Now Eve called her second son Abel, that is, “vanity, transience, impermanence, hardship, and toil”—the same word that the preacher Solomon used five times in a row (Eccl. 1:2). This was because Eve was bitter from her birth pains. Here again we see what misery sin had wreaked. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, all mothers would have carried the fruit of their womb and brought it into the world with pleasure and free of pain. Oh, how exceedingly beautiful it is that though Eve possessed the realm of an emperor, she had no desire to train their children up in laziness, sloth, and loafing about, but in labor; for by the sweat of our face we shall eat our bread [Gen. 3:19]. All parents should note well this way of raising a child. Eve furthermore trained her children up in prayer and the fear of God, for “pray and work,” as the saying goes. Without prayer, nothing will turn out well.
Cain, the rich wheat-farmer, brought a splendid offering of the delicious fruits of the field. This is the first sacrifice of which we read in Scripture. In this sacrifice, Cain was supposed to remember the Messiah and take comfort in Him with a faithful, penitent heart. While sowing his seed, he was to ponder how his Lord Jesus would also be sowed in the earth, that is, suffer, die, be buried, and rise again, and be “the firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18), “the firstfruits” of God’s acre (1 Cor. 15:20), the “breaker … before them” (Micah 2:13), who would prepare for us the way to life through the tomb and through death. Indeed, Cain should have considered how Jesus would be “the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32) that feeds our soul to eternal life. But he had no such goodly thoughts, no good heart, no humility, no repentance, no faith. He offered his sacrifice merely out of habit, for it was his parents custom, and he was of no mind to change it. He was a quarrelsome type, a restless troublemaker who prayed with an unrepentant heart, begrudged God’s favor on his brother, and was as mad as a prodded goat when he saw it. If his heart would have burst into flame with one word, he would not have held back. He was an arrogant hypocrite and the grandfather of all Pharisees. He despised his silly, simple, and meek brother: “What? Doesn’t God owe me more for my choice fruits of the field than He does you for your miserable old sheep and goats?”
It was because of such arrogance that God was displeased with Cain’s sacrifice. The fault lay nowhere but in his own wickedness. Thus God said, “Is it now so that if you do well, you will be accepted, and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door?” Here you see that God pays no attention to the outward finery of worship but looks at the heart and inspects its fundamental condition. Abel, who “brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions,” honored the Lord his God. Here you see what a good, faithful heart is like. It refuses to give God the worst part, for God always gives us the best. Scholars claim that he said, “I’ll make a sacrifice rather of fat than of lean things.” …
Now, in his slaughtering and offering of lambs, Abel was reminded of the true Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as Hebrews 11:4 testifies: “By faith Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain.” Of course, faith only looks to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Abel learned this from his father Adam and mother Eve when they explained the meaning of their lambskin garments. Thus, when he made his offering, Abel’s thoughts and words would have gone something like this: “Dearest Father, Creator of heaven and earth, Friend of my parents’ souls and of my own, I confess that I am a gross sinner by the debts of my father and mother, and that I have earned Your wrath also with my own countless sins and trespasses. But I appeal to Your mercy promised to my parents in Eden for the sake of the Messiah within my heart upon the Blessed Lamb borne in my arms of faith, who not refuse this my insignificant lamb which in true humility I now sacrifice to You as an offering of thanks.” This humble, faithful heart pleased God, and He looked graciously upon Abel and his sacrifice—sending down fire from heaven and consuming it, as the ancient doctors of the Church say. Here you see that humility gets under everything and finds favor before God and the world.
Now, O Lord Jesus, let me also regard You in Abel’s lamb, following Isaiah who says, “When he was punished and afflicted, he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-bench,” etc. (Is. 53:7); and following John the Baptist when he says, “Behold, this is the Lamb of God that bears the sin of the world” (John 1:29); and St. Peter, “You know that it was not with perishable silver or gold that you were redeemed from your futile way of life according to the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of an innocent, spotless lamb” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
O dearest Lord Jesus, You are the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world. Throughout time every sacrificial lamb has been a portrait pointing to You. Since the beginning all pious hearts have taken comfort in Your sacrifice. O gentle Lamb, You are my treasure, comfort, joy, and salvation.
Herberger, Valerius The Great Works of God: Parts One and Two: The Mysteries of Christ in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-15 240-242