EGW Notes - Lesson 3
Sabbath Afternoon, April 9
Christ was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. The death of Abel was in consequence of Cain’s
refusing to accept God’s plan in the school of obedience, to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, typified by the
sacrificial offerings pointing to Christ. Cain refused the shedding of blood, which symbolized the blood of Christ
to be shed for the world. This whole ceremony was prepared by God, and Christ became the foundation of the
whole system. This is the beginning of its work as the schoolmaster to bring sinful human agents to a
consideration of Christ.
All who did service in connection with the sanctuary were being educated constantly in regard to the
intervention of Christ in behalf of the human race. This service was designed to create in every heart a love for
the law of God, which is the law of His kingdom. The sacrificial offering was to be an object lesson of the love of
God revealed in Christ—in the suffering, dying victim, who took upon Himself the sin of which man was guilty,
the innocent being made sin for
us.—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1109.
Since the announcement to the serpent in Eden, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15), Satan had known that he did not hold absolute sway over the world. There
was seen in men the working of a power that withstood his dominion. With intense interest he watched the
sacrifices offered by Adam and his sons. In these ceremonies he discerned a symbol of communion between earth
and heaven. He set himself to intercept this communion. He misrepresented God, and misinterpreted the rites that
pointed to the Saviour. Men were led to fear God as one who delighted in their destruction. The sacrifices that
should have revealed His love were offered only to appease His wrath. Satan excited the evil passions of men, in
order to fasten his rule upon them. When God’s written word was given, Satan studied the prophecies of the
Saviour’s advent. From generation to generation he worked to blind the people to these prophecies, that they
might reject Christ at His coming.—The Desire of Ages, p. 115.
The Pharisee and the publican represent two great classes into which those who come to worship God are
divided. Their first two representatives are found in the first two children that were born into the world. Cain
thought himself righteous, and he came to God with a thank offering only. He made no confession of sin, and
acknowledged no need of mercy. But Abel came with the blood that pointed to the Lamb of God. He came as a
sinner, confessing himself lost; his only hope was the unmerited love of God. The Lord had respect to his offering,
but to Cain and his offering He had not respect. The sense of need, the recognition of our poverty and sin, is the
very first condition of acceptance with God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3.—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 152.
Sunday, April 10
Cain and Abel
The Saviour’s coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its
speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the
fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without the sight. . . .
But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God’s purposes know no haste and no delay. . . .
So in heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time
pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in
Bethlehem.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 31, 32.
Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam, differed widely in character. Abel had a spirit of loyalty to God; he saw
justice and mercy in the Creator’s dealings with the fallen race, and gratefully accepted the hope of redemption.
But Cain cherished feelings of rebellion, and murmured against God because of the curse pronounced upon the
earth and upon the human race for Adam’s sin. He permitted his mind to run in the same channel that led to
Satan’s fall—indulging the desire for self-exaltation and questioning the divine justice and
authority.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 71.
To encourage the love of amusement is to discourage the love of religious exercises, for the heart becomes so
crowded with trifling, with what is pleasing to the natural heart, that there is no room for Jesus. . . .
It requires the faith that works by love and purifies the soul to meet the mind of God. There are those who
believe in Christ; they do not think Him an impostor; they believe the Bible to be a revelation of His divine
character. They admire its holy doctrines, and revere the name, the only name given under heaven whereby men
can be saved, and yet, with all this knowledge, they may be as truly ignorant of the grace of God as the veriest
sinner. They have not opened the heart to let Jesus
in.—That I May Know Him, p. 307.
The time is not far off when the people of God will be called upon to give their testimony before the rulers of
the earth. Not one in twenty has a realization of what rapid strides we are making toward the great crisis in our
history. . . . There is no time for vanity, for trifling, for engaging the mind in unimportant matters. . . .
You now have an opportunity to attain to the greatest intellectual power through the study of the Word of
God. But if you are indolent, and fail to dig deep in the mines of truth, you will not be ready for the crisis that is
soon to come upon us. O that you would realize that each moment is golden. If you live by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God, you will not be found
unprepared.—Our High Calling, p. 355.
