Why Did God Prefer Abel's Sacrifice and Rejected That of Cain's?

The Holy Bible, which is the standard manual of the Christian faith, clearly indicates that God has the power and prerogative to prefer some people and reject others. This might sound harsh to the human mind. However, according to the bible, God said: “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Romans 9:15, King James Version). It is easy for some people to interpret the mentioned scriptural passage as an illustration of God’s selectiveness and unfairness. On the other hand, the verse can also speak of the absolute and far-reaching favour of God. Possibly, Cain and Abel are not victims of violence, hate, sibling struggle, and injustice, but lucky recipients and examples of God’s favour and grace. Abel received favour when he offered a more pleasing sacrifice, while Cain received favour when God chose not to kill him as punishment for his sin of murder.

But according to Hebrews 11:4, Abel’s offering unto God was a “more excellent sacrifice”. What then, was the true reason why God accepted Abel’s gift but rejected that of Cain? Or, in other words, why was Abel’s gift considered as ‘more excellent’? Cain, being a tiller of the ground, gave God the fruit of the ground. Abel, meanwhile, gave animal sacrifices unto God. Apparently, both men gave God the outcome of their labour and the best that their profession has to offer. Obviously, Cain and Abel have the same motive for giving their offerings. They both wanted to please God. For some reason however, one of them was found more acceptable unto Him. This led to jealousy and the ultimate crime of fratricide.

Even though the Bible was laconic regarding the details and underlying themes of the story of Cain and Abel, there are many views as to why God chose Abel’s sacrifice more than that of his brother. One popular belief was that Abel gave his best, while Cain simply did not. According to Carmy (1996): “One traditional approach discovers a deficiency in Cain's sacrifice: Abel brought the best of his flock; Cain did not choose the best of his vegetables. Therefore Abel's superiority was deserved, as was the divine rebuke delivered to Cain.” (p. 1)

In other words, Abel might have put more thought and quality into his sacrifice, while Cain possibly just picked any random vegetable from his farm and gave it to God in haste. Again, we reiterate that this is just one of the many views and explanations that exist regarding the story of Cain and Abel. But if we study it closely, there is some degree of truth in the view we just mentioned. According to the Bible, Abel gave God the firstfruits of his animals, while there is no mention of Cain giving his firstfruits. When we refer to the word firstfruits, it implies that it is the best pick from a flock or a harvest. Thus when Abel gave God the firstfruits of his flock, he also showed God that He is special and He is the greatest priority in Abel’s life.

Other bible scholars believe that Cain led a bad, sinful life. Therefore, he cannot please God in any way. Henry (1706) described Cain as someone who “…was a wicked man, led a bad life, under the reigning power of the world and the flesh; and therefore his sacrifice was an abomination to the Lord…God had no respect to Cain himself, and therefore no respect to his offering”. But the problem with this view is that it is not mentioned or implied in the biblical text and other sources that refer to the story of Cain and Abel, such as the Koran. In fact, there was no mention of Cain leading a wicked life before he brutally murdered his brother. Even his very crime arose not merely from jealousy, but from a desire to please the Lord – a clear indication that he has a great passion and zeal to serve the God of his father. We can say that Cain had pure pious intentions, but he failed to react in the righteous manner. To state that he had always been a wicked man even before the fratricide seems like a weak argument from a biblical standpoint.

There is one view that makes sense and supports other doctrinal issues found in scripture. In Hebrews 9:22, we can find the words: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission”. There was something special and unique about Abel’s sacrifice that caught God’s attention, and it is the shedding of blood. Cain’s offering didn’t require the shedding of blood, which is the reason why God had no respect towards it. (There was no mention though, that Cain sinned by not giving the right kind of offering. The bible only stated that God preferred Abel, but unto Cain’s gift He had no respect. If only Cain emulated the example that his brother set, he could have very well passed God’s standards also).