Now let’s cover a couple of things concerning Melchizedek before we go on here. Number one, who established it? Well, the Lord established it Himself, the Most High. Because Melchizedek was Priest of the Most High. That means that God the Father established this. And it was before the establishment of the covenant in Genesis 15, that as we know, was on the Passover day. How long it continued to exist, we don’t know if it went beyond the days of Abraham to Isaac. We have nothing other than what it tells us in the Old Testament and the New Testament. So that’s why Paul spends the time here saying, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but [being] having been made like the Son of God,...” (Hebrews 7:3, AT). And that could be translated “assimilated into.” Meaning, the very office of Melchizedek was assimilated into the function of the Son of God, Who was Christ. So therefore, He is a Priest forever, because He lives forever; and also, as we have seen, He is King, a King forever, because He lives forever.

Now let’s come to Hebrews 7:4 (AT). “And consider how great this one was,...” Now, this is important to understand. Because what is it that the Jews today look to as the most important man? Moses. Now they also understand about Abraham, but they look to Moses more. But Abraham preceded Moses, didn’t he? Yes. So this is why he’s going back to this historical setting to show that the precedent of Melchizedek as Priest and as King was established before the covenant with Abraham. Now then, he says, “And consider how great this one was, to Whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth from the spoils.” Now the reason he brings this out is because under the covenant with Israel no one was to receive the tenth other than the Levites and the priests. So he is showing here that the giving of the tenth…and also it shows that God required a tenth when? Long before Israel. And undoubtedly long before Abraham.

Now we don’t know, but we could make a guess, so we’ll have to say this is a guess. Let’s come back here to Genesis 4. Part of this is a guess, and part of it is fact. Now God does expect us to use our minds in a proper way and to think things through with Scripture to come to understand what His word is. And sometimes…let’s put it this way…most of the time God does not necessarily repeat everything over again in exactly the same way. And this is what bugs people to death to no end concerning the New Testament, you see. Because they say, “Well, there’s no command to keep the Sabbath.” But yes there is, when you come to understand it. So likewise here, when we read about Cain and Abel.

 Now as we read this, before we do, let’s ask a couple of questions. If you keep the commandments of God and obey His voice and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His commandments, and His laws, you are righteous. Is that correct? “All Your commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172, paraphrased). If you do not do that, and you break the commandments, we know that sin is the transgression of law; therefore, sin is the breaking of the commandments. Correct? We understand that. Now let’s come here and read this account with Cain and Abel, and this will help us understand.

Let’s give just little background before we start reading. Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and two cherubim were put at the entrance of the east gate. Now this is very similar to what, as we went through and showed concerning the tabernacle, how the tabernacle was constructed. In the Holy of Holies, the inner part of the tabernacle, or the temple, was where the Ark was, or, the throne of God, or where the presence of God was. Now after Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden, who lived in the Garden of Eden? God still did. He didn’t destroy it. He put the cherubim there to protect the tree of life so that they could not get in there. Now in symbolism, under the covenant with Israel, the high priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies of the temple once a year. He would come into the outer chamber every day. And in the outer chamber we have what? We have the seven lamp stands, don’t we? And we have the things for washing, don’t we? And we have the table of showbread with the six loaves on each side of the table of showbread. All of that is reflective back here to the Garden of Eden.

So when Adam and Eve and Abel would want to have contact with God, where would they go? Probably at the set time, probably on the Sabbath day they would meet the Lord at the entrance of the Garden of Eden. Now just outside the entrance of the Garden of Eden there had to be some sort of altar. Just like outside the entrance to the temple you had the altar of burnt offerings. Inside the first part you also had, which we forgot to mention, the altar of incense. So here we have, instead of a temple, we have the Garden of Eden, we have the two cherubim; out from there we have an altar. And there had to be an altar, because of what we’re going to read here in Genesis 4. Now the question is, the Lord also functioned not only as king, but as priest. Did He not? He would have to with Abel and Cain, and Adam and Eve. He would have to. So you see, this maybe reflects back on the office of Melchizedek going clear back here, because obviously the Lord had no beginning of days, or end of life, nor any genealogy. So it can come clear back here to Genesis 4.

