ABEL
Second son of Adam, shepherd by trade. He was righteous (Mt. 23:35) and full of faith (Heb. 11:4). Out of envy he murdered his brother Cain. Abel typifies “innocent blood” (Mt 23:34).
Many conjectures have been made about why his offering was accepted by God and Cain’s was not.
The one that most agrees with the whole of the biblical doctrine is that the sacrifice of a lamb could have been commanded by God as an advance of the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, that is, the plan of Redemption. . .
Incidental evidence of this may be the numerous altars from prehistoric times that are scattered around the world. Paganism distorted the divine purpose, going so far as to offer human victims, but the order of expiatory sacrifices that we find in the Pentateuch, after Israel’s departure from Egypt, could have been, like the institution of marriage and the Sabbath day, . , a restitution of an old mandate, rather than an innovation.
“Remember the Sabbath,” it says in Exodus. And as for sacrifices, we read that Abraham offered them long before the institution of the Levitical ministry. Where did Abraham get the idea if not from a tradition from God’s early revelation in Eden? The letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 11:4) says that “by faith Abel offered a better sacrifice.” Faith to what? Faith requires knowledge, or, in this case, revelation.
Abel’s sacrifice is proof of an obedient character to God, while Cain’s offering is proof of a haughty character, who tried to impose his own cult of homage to the Creator, and did not want to humiliate himself as dependent on his brother, for his offering, despite the probable revelation of God.
In the New Testament Abel is considered a martyr (Mt. 23:35) of his faith (Heb. 11:4) and of his righteousness (1 Jn. 3:12). The first to die of the human race was the first to enter the glory of God and a pledge of the first fruits that no one can number. “The blood of Abel” cried out for justice on the earth, but the blood of Jesus Christ brought forgiveness and salvation for all who repent (Heb. 12:24; 1 Jn. 1:7).