The Blood of Abel
Dearly beloved, I hate drama. I absolutely abhor it in whatever shape, shade or form. I especially don’t appreciate it when it’s unnecessary and illogical. A straight line that ordinarily would lead from point A to point B becomes a sigmoid curve for no apparent reason other than that someone somewhere is being absolutely irrational. And there are several examples in the Bible where being irrational and dramatic has cost people dearly and made them suffer consequences that they really shouldn’t have had anything to do with in the first place.
One such example is one which most of you would be expecting, knowing my lack of understanding for this particular set of individuals. The children of Israel. All they had to do, was leave Egypt and get to Canaan. Pillar of cloud for navigation by day, pillar of fire for warmth and light by night. Manna for food. All the basics were covered. But no, that was too easy. They preferred to complicate things at every given opportunity, and trek for forty years instead.
Another classic example of unnecessary drama that I personally still don’t understand is that of the 2 mothers that came before Solomon (1 Kings 3:16). They had both had babies, and they lived together. One night though, somehow one of the mothers rolled over her child in sleep and smothered the baby. There are so many questions to be asked about that statement alone, but let’s not lose our threads here. We’ll just assume she was utterly exhausted or something and it happened. So you woke up in the middle of the night and saw what you had done, albeit mistakenly, but it had been done. The child was dead (1 Kings 3:19). It takes a completely different kind of person to not instantly fall into abject grief and despair for the child you have lost, and be consumed by guilt for how that loss came about. But this babe?? Not her. She still had the presence of mind to be devious. She quickly and quietly swapped babies with the other woman, who also did not notice.
Again, so many questions, but alright. Morning came, and the mother of the living child woke up to feed her baby, and realized that the child with her was dead. Looking closely however, she noticed that this was not her baby, and all hell broke loose. So much so that they had to seek an audience with the King to sort it out. To me, this issue should have not even existed, to begin with. But maybe that’s just me. Anyways, all these examples are just to bring us to the topic for today, which is another case of drama where there should have been none.
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 24, the New Living Translation, says,
“You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.”
I don’t know about you, but I like the sound of someone mediating on my behalf, especially if it’s going to result in forgiveness for me. But there’s another side of the scale here. There are two voices speaking, and weirdly the voices belong to blood. Now, that might sound weird but that’s only because it is weird. Blood doesn’t speak, talk less of crying out. But God has already explained this phenomenon to us.
“…for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.”
Leviticus 17:11 NLT
So blood, quite literally, is life. And atonement or purification, then and now, is made possible by exchanging a life for another life. Then, the blood of animals was given in exchange, but for us, the life of the One who can break the seals has been offered in our place.
So thankfully, the blood of Jesus speaks forgiveness over us. But what of the other blood mentioned in Hebrews 12:24? The blood of Abel that cried out for vengeance? Who was Abel, and why was his blood spilled in the first place? Why would his life force claim the right of vengeance? And why do I think that it was a situation that very easily could have been avoided? We’ll see.
For those of us that might have forgotten, Abel and his senior brother Cain, were the first children on earth (Gen. 4:1). Talk about having the world as your playground, right? Their parents were Adam and his wife, Eve. Those ones too had their issues, but story for another day. So Abel was the younger son in a world where his only playmate was his brother, earth’s very first firstborn son. When they grew up, Cain became a farmer, while Abel became a shepherd. Industrious men right?
So anyway, at harvest Cain brought some of his farm’s yield as an offering to God, but God rejected his offering (Gen. 4:5). That would have been enough to make anyone sad, but then it got worse. Because guess who offered a sacrifice too? Abel did. The Bible says that Abel brought the best of the first of his flock. So not only did he bring the first, but he also selected the best parts and presented them to God. Not surprisingly, God accepted Abel’s offering, and that enraged Cain so much that he became dejected (Gen. 4:5). Now, here’s the thing. Remember how in nursery/elementary school you’d be assigned homework and get to do the corrections in school the next day as a learning exercise? Yeah, God literally did that for Cain. Imagine God in His magnificence, asking you personally what your problem is, in this 2024?? I know I’ll cry in relief for the first 2 hours, before I’ll even be able to say anything. But God not only asked Cain what was wrong, He literally gave him the solution to his problems.