Now let’s read what happened here after Cain and Abel were born. Verse 3, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.” Now let’s ask a question here: are you to bring certain offerings of the ground to God? Yes, you are. You’re to bring the firstfruits, aren’t you? And you’re to bring the tithe of it, aren’t you? Yes indeed. Because the same laws apply. We can take the laws that God gave to Israel, and they have to be the same ones back here. Now even though you brought an offering from the ground, was that sufficient? And if you brought an offering of the ground that was not the firstfruits, or that was not the tithe of the ground, that still was not an offering in the sense that it was an animal sacrifice. Now let’s read it here. There are a lot of things we can derive out of this when we understand the rest of the Bible. Verse 4, “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Gen. 4:3-4). Now what are the firstlings? They are the firstborn, aren’t they? Where do we find the law of the firstborn? Well, in Exodus and in Deuteronomy. “All that opens the matrix being males are Mine, saith the LORD” (Exodus 13:12, paraphrased).

(Audience comment) Question was, were these offered at the same time? It doesn’t say that they were offered at the same time, and you don’t put the firstfruits on the altar, and you don’t put the tithe of the ground on the altar. The only thing you put on the altar is an animal sacrifice. But also, because of the nature of man, what was it that God required of Israel when they approached Him? To bring an offering for sin, is that not correct? And only by the shedding of blood is there remission of sin. Is that not correct? That’s correct today through the blood of Christ. That was correct with Israel with the animal sacrifices they had. So therefore, we can say it had to be also correct with Abel and Cain. Otherwise, God then would have different standards for different people when there is only one law, and one standard, and one Lord, correct? So this is how we are to reason with the Scriptures.

So he brought the firstlings of the flock, and the fat thereof. Now that means that it could be offered for a firstborn, it could also be offered for a sin offering. Either way. “...And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:...” (vs. 4). Now, people look at that and they think, “Well, now, Cain tried.” This was before New Age philosophy, see. Cain tried. “And if he was sincere and he tried, therefore, God was being discriminatory because He accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s. And after all, from the goodness of his heart, Cain must have done this.” No. We don’t find that at all.

Now verse 5, “But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.” Why? Well, if it would have been done according to the laws that God gave them it would have been accepted, wouldn’t it? If you do something according to the law of God, does He not accept it? Yes, He does. That’s what He said is acceptable. You even read there of the sacrifices in Leviticus 1, it says, “When any man bring a voluntary offering of his own will...” (Leviticus 1:2-3, paraphrased). So he has to initiate it. Then when he initiates it then He gives all of the commands on how that is to be offered at the altar. So likewise, we’ve got to have the same thing in play here, don’t we? When did God not accept an offering by the priest and the Levites? You can read that in Malachi 1. We just covered that last week. “You bring the blind and halted and the maimed [and that which is, we can add, which God rejects], and you expect Him to accept it” (Malachi 1:8, paraphrased). So God didn’t have any respect to that.

Now whatever it was that Cain brought and did, he did not do it according to the commandment of God. So therefore, God did not have respect unto it. Now then, from this we can learn a great principle, can’t we, which covers everything: unless you do it God’s way, He is not bound to respect what you do. Now we can just think on that. That’s true. After all, is not God, God? And since He is God - not if - since He is God, He is the one Who commands men, does He not? Men do not command God. So what we have here is, Cain doing his own way, is coming to God and asking God to accept something that was done contrary to the law. Otherwise, it would have been accepted.

Now hold your place here, and let’s come back to the book of Jude. Now let’s tie this in with relationship to New Testament faith. Jude 3. Now we’ve read this many times before, but let’s put this in a little different light. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful [or that is, obligatory; he says ‘I was obliged’] for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” And of course, Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” correct? Yes. We can go through all of that, too. Verse 4, “For there are certain men crept in unawares,...” Now we’re going to read about these men again here in just a minute. “...Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,...” That means their condemnation of old was written about. “...Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into [licentiousness] lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4).

