Untitled article by H. F. Phelps

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 1, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 25.

GOD'S OBJECT LESSONS. NO. 8.

By H. F. Phelps

THERE are some who can find nothing of interest in what is said in the Bible about sacrifices and offerings of the Levitical priesthood. To such the books of Leviticus and Numbers are dry and uninteresting. It was once so with the writer. But now there is a beauty in all these things. Let us for a moment look at some of them.

The first mention in the Bible of sacrificing is in Genesis, chapter 4. Cain and Abel each brought an offering. That of Cain was of the fruit of the ground. "Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect." Why was this? Where was the difference? Cain was a farmer, while Abel kept sheep. They both brought offerings of what they had. Why were not both accepted? Where was the difference? The fault was not in God. But there was something that was not right with Cain, for we read, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Here is the answer. Heb. 11:4: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which [faith] he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts [by having 'respect' thereto]; and by it [his faith] he being dead yet speaketh."

Why were the gifts of Abel more acceptable to God than Cain's? Because they were offered in faith according to God's plan. His faith led him to do just as God had said. Then, if this faith was pleasing to God, and Cain did not please God, it was because he had no faith. He was filled with unbelief. He fed upon doubts and cherished unbelief till it ripened into murmuring and murder. Abel's faith led him to come according to God's plan, while Cain's unbelief would not allow him to do this. In the offering of Abel there was blood; in that of Cain there was none. Abel could see something in the blood of the lamb slain by his own hands. Cain could see nothing in this; he did not see any necessity for it. Abel believed, Cain disbelieved. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. He would worship God, but he would do it according to his own ideas; and in doing this he did not worship God at all, but a god of his own making, and that was self. He could not believe that God would be very particular.

Abel believed that God meant just what he said, and believing he acted. Cain had no sense of his own lost condition. Abel did have a sense of this condition, and his need of help from God. The plan of salvation through Christ was too foolish a thing for Cain to believe. He could see no value in blood. In fact, he could not have believed in the coming of the Just One. Abel had faith in Christ; he believed the promise of God. By faith he could grasp the idea that Christ should come and give his life a ransom for the human race. He could see no righteousness in himself; he could sense the fact that without a Saviour he was a lost man, and lost forever. Cain could not see this. Abel could see in himself only sin and guilt. In the lamb of his flock he could see innocence; in himself, no way of salvation, but only a sinner condemned to die. As he lifted his own hand to take the life of the victim, he could see, and by this acknowledge, that he himself deserved to die. In this victim he could also see a type of Christ. In its blood as it was poured out beside the altar he could see the blood of his Saviour as he poured out his life for the world. And every time he brought a lamb, he could see an object lesson before him that said, "Christ will come." By faith he took hold of hope through Christ.

And every offering that was ever made was an emblem or an object lesson impressing upon the believer that Christ the Saviour should come. It was also a lesson showing that man must die; that he stood condemned by a just law that had been violated, but could not be changed. It was an object lesson showing that there was no salvation in the law; that man could not be saved except in God's appointed way. The victim must be spotless, without blemish. This was an object lesson, to show that the offering to be made for man was without fault.

While these things set forth in truth and verity the fact of man's lost condition, they show but feebly the value of the plan of salvation. These were but types, shadows, figures of the true. Cain's unbelief led him to ignore all this. Of course he should be saved, but in his own way, not in God's way. Had it not been for unbelief, Cain would have offered a lamb. Had it not been for unbelief, Cain would not have ripened into a murderer, and dyed his hands with his brother's blood. O cruel unbelief!

O faith, thou art a jewel more precious than all else in this world. It was faith that led Abel to see, even in a shadow, the living reality,—Christ, the Lamb of God; Christ, the living fountain, who should wash away his sins. By faith he could see Christ as the Saviour of the world, and by these things "he being dead yet speaketh." Oh, for more of this living faith! "Have faith in God." Oh, for a faith that will grasp the promises of God, and, appropriating them, will "follow on to know the Lord" in all things, whom to know aright is life eternal.

H. F. PHELPS.