The Blood That Speaks

The Blood That Cries Out

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No one else was in the field when Cain killed Abel. Cain thought no one would ever know. But God said Abel's blood was crying out to Him. Nothing is ever hidden from Him.

God's words. “The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). God heard what no person heard. Abel could not speak anymore, but God heard his blood.

God sees. Nothing done in secret is hidden from God. He knew where Abel was before He asked Cain. He asked a question to give Cain a chance to tell the truth.

Life is precious. God made every person. “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb” (Psalm 139:13). Every life is His gift. That is why taking a life is so serious.

Why blood? In the Bible, blood stands for life. When blood is spilled, a life has been taken. Abel's blood stood for the life Cain took.

A cry for justice. Abel's blood was like a voice asking God to do what is right. Justice means making things right and punishing what is wrong. God always does what is right.

God cares about the hurt. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18). He hears the cry of people who are treated badly. No one is too small for God to notice.

Precious deaths. “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). Saints means God's people. Abel's death mattered to God.

Justice belongs to God. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19). God, not angry people, will make every wrong right. We can leave it with Him.

Righteous Abel. The Bible says Cain killed his brother “because his works were evil and his brother's righteous” (1 John 3:12). Abel was hated for doing right. Sometimes people who do right are treated badly, but God sees them.

Faith that speaks. “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel trusted God.

Still speaking. Hebrews 11:4 says, “and through it he being dead still speaks.” Abel's faith still teaches us how to come to God.

What we learn. God sees, God hears, and God cares about every life. No hurt is hidden from Him.

What to do. If someone is hurting you, tell a grown-up you trust. God hears you, and He wants you to be safe.

Genesis 4:10 gives the first picture in the Bible of innocent blood crying out to God. It teaches us how seriously God takes human life.

The plural word (4:10). The Hebrew says the bloods of your brother. Abel's life, and every life that might have come from him, cried out. Murder takes more than one life away.

Blood and life. Later God taught Israel that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). Spilled blood is a taken life, and only God may give and take life.

Made in God's image. After the flood God gave the reason murder is so serious: people are made in His image (Genesis 9:6). To strike a person is to strike at God's image.

God the witness. Cain killed Abel in a field with no human witness. God Himself was the witness. “Where is Abel your brother?” was a question from the Judge who already knew. Nothing escapes His notice.

A cry for justice. In Scripture the cry of the oppressed rises to God (compare Exodus 3:7). Abel's blood is the first of these cries.

Justice delayed is not justice denied. God did not take Cain's life, but He did judge him. Romans 12:19 keeps vengeance in God's hands. He is patient, but He is never careless about evil.

Righteous Abel. Jesus called him righteous Abel and named his blood as the first of the righteous blood shed on the earth (Matthew 23:35). To be righteous is to be right with God by faith.

1 John 3:12. John asks why Cain murdered his brother and answers: “Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.” Hatred of goodness lies behind the first murder.

Hebrews 11:4. God testified of Abel's gifts, and “through it he being dead still speaks.” Abel's faith is a message to every generation.

Psalm 116:15. “Precious” means costly or weighty. The death of God's people is never small in His sight.

Psalm 139:13. God forms every person in the womb. Every human life, from the very beginning, belongs to Him.

What it means. Abel's blood cries for justice. Every sin also cries out against us. We need a better voice to speak for us, and that is the subject of the next section.

Application. Treat every person as someone God made and loves. If you see someone being hurt, speak up and tell a trusted adult.

Blood That Speaks Better Things

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Abel's blood cried out for justice. Many years later another innocent Man's blood was spilled. The Bible says His blood says something better.

A better word. We have come “to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24).

A Mediator. A mediator stands between two people to bring them together. Jesus brings sinners and God together. Without Him we could never come close to a holy God.

Abel's blood. It told God that something terrible had happened, and it asked Him to make it right. It cried out against the one who sinned.

Jesus' blood. It tells us the price has been paid and that we can be forgiven. It speaks for sinners, not against them.

Forgive them. Even on the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). He prayed for the very people who were hurting Him.

Love shown. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God did not wait for us to get better first.

Bought back. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). Redemption means being bought back.

Precious blood. We were saved “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Clean. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Not some sin. All sin. No sin is too big for His blood to wash away.

Once for all. “With His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). Jesus never has to die again. His work is finished.

Always praying. Jesus rose again, and “He always lives to make intercession” for those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25). Intercession means praying for someone.

A new song. In heaven they sing to Jesus, “You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood” (Revelation 5:9). People from every nation will sing it.

Two voices. Abel's blood spoke against Cain. Jesus' blood speaks for everyone who trusts Him. Which voice speaks for you?

What to do. When you feel guilty, remember what Jesus' blood says: forgiven. Thank Him, and come to God through Him.

Hebrews 12:24 sets two kinds of blood side by side: Abel's and Christ's. Both were innocent, and both were shed by others. Only one speaks peace.

The setting. Hebrews 12:18-24 contrasts Mount Sinai, with its fire and fear, with Mount Zion, where believers come to Jesus. Abel's blood belongs to the old story of sin and judgment; Christ's opens a new one.

Mediator (12:24). Jesus stands between God and people, bringing them together by His own sacrifice. No other mediator is needed.

The blood of sprinkling. In Israel blood was sprinkled to make people and things clean before God (compare Exodus 24:8). Christ's blood is applied to the believer's heart (Hebrews 10:22).

What Abel's blood says. Justice. It accuses the murderer. Every sin we commit adds to the case against us.

What Christ's blood says. Mercy and peace. It answers every accusation, because the price of sin has been paid. Romans 8:34 asks, “Who is he who condemns?” and answers, “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen.”

Luke 23:34. Jesus' first words from the cross were a prayer for His killers. Abel's blood cried for judgment; Jesus' lips asked for pardon. Forgiveness was His purpose even in suffering.

Romans 5:8-9. God's love is shown in the timing: “while we were still sinners.” Then, “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Justified means declared right with God.

Hebrews 9:12-14. Animal blood could never cleanse the conscience. Christ entered “once for all” with His own blood and cleanses the conscience “from dead works to serve the living God.”

1 Peter 1:18-19. We were redeemed “not… with corruptible things, like silver or gold,” but with precious blood.

1 John 1:7. The verb cleanses describes ongoing action. Christ's blood keeps on cleansing those who walk in the light. Walking in the light means living honestly before God.

Hebrews 7:25. The risen Christ “always lives to make intercession.” His blood speaks, and His voice speaks for us.

Revelation 5:9. The redeemed come “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” The better word reaches the whole world, every kind of person.

Application. When your conscience accuses you, do not answer with your good deeds. Answer with the blood of Jesus. Then forgive others the way you have been forgiven (Ephesians 4:32).

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.