Now, let’s come to verse 10. After he talks about what happened to the children of Israel, and Sodom and Gomorrah, and the angels that sinned, and so forth. Now verse 10, “But these [these men who are turning the grace of God into licentiousness] speak evil of those things which they know not:...” That is, they don’t understand them. “...But what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,...” (vs. 10-11). Now this defines the way of Cain, doesn’t it? The way of Cain is contrary to the commandments of God. Contrary to the faith of Christ. While Abel is called righteous, Cain is called wicked here in this way, and it is the way of Cain, because he established something after the account there in Genesis 4, as we will see.

“...And ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” Now, what was the thing of Balaam? Balaam wanted to be paid for his services. “Yes, I will come and curse. If you pay me.” And he says, “Whatever you ask.” God let him have it. He gave him a warning - the angel and the jackass. “...And perished in the gainsaying of Core” (vs. 11). Now Korah did what? They were the ones who wanted to usurp the priesthood. They were the ones who wanted to offer incense, weren’t they? They were the ones who wanted to get rid of Aaron. So you have that same thing connected with Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

So what was it that Cain did back here? Let’s come back to Genesis 4 again. Isn’t this typical? Now Genesis 4:5, “And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” Because he wanted his way. Now try the same thing on any Sunday-keeper. And say, “You ought to keep the Sabbath.” They’ll get mad and their countenance wroth. Fallen. They will be, “How dare you!” There’s one man who sent an e-mail, and I look through the e-mail’s, and most of them, you know, those that are good I keep, those that are not good I don’t keep. Anyway, he wrote me this thing concerning, I forget what it was. But what I did, I called Ron Carey, and I had Ron Carey give him a little note and send him the Rome’s Challenge To The Protestants. And boy, I got back a hot e-mail. “I never knew you were S.D.A.!” Well, we’re not S.D.A., you see. “You S.D.A.’s always hide under other names!” Well, we’re not S.D.A.’s, and we’re not hiding under other names. We have it very clearly stated, “Christian Biblical Church of God.” That’s not another name. And then he says, “Well, Jesus gave us the first day of the week by being resurrected on the first day of the week.” All mad. All angry. Didn’t want the truth.

Well that’s exactly what Cain was. So God gave him a chance. Verse 6, “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou [mad] wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen [in this sullen mood]?” Verse 7, “If thou doest well [or if you do right], shalt thou not be accepted?” So whatever he did was not right, because it says that the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, which means that what? God accepted it, correct? So He’s saying to Cain, “You didn’t do this in a right manner. Had you done it in a right manner you would have been accepted.” Now continuing in verse 7, “...and if thou dost not well,...” In other words, if you do not what is right, “...sin [which is the transgression of law], lieth at the door...” Now that’s a very interesting statement there. This I’m sure has reference to the entrance into the Garden of Eden where God would come out and He would manifest Himself. Maybe that’s when the priesthood of Melchizedek began. And so, the altar was what? At the entrance, or the door, to the Garden of Eden. So here he’s bringing sin. Sin lies at the door. Right at the entrance where God lives. That’s what He’s saying.

Now continuing, “And unto thee shall be [its] his desire,...” In other words, if you give in to it, you give in to your lust, it’s going to get you. Sin - what is the wages of sin? Death. “...And thou shalt rule over [it] him.” Now that’s what it should read. In other words, you are to overcome sin. So what did God do when Cain sinned? He called him to repentance, did He not? Yes, He did. Isn’t that what God commanded Israel? Yes, indeed. Let’s go to Isaiah 1. Let’s see that.

(Pause) Comment was made, since he brought an offering of the ground, and he brought it to the altar, could it be that he brought it and put it on the altar in place of a burnt offering? In other words, on the altar of God instead of a sacrifice of a lamb or a goat, as we know would be allowable. He brought the fruit of the ground and put it on the altar and expected God to accept that as a burnt offering. I mean, can you burn wheat? Yes, you can put a bundle of wheat up on an altar with the fire and it will burn. Now it’s possible. Again, we don’t know. We can’t say for sure, but something like that must have been the case, because it was called sin. So therefore, we know it was not firstfruit offering; we know it was not a tithe offering.

(Pause) Another possibility just brought up, which is a good comment. Since Cain would have to bring an animal for a sin offering, he probably would have had to trade with his brother Abel to get a lamb to do that, and he didn’t want to do it. So he was going to force his way upon God. Either way you look at it, whatever Cain did was to force his way upon God. That’s totally the opposite of repentance.