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
(Genesis 4:6-7) NLT
Telling someone that they would be accepted if they do what is right is the easiest way to point out that they’ve done wrong, but it can easily be corrected. Because Cain was busy pulling the most epic sulk of all time, God also warned him about how he was letting his feelings rule him, and how they could lead him into trouble.
Tbh I think what Cain needed was an African mother, a Nigerian Spirit -filled one to be precise. Imagine dragging your steps around the house and frowning your face all day because your younger brother got something you didn’t. I know I’m not the only one that shuddered thinking about what your eyes would see in that house. But yeah, he was upset and he allowed that anger to poison him to the point where he took it out on his own brother, and killed him (Gen. 4:8). This is where I want to give him a hot slap and then some, because why???? What for???? How exactly was killing Abel supposed to help him win God’s approval?? What was the unnecessary anger about??
But here’s how I know that Cain’s head was actually touching for real. After killing Abel, God asked this man where his brother was, and this bros had the audacity to be nonchalant!! With Yaweh???? As in you’re shrugging your shoulders at the God that reduced your father from landlord of Eden to tenant of the earth?? Men and audacity shaaa, no be today.
Toh, he received his due immediately, there and then, and still even had the mind to try and negotiate with God for his life. A farmer to whom the ground would yield no increase, a wanderer with no home (Gen. 4:10-16). But before he received his punishment, God informed Cain that his brother’s blood was crying out to him from the ground!! Because Cain had committed murder against an innocent man, that man’s blood was calling out to God for retribution, or one could say revenge. So in essence, the blood of Abel calls out strongly for punishment, punishment for atrocities committed, punishment for sin. And sometimes, in fact most times, the punishment is not equal to the crime committed. It usually goes beyond, because it looks not towards the redemption of the guilty, but focuses more on revenge for the crime.
But the blood of the sprinkling, the same blood which was flogged and forced out of our Lord Jesus Christ, in another cruel crime against an innocent Savior, that blood does more than balance the scales for us. It does more that speak justice, it cries mercy. I’m not sure you understand what I mean. Imagine the scales on the statue of the Lady Justice. Now, the blood of Abel is on one plate, tilting the odds of our eternity towards damnation as it screams for retribution against all the wrong we have committed here on earth. The scale is precariously imbalanced, right? Hold that image in your head for a few seconds, and now hear me: THAT IS YOUR ETERNITY WITHOUT JESUS!!
That imbalance, that assurance that the only way left for the weight to go is down against you, that’s what you would have had to look forward to for all time – without Jesus. Isaiah 49:24 asks,
“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?”
A lawful captive is one who has been found guilty in the eyes of the law, and justice must be served to such a one. This is you, and this is me – without Jesus.
Now release that image from your head and exhale, because that’s not your reality anymore as a believer in Christ. And I’m so glad that it’s not mine either. Eternal life is our inheritance, because the blood of Christ not only balances out the scales, which it would have done if it only pled for justice, but it swings the entire thing sharply in your favor because it speaks mercy over you. Salvation in Christ Jesus guarantees you this victory over the law. Even when you have failed, and are guilty to the very marrow of your bones, the Blood speaks mercy. When you are ignorant and act in your ignorance, It speaks mercy. Even when the law demands justice over you for your mistakes and misdeeds, It speaks mercy.
It will always always speak mercy.
And if you’re here, without Jesus, because you somehow stumbled on the link to this post, or someone shared it with you or something, I’d like you to take a couple of minutes and ponder on these things. Because I don’t know, but having eternal life assured, in joy everlasting, sounds like a pretty good idea to me. If there’s anything I’ve learned this year, it’s that literally anything can happen at anytime in this world. Literally anything. Plus, there really isn’t much that worth losing time for, while we’re here. Life is like the flame on a candle, a shift of wind can put it out. Why not subscribe to peace here and joy forever then? I’m just saying, it seems like a shame to get through this and suffer damnation afterwards. Think on the advantage, the unmerited benefit of God’s mercy, as opposed to the vengeance and retribution of sin. And then talk to God, I can assure you He’s already listening.
I leave you in God’s peace,
Greetings from the foot of the Cross,
Gabrielle…
