Abel, The Priest

Abel, The Priest

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.’  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel.  Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.  And the Lord respected Abel and his offering….

Genesis 4:1-4

As soon as God had articulated the message of the coming Christ in Genesis 3:15, He began to show Christ by type and shadow in the Old Testament.  We see the first instance of that in Abel, the first martyr of the Church of Jesus Christ.  As we tour through this passage, we want to point out the various ways in which Abel is the pre-figurement of Christ.  The first thought that comes to mind relates to the Mediatorial function of Christ as Priest.  As Christ offered the perfect Sacrifice, so Abel, as the first recorded individual to worship God by sacrifice, did so with ‘the firstborn of his flock.’  This sets the precedent for all who would come to God in an acceptable manner.  We are ‘kings and priests unto God’ but we are only so because God has made us so.  Our approach to God can only ever be upon the merits of Christ.  Because He is our Great High Priest, Who has offered Himself as the Lamb of God, we can approach the very Throne of God without fear of rejection.  God laid all the sins of all of the elect upon Christ.  Abel, as a type of Christ, offered the lamb as the sacrifice.  God owned that sacrifice and ‘respected Abel and his offering.’  So, God also accepted the Sacrifice of Christ in a larger way, of which Abel’s acceptance was only a pale imitation.  Today, let us dwell upon this type and shadow which God set forth early on to point us to Christ, Our Priest and Sacrifice.

Our most Holy and Wise God,
we rejoice, that the overwhelming message of Your Word, is Christ.
We praise You, that page by page, and line by line,
You lead us evermore to behold Him, the Altogether Lovely One.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush Is Burning