Study Notes

Foundation Statement: The truth about the truth is that the truth can be very unflattering sometimes-Genesis 4

 

I.      Hebrews 11:4-The truth is that Abel offered and more excellent sacrifice than Cain (Excellent-Greater in quantity, greater in quality, superior)

A.    Mark 12:41-44-How could Jesus say that the widow gave more? It wasn’t more in natural numbers, but it was more in percentage in that she gave all that she had and they only gave some of what they had out of their abundance

1.      Jesus deals in percentages because everybody has 100% and it puts everybody on an equal playing field

B.     Genesis 4:4-Fat-The best, The choicest – Abel gave God his best (This revealed to God I have all of Abel)

1.      Cain brought the fruit of the ground and offering to the Lord – Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and the best of his flock

2.      Don’t get the idea that God liked Abel’s offering more than Cain’s because it was naturally more; He liked it more because there was more of Abel in Abel’s offering than there was of Cain in Can’s offering

3.      God’s interested in how much of you does He have, not how much do you have to give Him

C.    The Lord regarded (to value, to esteem) Abel’s offering and it meant something to him but Cain’s offering it didn’t mean anything to him

1.      The Lord doesn’t value all offerings and not every offering means something to him

a.    Your second rate offering means nothing to the Lord and He doesn’t value it; your offering reveals how much of you He has

2.      You can give an offering and it have little to no honor in it and that’s what Cain did-Malachi 1

D.    Why would somebody give more (in terms of percentage and their heart and of themselves)? Why would the widow give more? Why would Abel give more?

1.      Greater love-They love God more – Greater honor-They honor God more – Greater faith/vision-They believe God can get it back to them

2.      The truth that this offering revealed is that Abel loved God more, honored God more and had greater faith than Cain

3.      What these offerings revealed is that Abel honored God more than Cain and valued God and God’s things more than Cain did and this truth is very unflattering to Cain

II.     Genesis 4:6-Why art thou wroth? Why has thy countenance fallen? (Wroth-Angry, Hot, Furious)

A.    He believes he’s angry because his brother gave a better offering and made him look bad and he believes that his brother is the problem

B.     7-In this verse God reveals to Cain that he himself is the problem

1.      If YOU do well; If YOU don’t do well; there’s no mention of Abel – God gives Cain the truth and it’s this: Abel is not your problem, but you are your own problem

2.      But Cain doesn’t want that truth and doesn’t want that to be the truth; he’d rather believe that Abel is the problem and it’s Abel’s fault

a.    The truth is Abel is not his problem, but rather Cain’s own lack of love and honor for God and lack of faith in God is the problem and the big problem beyond that is he doesn’t want to change and correct those things

b.    Not only does he not like the truth, he doesn’t want to change because God gives him a chance

3.      If he’d love and believe and receive this truth from God in this verse (7) it’d make him free

a.    I don’t love that this is the truth, but I do love the truth of God’s word that is exposing this

b.    He doesn’t have to love that this is the truth, but he does have to love the truth of God’s word that is exposing this because the truth if he loved it, received it, acknowledged it could have gotten him out of the position he was in and into a good place before the Lord

C.    Why are you wroth? He’s angry because he doesn’t like that the truth is the truth and he doesn’t want to change

1.      Cain’s not mad at Abel, but rather he is mad that the truth is the truth and he doesn’t like the truth and he’s mad because for this to not be the truth he’s going to have to change and he does not want to change

D.    Because he doesn’t want the truth and pushes the truth away he ends up in total deception and he thinks his brother is the problem

1.      11-Because he’s rejected the truth he’s cursed and he’s bond and he’s not free