Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Knowing The Bible Characters - Abel

My last Bible Character was Cain, who was the firstborn of Adam and Eve. I will be talking tonight about Abel, Cain's brother.
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Abel was the brother of Cain, the second son of Adam and Eve. Abel was the first martyr in the history of Bible and also the first shepherd. The Bible did not give too much illustration about Abel, except that he found favor in God's eyes by offering him a pleasing and pure sacrifice, that made Cain (whose sacrifice did not please God) jealous and resulted into killing his brother.
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We can also speculate that Abel must have been physically weak, that he was physically overpowered by his brother when Cain led him out into a field and attacked him. Abel must be too naive or just too trusting, a natural manner for a younger brother toward an older brother. This was the first case of murder in the history of the Bible, and if you look around, this still happen today. Brothers are killing each others because of jealousy and selfishness.
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The story of Cain and Abel was not particularly about the jealousy and crime. It is about obedience. In the first place, both of them knew what kind of offerings God requires for himself from them. Abel gladly followed and offered the best crops he had, but Cain did not take it seriously. Cain must have offered a slightly defective lamb that made God furious because after all God deserves the best. Abel did the right thing, and earned God's favor.


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