In
the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the
ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and
his offering he had no regard…
Then
the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you,
and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may
test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they
prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.’
Genesis 4:3-5 & Exodus 16:4-5
Old Testament scholars trace three spiritual
activities that may have been stipulated by God before the Torah: making
sacrifices, observing the Sabbath as a holy day and tithing.
The dispute between Cain and his brother Abel
described in Genesis 4 arose because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb
but rejected Cain’s sacrifice of crops. Why? While the account in Genesis is
unclear, and while at first glance God may seem to have acted partially, there
may be some crucial distinction of merit between Abel bringing the firstborn of his flock, by which is
meant the best of the flock (first in quality, not first
chronologically) but Cain simply bought some
of his harvest. But whether this explains God’s response, let us not fail to wonder
why Cain bought a sacrifice in the first place. Was it God’s idea or Cain’s? If
it was Cain’s idea, why did he not give the very best offering he could? After
all, do not all inventors and innovators tend to offer their very best? I
realise that this is uncertain, but I think that Cain’s rebelled, and the way
he vented his anger by murdering his brother, suggests that he was refusing to
obey something God required of him.
As we read in the above excerpt from Exodus, when God
gave the Israelites manna each day, it was only for six days in a week because
the Sabbath was a special day, even before its observance was enshrined in the
Torah.. This is, I think, why the 4th Commandment is to ‘remember’ or
‘observe’ the Sabbath, as if a reminder of something already practiced.
I know of nothing comparable in Genesis or Exodus that
implies that tithing was also ordained by God before he gave the Torah to Moses.
Although Abram is the father of faithful Christians as well as Jews, and a
persuasive example, we have only silence by which to decide whether by giving
10% he was complying with God’s expressed wish or simply doing what he
thought right in the circumstances.
God willing, next weekend I plan to see what St Paul says
about giving, drawing on 'Old Testament' principles.
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
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