The Faith of Abel

The Faith of Abel (Hebrews 11:4)

(Class Notes)

God's witness to Abel concerning his faith
- God bore witness to Abel concerning his being righteous (Hebrews 11:4)
- Abraham believed God and "He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6)
- Just as Abraham trusted God to provide his physical multiplied seed (Genesis 15:3-5), so did Abel trust God to bring the provided sin offering (Hebrews 11:4)
  - By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain (Hebrews 11:4)
  - Abel trusted God and "brought also", not "also brought", the blood sacrifice in addition to the bloodless gifts (Genesis 4:4)
  - Cain only brought the bloodless gifts (Genesis 4:3,7)
  - Cain didn t do well, because he didn' t believe God and bring the "sin" ("sin offering" ) that was ready to his hand (Genesis 4:7)
    - "Sin" (Genesis 4:7) is same word as "sin offering" (Exodus 29:14; Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 4:29; Leviticus 10:17)
- The very first revelation of God to man in his fallen state is the way back to Him
  - As the "Seed of the Woman" (Genesis 3:15), He is the "Lamb slain from the foundation (overthrow) of the world" (Revelation 13:8), whose "coats of skins" became Adam's and Eve' s clothing (Genesis 3:21)
God's witness to Abel concerning his gifts
- God bore witness to Abel's gifts by sending "fire from heaven" to "accept" ("turn to ashes") his sacrifice (Leviticus 9:23-24)
  - Nadab and Abihu were consumed with "fire from the Lord" for making their own "strange fire" (Leviticus 10:1-2)
- God bore witness to Abraham in the same manner via the "smoking furnace" and the "burning lamp" passing between the pieces of his sacrifice (Genesis 15:7-10,17-18)
- God bore witness of "fire from heaven" to Israel via Elijah concerning that He alone is the true God (I Kings 18:30-40)
- The False Prophet will bear witness to the second Nebuchadnezzar (the Antichrist) by making "fire to come down from Heaven" (Revelation 13:11-15 cf. Daniel 3:7; Daniel 5:18-19)

The testimony of Abel's faith
- "He being dead yet speaketh" (Hebrews 11:4)
- Abel was the first prophet (Luke 11:50-51)
  - He testified as to the appointed time of the sacrifice, "in the process of time" is really "at the end of some days" (Genesis 4:3)
  - He testified as to the appointed place of the sacrifice, "the door" (Genesis 4:7) of the primal tabernacle (Genesis 3:24) in which God's dwelling place is "between the Cherubim" (I Samuel 4:4; II Samuel 6:2)
  - He testified in type as to the appointed sacrifice that sanctifies all other sacrifices (Hebrews 13:12,15)
  - God testified visibly and verbally to Cain that Abel 's witness was true (Genesis 4:7)

The testimony of Abel' s blood
- Abel's bloods (the blood of all the righteous) cries for vengeance (Genesis 4:10,25; Matthew 23:34-35)
- The "souls of them that were slain for the Word of God" cried out to God that their blood may be avenged (Revelation 6:9-11)
- In His "day of vengeance", God will be satiated and drunk with the blood of His adversaries (Jeremiah 46:10; Isaiah 63:3-4 cf. Revelation 14:20; Revelation 19:2,13)
  - The judgment of the ungodly for their evil words and deeds (Jude 14-15)
    - The "way of Cain" (Jude 11): "Cain talked with Abel his brother ..." (Genesis 4:8) - Septuagint reads "Cain said to Abel his brother, let us go into the field ..."
    - The "error of Balaam" (Revelation 2:14)
    - The "gainsaying (contradiction) of Korah" (Numbers 16:19-34)

Study Outline

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(Summary)