cain utmost account the question of why God did not accept Cain's sacrifice. God not accept his offering was not truly a gift. Cain was offering up to God but by sharing the fruits of the earth. Land and not God was the center of their worship. Meditating on this, we analyze ourselves to try to discover the nature of our worship and service to God.