Abel was the second-born son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4:2) who receives the Lord’s favor but his brother’s ire. Known prominently as being the first victim of murder in the Bible, the short narrative of Genesis 4:1–16 reveals that Abel is a more important character than initially meets the eye. More than a victim, he was a humble and faithful worshiper of the Lord whose character looks forward to One greater than himself. Abel is a type of Christ who is born in humility, lives a life of faithfulness to God, is accepted by Him, and yet dies a gruesome death.
A Futile Name
Names in the Bible are often significant. Abel’s name (hevel) comes from a Hebrew term that means “breath” or “futility.” While his elder brother, Cain, was born with all the pomp and show of the firstborn son of the original couple and a name that associates him with the Lord, Abel was born in association with his brother and a name that diminishes his significance (Gen. 4:2). Yet it is the brother whose name associates him with futility who will be the object of God’s electing love. Abel is the first, but not last, who will live in a humble state yet receive the Lord’s favor. Abraham comes to mind as a good example. When he was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans, the Lord promised that he would sire a populous nation that would dwell in a bountiful land. This promise was given to a man who was elderly, without child, and wandering as a sojourner. The Lord will use the weak things of the world to shame the strong, and the foolish to shame the wise (1 Cor. 1:27). It is the humble that He will exalt, and the proud that He will humble (Luke 14:11; 1 Peter 5:5).
A Younger Brother
One of the more significant yet overlooked details about Abel is his status as the younger brother. Genesis 4:2 draws our attention to this when it states, “Again, she bore his brother Abel” (emphasis added). The first distinguishing mark of Abel’s identity is his status as younger brother. Due to their birth order, one might suspect that Cain would gain the blessing and association with the Lord. But the Lord chooses Abel over Cain, the younger over the older. In so doing, the Lord reverses the expectation that the firstborn son would be the heir of the promises given to the original couple. This divine choice of the younger over the older becomes a key theme in the rest of Genesis as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all younger brothers.
A Shepherd
Abel’s vocation also shows his humble state in a fashion that looks forward to the patriarchs of Israel. Adam was a worker of the ground (Gen. 3:23), which he then passed on to Cain (Gen. 4:2). Abel, however, is a shepherd. While we know the venerable tradition of shepherds in the Bible—including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David—Abel is the first shepherd. Too often we read the Bible backwards and see this work as a badge of honor. Contextually, Abel’s work to tend the flock was a sign of his humility.
A Humble Worshiper
Abel, named after futility, younger brother to Cain, seeks association with the Lord through humble worship. When Abel brings his sacrifice, he brings “the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions” (Gen. 4:4). His bringing of the very best of his vocation as a sacrifice to the Lord shows his humble heart. It is due to this humble character that the Lord “gazes upon” or “had regard for Abel and his offering” (Gen. 4:4). While some may contend that it is due to the sacrifice of blood that Abel is accepted, the author of Hebrews tells us otherwise: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous” (Heb. 11:4, emphasis added). Abel’s acceptance before the Lord was by grace through faith. It was in his coming in humble worship looking to the Lord for divine blessing that he received his righteous commendation. Abel is the first one recorded in Scripture to offer the Lord a sacrifice with a humble and contrite heart.
A Victim of Murder
Even as Abel is commended as righteous, he is also the first victim of murder at the hand of his brother. We must not overlook the significance of this event. It was not in spite of but because of Abel’s righteous faith before the Lord that Cain, in murderous jealousy, kills him while in the field (Gen. 4:8). It is in this way that Abel becomes a particularly potent type of Christ. Abel was a humble shepherd yet faithful worshiper who was killed because the Lord commended him as righteous. Because of this, “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Heb. 11:4) as his blood cries out even from the ground.
A Type of Christ
Jesus was born in humility through His taking on of human flesh in a humble state. Jesus was overlooked and disregarded by men, though He was the Son of God and heir of all things (Heb. 1:2). Jesus, while not a shepherd by vocation, is nonetheless the Good Shepherd who came to lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:11–18). Jesus was the perfectly righteous One who was faithful in all His works and yet was killed upon a cross because of His righteous deeds—and in so doing, paying the penalty for our wickedness. Jesus is the One to whom we come as the “mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:24). Abel was a seed of the woman, looking forward to the seed of the woman.
Ligonier Ministries