 Now let’s come to Isaiah 1, and let’s see the same thing here. Let’s see the same thing. Whenever there is sin, God defines it, and God calls to repentance. And God instructs what needs to be done after repentance, and that’s the same thing that He did with Cain, wasn’t it? You go back and analyze it. Now let’s pick it up here in Isaiah 1:10. “Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?” Now even the animal sacrifices, if they were not offered correctly, or if they were not according to what God had said, or if you come with an evil heart and think that if you offered 10,000 rams as it is there in the book of Micah, that you’re going to have greater favor with God. You can even take God’s way and so pervert it and still say that you’re doing it to God, even in the temple of God, but you’re living in sin. That’s what they were doing.

“...[Thus] saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.” Yet He commanded it, right? But they were doing it with sin. “When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?” (vs. 11-12). It sounds an awful lot like Genesis 4, doesn’t it? Yes indeed. You know, you might put there Sunday-keeping. “Who has required you to do this? And you come and say you’re doing it in the name of God. And you’re coming and saying that you have entrance to Me and My court.” No.

“Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies,...” Whether they were, and we know that for Israel, these were their own sabbaths and own new moons and everything like this. It wasn’t God’s. And we know when we read the rest of the book of Isaiah that they were worshiping Baal. They were following all the gods of the nations around them, offering their children in the fire to Moloch. “...I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting” (vs. 13). Now, I tell you what, there is nothing more frustrating than to go to some meeting and it turns out to be some stupid meeting with absolutely no meaning or relevance to anything. And much more so if you come to hear the word of God and anything but the word of God is expressed. This is what God is telling us here.

Now verse 14, “Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them.” And He says in another place that, “Israel, you have made Me to serve with your sins” (Isaiah 43:24, paraphrased). That’s what God did. So He’s calling them - first of all, He is exposing their sins. And He’s telling them why. Now He’s going to tell them what to do here in just a minute. “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” Then He brings them to repentance: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil [that’s repentance]; learn to do well [that’s what you do after repentance]; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (vs. 14-20).

Well, what happened to Cain? He refused. And he went and killed Abel. And I think that that was a good thought that you had there, that maybe he had to go to Abel to barter some of his goods of the ground to bring an animal for a sin offering or a sacrifice for a Sabbath or holy day. And he didn’t want to do it. (Audience comment) There are many different things that we can read out of the account there with Abel and Cain. He was jealous. He was firstborn. So therefore he figured that whatever he did should be acceptable. And so you always have this kind of thing going on, even in families today. You always know the one who is second born is always playing catch-up.

(Audience comment) So you have everything there. Even though he brought something from the ground, if it were proper according to God’s law, he would have been accepted. But you see, none of the things from the ground can be taken for a sin offering or a burnt offering. The burnt offering is given when you’re thankful to God, and its wholly consumed on the altar, and God takes that as a real sacrifice on your part; and He commanded it, and it’s done right, God accepts it. So there are many, many different things that you can glean and of the account with Abel and with Cain.

This also then - last comment - this also ties in to tithing, and ties in to the thing that people want to give offerings rather than to tithe. Now we will thoroughly cover that when we get to it. But we need to also ask the question, when we get to it, so don’t - there are two things people get upset about. Number one, their lives; number two, their money. And Satan is right there to take advantage of both of those. And God is right there to bless you with both of those. So before we get all huffy and puffy, and before people, before I even get to it, I know there are going to be people who will say, “Well, you’re doing this because you need money.” No. I’m not bringing this because the church needs money, or I personally need money. But I’m bringing it so that you will understand that if you go contrary to the commands of God in anything, including tithes and offerings, then you’re holding back a blessing that God would want to give you. That’s why.

So if you have to live by every word of God, which you do, then that’s included. Now I’ll just say right here, those who are retired and who are on Social Security and so forth, you do not have an active servile working increase, so therefore, to give offerings on what you receive, that’s perfectly fine. So I’m not trying to preach that those who are on pensions or those who have very little income, they should tithe. But nevertheless, as we will see, always remember the widow’s mite. And the point was not how much she gave. The point was that she loved God. So we’ll end here and pick it up next time.