Monday, April 11
The Two Offerings
These brothers were tested, as Adam had been tested before them, to prove whether they would believe and
obey the word of God. They were acquainted with the provision made for the salvation of man, and understood
the system of offerings which God had ordained. They knew that in these offerings they were to express faith in
the Saviour whom the offerings typified, and at the same time to acknowledge their total dependence on Him for
pardon; and they knew that by thus conforming to the divine plan for their redemption, they were giving proof of
their obedience to the will of God. Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin; and they
were to show their faith in the blood of Christ as the promised atonement by offering the firstlings of the flock in
sacrifice. Besides this, the first fruits of the earth were to be presented before the Lord as a thank
offering.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 71.
Cain brought his offering unto the Lord with murmuring and infidelity in his heart in regard to the promised
Sacrifice. He was unwilling to strictly follow the plan of obedience and procure a lamb and offer it with the fruit
of the ground. He merely took of the ground and disregarded the requirement of God. God had made known to
Adam that without shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin. Cain was not particular to bring even the
best of the fruits. Abel advised his brother not to come before the Lord without the blood of sacrifice. Cain, being
the eldest, would not listen to his brother. He despised his counsel, and with doubt and murmuring in regard to
the necessity of the ceremonial offerings, he presented his offering. But God did not accept it.
Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat, as God had commanded; and in full faith of the
Messiah to come, and with humble reverence, he presented the offering. God had respect unto his offering. A light
flashes from heaven and consumes the offering of Abel. Cain sees no manifestation that his is accepted. He is
angry with the Lord and with his
brother.—The Story of Redemption, pp. 52, 53.
He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. Man
cannot be saved without obedience, but his works should not be of himself; Christ should work in him to will and
to do of His good pleasure. If a man could save himself by his own works, he might have something in himself in
which to rejoice. The effort that man makes in his own strength to obtain salvation, is represented by the offering
of Cain. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin; but that which is wrought
through faith is acceptable to God. When we seek to gain heaven through the merits of Christ, the soul makes
progress. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we may go on from strength to strength, from
victory to victory; for through Christ the grace of God has worked out our complete
salvation.—Selected Messages, book 1, p. 364.
Tuesday, April 12
The Crime
It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development—that it can
refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the
blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement.
This history of Cain shows what must be the result. It shows what man will become apart from Christ. Humanity
has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic.
Christ is our only hope.—Conflict and Courage, p. 25.
Cain did not repent. Instead of censuring and abhorring himself to his unbelief, he still complains of the
injustice and partiality of God. And in his jealousy and hatred he contends with Abel and reproaches him. Abel
meekly points out his brother’s error, and shows him that the wrong is in himself. But Cain hates his brother from
the moment that God manifests to him the tokens of his acceptance. His brother Abel seeks to appease his wrath
by contending for the compassion of God in saving the lives of their parents, when he might have brought upon
them immediate death. He tells Cain that God loved them, or he would not have given his Son, innocent and holy,
to suffer the wrath which man by his disobedience deserved to suffer. While Abel justifies the plan of God, Cain
becomes enraged and his anger increases and burns against Abel, until in his rage he slays him. God inquires of
Cain for his brother, and Cain utters a guilty falsehood, “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?” God . . . says to
him, “Thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth which hath
opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not
henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the
earth.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 49, 50.
It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate the advantages to be reaped through yielding to Satan’s
suggestions. Sin means dishonor and disaster to every soul that indulges in it; but it is blinding and deceiving in
its nature, and it will entice us with flattering presentations. If we venture on Satan’s ground we have no
assurance of protection from his power. So far as in us lies, we should close every avenue by which the tempter
may find access to us. . . .
The only safeguard against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. It is
because selfishness exists in our hearts that temptation has power over us. But when we behold the great love of
God, selfishness appears to us in its hideous and repulsive character, and we desire to have it expelled from the
soul. As the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, our hearts are softened and subdued, the temptation loses its power, and
the grace of Christ transforms the
character.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 118.
