What Mean Ye?
3. The Process of Time
Genesis 4:3 is the first recorded instance of a sacrifice by human hands to God. We are
told there that Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices "in the process of time."
The underlying Hebrew phrase is actually miqqetz yamim or
"the end of days."
This phrase is used nowhere else in Scripture to refer to an ongoing process or course.
However, this phrase or phrases similar to it are multiplied throughout Scripture to refer
to the end of a specific period of time. It is used in numerous cases to refer to the end
of a period of time that has been specifically set aside by prophecy or command.
Also, in Genesis 4:3, an end of something (specifically a predetermined number of days) is
in view; not simply an undeterminable on-going process or course of events. It is in this
context of the end of days, not the beginning of days, that we have the first example of a
sacrifice offered by human hands to Jehovah, the covenant God. Let us note a few things
about the partakers in the sacrifice.
They were old enough to have chosen professions (Genesis 4:2) in which they were already
actively engaged. "And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the
ground." There is no reason for us to suppose that they were old men by this time,
but neither are we told that Abel was keeping his father's sheep. The point to notice is
that they were old enough to accept the responsibilities involved in adult vocations.
It seems that Cain was old enough to be married. Verse 17 refers to a wife that he either
already had when making the sacrifice or married shortly thereafter. Once again, this does
not necessarily indicate that Cain was an old man, but he was certainly at least an
adolescent. When he "knew" his wife, he was mature enough that she conceived a
son as a result. So we have evidence within the passage that Cain and Abel were both
physically and mentally mature and responsible.
Abel had enough spiritual discernment to be regarded as a prophet of God (Matthew
23:34-35). Additionally, the manner of their sacrifices supposes that they were both
rational and discerning.
First, there was a difference in their motives (v. 5b). Abel was capable of rational
obedience to the commandments of God and brought his offering to God in faithful obedience
(Hebrews 11:4). Yet Abel was the younger of the two, so we can infer that Cain was also
"of years to discern" the commandments of God. Also, it is important for the
purpose of our study to note that Abel brought the fruit of his adult obedient behavior.
He was not sitting on his mother's lap, but actively engaged in adult worship. Finally,
the fact that Abel worshipped God both inwardly by faith and outwardly in the manner
ordained by God (Hebrews 11:4; 12:24) speaks directly to the root of the whole
paedocommunion issue.
These offerings, then, speak to the Church in the twentieth century in such a way as to
help us to place the teaching of paedocommunion in its proper context.
God had no respect to Cain's offering in that he worshipped God after his own imagination.
God apparently required that the sacrifice be a firstfruit offering. Cain worshipped God
after his own imagination and God regarded it as no worship at all.
Today we are still responsible to worship God only as He has commanded. The regulative
principle of Sola Scriptura is the fundamental issue involved in the entire
paedocommunion debate. Thus, the purpose of this study is to search the Scriptures for
God's commandments concerning how He will have us worship Him. When we have discerned from
Scripture what it is that God requires, then we are to follow the example of righteous
Abel and worship God properly.
We have been examining the sacrifices brought by Cain and Abel to Jehovah, the covenant
Lord. It might be objected that this was neither Passover nor the Lord's Supper and
therefore bears no relation to this topic. Obviously the Passover was not ordained until
many generations later and the Lord's Supper many generations after that. So why bother
examining Abel's sacrifice at all?
In order to understand the Passover, we must see it in its nature as a sacrifice. The
Lord's Supper, while not a sacrifice as such, is a commemoration of the once for all
sacrifice of Christ. In fact, the Passover also pointed to this once for all sacrifice, as
did Abel's sacrifice in Genesis 4. For us to take a redemptive-historical view of the
Passover we must first understand the redemptive background in which God placed it.
Paedocommunionists rightly insist that we take an historical view of the Lord's Supper by
first examining the Passover. But even the Passover does not occur in a non-historical
setting. It is first and foremost a sacrifice. The Bible does not begin with the book of
Matthew, but neither does it begin with the book of Exodus.
There are numerous other sacrifices throughout the book of Genesis (8:20f.; 12:7f.;
13:4f.; etc.). In each case an adult male brought his sacrifice to the Lord. Thus, the
principle was established by the time of the Exodus that these sacrifices were to be made
by those males capable of being heads of households.
In the next section of this study we will examine the Passover as it relates to its
participants. As we examine what is necessary for the proper observance of the Passover,
however, we must bring with us what we have learned from this passage regarding by whom
and how sacrifices were to be made. All that we have learned regarding Cain and Abel and
their respective sacrifices should speak to us with respect to the Passover sacrifice. If
infants and young children are to have any part in the Passover, we should expect the
Bible to tell us what that part is. We will see in Exodus 12 precisely what role the
covenant children played in the Passover, but we will search in vain for a commandment
that infants are to partake of adult food.
Page Last Updated: 01/10/08 02:16:41 PM