“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer.” (Hebrews 4:13)
Two sons were born to Adam and Eve. The younger, Abel, was a shepherd, the older brother, Cain farmed the soil.
Abel, the shepherd, brought an appropriate sacrifice to the Lord—a firstborn of his flock and the fat portions which were only for the Lord. The Lord accepted Abel’s offering.
Cain, the elder brother, brought an unacceptable offering to the Lord—fruit of the ground, what he had grown.
The Lord required the blood sacrifice from specific kinds of domesticated animals.
(Genesis 4:4-11) “And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; 5 but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? 7 If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ 8 Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ 10 Then He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.’”
Murder brings a curse.
Abel is a type of Jesus to come. His death is a type of the crucifixion of the Lord.
As Abel was the keeper of the flocks so too is Jesus the Shepherd of the flocks.
He said, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
The line of the Savior was intended to come through Abel, a type of Christ to come. Abel means “breath.”
Jesus too brought the breath. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:22)
Like Abel, Jesus brought an appropriate sacrifice to the Lord—Himself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) This is all that God would accept from Him, and nothing less.
Abel’s sacrifice came from his flock’s firstborn. Jesus was the firstborn of Mary (Luke 2:7), and the Firstborn of the dead. (Colossians 1:18) Because Jesus belonged to God the Father He is also a type of the fat portion, the best, reserved only for the Lord. (Leviticus 3:16-17) He was His Son. (John 3:16)
Abel was the son of Adam. Jesus too is called the son of Adam. (Luke 3:38)
Jesus called Himself, the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11-12) He is the One who laid down His life for the sheep.
Abel too laid down his life; however, he did not wish to do so.
Neither did Jesus wish to lay down His life. Three times He asked God the Father to remove the cup from Him. This refers to the cup of God’s wrath that Jesus would have to endure.
He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Abel was killed by a blood relative, a brother. (Genesis 4:8) Cain plotted his brother’s death. It was premeditated murder. Both Abel and Jesus died at the hand of another.
Abel was murdered because of the jealousy of his brother Cain. Murder comes out of jealousy.
Jesus was put to death by a variety of people, including the traitor, a relative by Jewish blood, Judas Iscariot. Several men plotted Jesus’ death because they were jealous of Him.
Abel was killed by his brother, Cain. Cain can mean “spear.”
Jesus was speared in His side after he died.
Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground. The blood of Jesus spilled out upon the ground.
“and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” (Heb 12:24)
Abel’s blood cried out. Jesus’ blood speaks.
The life blood of Jesus, the blood of God, was spilled upon the cross, the altar.
In the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrificial animal was sprinkled upon the tabernacle and its holy pieces, the Word of God and it was sprinkled upon the people. (Exodus 24:8)
The blood was the sign to God that forgiveness for sin was already in place for the person sprinkled. A life (animal) was given for a life (repentant sinner). The wrath of God would not come upon the forgiven person.
Jesus, the final sacrifice is the life given for the lives of sinners. His blood is spiritually sprinkled upon every believer. His blood speaks to God the Father. His blood states His Name, “Jesus.”
When God the Father sees His Son’s blood upon a person, He hears “Jesus! Jesus!” and knows that this is someone who belongs to Jesus and has been forgiven.
Jesus was resurrected from His grave. More than 500 people saw Him. Those who believe in Him, because of His blood sprinkling—the witness of removed sin—the believer will receive eternal life. Even his body will be resurrected as Jesus’ body was.
The believer will not just pass away into nothingness. He will live. Life is not just here and now, it is forever.
How can this be?
The Word of God states that the life is in the blood.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Leviticus 17:11)
God is righteous. He does not live with sin. He deals with it on the human level in a specific way. Without the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, those persons will receive God’s wrath. The Bible states, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
As the Savior’s blood says, “Jesus! Jesus!” and God the Father hears, His wrath will pass over the believer. Jesus has already paid the wrath of God for sins.
The blood of Jesus is righteous, meaning, it is free of sin. It is sinless because it is the blood of God. The sin of man left unremoved, by personal choice through unbelief leads to death.
Human life is precious to God because man was and is made in God’s image. (Genesis 9:6) In the Old Testament a murderer was put to death on the testimony of witnesses. (Numbers 35:30-31) Blood spilled in murder defiles the land, “and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” (Numbers 35:33)
When Jesus came, all sin was atoned for by Him, even murders. His blood was spilled upon the ground from the cross. (John 19:34) Today, murderers may receive Jesus as their Savior and have His blood atone for their sin. The Apostle Paul is an example from the Bible of a person, a murderer, who received Jesus and was forgiven of his sins. Paul wrote the Letters of the New Testament and carried the Gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles/non-Jews.