Wednesday, April 13
The Punishment of Cain
God had given Cain an opportunity to confess his sin. . . . He knew the enormity of the deed he had done, and
of the falsehood he had uttered to conceal it; but he was rebellious still, and sentence was no longer deferred. . . .
Notwithstanding that Cain had by his crimes merited the sentence of death, a merciful Creator still spared his
life, and granted him opportunity for repentance. But Cain lived only to harden his heart, to encourage rebellion
against the divine authority, and to become the head of a line of bold, abandoned sinners. This one apostate, led
on by Satan, became a tempter to others; and his example and influence exerted their demoralizing power, until
the earth became so corrupt and filled with violence as to call for its destruction. . . .
Upon receiving the curse of God, Cain had withdrawn from his father’s household. . . . He had gone out from
the presence of the Lord, cast away the promise of the restored Eden, to seek his possessions and enjoyment in the
earth under the curse of sin, thus standing at the head of that great class of men who worship the god of this
world. In that which pertains to mere earthly and material progress, his descendants became distinguished. But
they were regardless of God, and in opposition to His purposes for
man.—Conflict and Courage, p. 27.
In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave the world an example of what would be the result of
permitting the sinner to live to continue a course of unbridled iniquity. Through the influence of Cain’s teaching
and example, multitudes of his descendants were led into sin, until “the wickedness of man was great in the earth”
and “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “The earth also was corrupt before
God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6:5,
11.—The Great Controversy, p. 543.
God has given to every man his work; and if any one turns from the work that God has given him, to do the
work of Satan, to defile his own body or lead another into sin, that man’s work is cursed, and the brand of Cain is
placed upon him. The ruin of his victim will cry unto God, as did the blood of Abel.
Any man . . . who seeks to compel or control the reason of any other man, becomes an agent of Satan, to do
his work, and in the sight of the heavenly universe he bears the mark of Cain.—Ellen G. White Comments, in
The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1087.
Thursday, April 14
The Wickedness of Man
To Adam was given another son, to be the inheritor of the divine promise, the heir of the spiritual birthright.
The name Seth, given to this son, signified “appointed,” or “compensation;” “for,” said the mother, “God hath
appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” Seth was of more noble stature than Cain or Abel,
and resembled Adam more closely than did his other sons. He was a worthy character, following in the steps of
Abel. Yet he inherited no more natural goodness than did Cain. Concerning the creation of Adam it is said, “In the
likeness of God made He him;” but man, after the Fall, “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.” While
Adam was created sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents. But he
received also the knowledge of the Redeemer and instruction in righteousness. By divine grace he served and
honored God; and he labored, as Abel would have done, had he lived, to turn the minds of sinful men to revere
and obey their Creator.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 80.
To the crime of murder, in which Cain had led the way, Lamech, the fifth in descent, added polygamy, and,
boastfully defiant, he acknowledged God, only to draw from the avenging of Cain an assurance of his own safety.
Abel had led a pastoral life, dwelling in tents or booths, and the descendants of Seth followed the same course,
counting themselves “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” seeking “a better country, that is, an heavenly.”
Hebrews 11:13, 16.
For some time the two classes remained separate. The race of Cain, spreading from the place of their first
settlement, dispersed over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt; and the latter, in order to
escape from their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains, and there made their home. So long as this
separation continued, they maintained the worship of God in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured,
little by little, to mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. This association was productive of the worst results.
“The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” The children of Seth, attracted by the beauty of
the daughters of Cain’s descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of
God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar,
holy character. Mingling with the depraved, they became like them in spirit and in deeds; the restrictions of the
seventh commandment were disregarded, “and they took them wives of all which they chose.” The children of
Seth went “in the way of Cain” (Jude 11); they fixed their minds upon worldly prosperity and enjoyment and
neglected the commandments of the Lord. Men “did not like to retain God in their knowledge;” they “became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21. Therefore “God gave them over to a
mind void of judgment.” Verse 28, margin. Sin spread abroad in the earth like a deadly
leprosy.—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 81, 82.
Friday, April 15
For Further Reading
That I May Know Him, “The Day of Final Settlement,” p. 359;
In Heavenly Places, “The Church and the World,” p. 309.