There is a specific type of murder mentioned in the Bible—the murder of believers because of their belief in Jesus. They are referred to as martyrs by the church. In heaven, they themselves cry out to God for judgment and vengeance because of what has happened to them.
“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?’ 11 And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also.” (Revelation 6:9-11)
Now is the time for murderers to repent, asking forgiveness of God for their sins. Jesus will return. When He comes, He will judge and avenge His people who were killed because they carried His name—Jesus.
Now is the time for murderers to repent. Jesus will return and the church will come with Him, including those who died for the name of Jesus. Their bodies will be brought back to life!
The prophet Daniel wrote, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2)
John wrote: “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4)
Jesus warned of this moment to come. He stated that the people of Nineveh from the time of Jonah and the Queen of the South, (the Queen of Sheba), from Solomon’s era, would rise up in judgment as well. (Matthew 12:41-42)
What has been done in secret is not truly secret. God has seen the evil deeds of darkness.
“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:22)
The Apostle Paul, former murderer of believers in Jesus, was dealt with directly by Jesus. Paul later wrote:
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
Without repentance, this sin, murder, is yet upon the sinner. Sin is considered as acting against the Lord (God), being in rebellion, as if the sinner is at war with God. Once again, the wages of sin is death.
Only Jesus can free you of this sin. (Revelation 1:5)
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Paul, the former murderer wrote this.
Jesus will return. He will come with the sign of His blood.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. ” (Revelation 19:13)
As the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon God’s people in the Old Testament, so is the blood of Jesus sprinkled upon God’s people in the New Testament.
“So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” (Exodus 24:8)
“For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,” (Hebrews 9:19)
Jesus said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
Isaiah prophesied long before that Jesus would come and sprinkle people from many nations:
“So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” (Isaiah 52:15)
As it was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Savior would come to give His life upon the altar of the cross, spilling His blood for the sprinkling of all who believe, so too will the prophesies of His second arrival be fulfilled when Jesus returns with the sign of His blood. All those coming with Him, covered with His blood shall be speaking “Jesus! Jesus!” and all those yet on earth sprinkled with His blood shall be speaking “Jesus! Jesus!”
Jesus will return as He left.
“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
Jesus went up into the heavens, into a cloud.
Jesus will return from the heavens, from the clouds:
“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
Even Jesus spoke of how He would return to earth:
“Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man [Jesus] sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” (Matthew 26:64)
But the world will be in great darkness when Jesus returns.
“The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.” (Acts 2:20; Joel 2:31)
How will Jesus and the clouds be seen if there is no light?
“For behold, the LORD will come in fire, And His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.” (Isaiah 66:15)
“For by fire and by His sword, the Lord will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:16)
“For it is surely just on God’s part to repay with afflictions those who are afflicting you, 7 and to grant rest along with us to you who are undergoing afflictions, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 in blazing fire, inflicting punishment on those who do not acknowledge God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.” (1Thessalonians 6-9)
Note that vengeance belongs to God. He repays those who have afflicted, murdered, and tormented the martyrs. God has written, “Vengeance is Mine.” (Romans 12:19-21)
There will be a very very heavy price to pay for those who have harmed children. It is recorded in the Gospels three times that Jesus said, “It is better for him if a [heavy] millstone is hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2; Mark 9:42; Matthew 18:6)
Drowning at the bottom of the sea is better than the Lord’s vengeance. The children, even those unborn, are Jesus’. He said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
God knows us before we’re born. “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)
King Solomon stated, “Just as you do not know how the life breath enters the human frame in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who is working in everything.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5)
The unborn child is being created by God—he or she is God’s handiwork.
The ending of lives of the unborn is murder. The land is polluted with the blood of the unborn who cry out to God. He will repay.
Little ones are also the lowly, believers in Jesus. God will repay those who harm believers.
The penalty is eternal. It is torment. It is death. It is Hell. Forgiveness is eternal. Choose Jesus. Choose forgiveness for what you’ve done. The benefit is eternal life.
Say to Him: “I’m sorry Lord Jesus for what I’ve done. Please forgive me.” And believe in your heart that you are forgiven, your sin removed, freedom found.
Everyone of us must do this.
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2023
