Men in the Bible: Abel – A Man that God Respected Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and…
Men in the Bible: Abel – A Man that God Respected
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. – Genesis 4:4
The second man in the Bible we will explore in this series is Abel. Although shortlived, as the Bible passage above tells us, Abel was respected by God.
Now, it is not often that one reads that God respects mortals. In fact, Abel was the only person in the Bible to be so conferred with the honor of commanding God’s respect. The question is, why was this so, and what did he do to impress God and command His respect?
A leaf through previous verses before our reference passage shows that both Abel and Cain, his senior brother, offered sacrifices to God from the produce of their labor. However, Abel did something very unusual, which would later become a divine requirement thousands of years later for anyone who wishes to offer things to God.
Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and the best (the fat) among the lot to God as a sacrifice. By this token, he showed his honor and respect for God. Little wonder that God repaid the gesture by showing him respect in return.
Thousands of years after Abel’s offering, God would later command Moses and also establish in the holy scripts that the firstborn of every creature, both man and beast, were His and must be offered as a sacrifice to Him or redeemed with money or animals in the case of human firstborn. God also stipulated that anyone who wanted to bring a sacrifice to Him should bring the fattest (the best) of whatever items they are offering to Him. If they were meant for God, whatever is being offered must be the best of the pack, not the worst of the lot.
Abel, on his own part, was not privy to these preferences of God as he lived several years before God communicated them to His servants, and they were codified in the books of the law. However, of his own volition, Abel willingly and cheerfully offered the best of his breeds to God as a sacrifice, and with this gesture, he provoked the admiration of God and, by so doing, became a man that God respected.
Bosses in the Bible: A Boss that Empowers Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born…
Bosses in the Bible: A Boss that Empowers
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. – Genesis 14:14-16
Another good example we can learn from Abraham’s character is that he was an astute boss who believed in the development of his workers. He was a classic example of a boss who empowers his workers.
It is interesting that this unique ideology of human capital development was not lost to Abraham several thousand years ago, whereas many modern bosses seem to be oblivious of its importance and therefore do not subscribe to it. From the reference passage, when Abraham learned that his nephew had been captive he mobilized his men, all of them slaves born in his house, to go and battle the ravaging kings who took his brother captive.
It is curious that these men, the whole 318 of them, were born in Abraham’s house at a time when the number of slaves one had was one of the metrics for assets, because the more slaves one had, the more workers he would have working his farm.
Meanwhile, Abraham was different as a boss, he did not bask in the glory of cheap labor added to him, on the contrary, he was vested in the development and empowerment of his workers, a fact that was demonstrated in the way he trained them all in important life skills, one of which was fighting in battle.
Imagine if Abraham had not invested in training his workers and developing their capacity to do much more beyond plant cultivation and animal husbandry. Imagine if he had condemned all his workers to only till the land or rear livestock. For sure, he would not have been able to call on them for battle when he needed an army to advance and take on the kings who took his brother away.
As noted earlier, it is refreshing that Abraham knew and practised this desirable attribute in a principal. That was why he could call his workers when he needed them and rely on them to deliver at the battlefront, thus enhancing the success of his war campaign to free Lot. The workers you do not empower may not deliver.
Men in the Bible: A Blind Believer After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your…
Men in the Bible: A Blind Believer
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. – Genesis 15:1-6
Another lesson we can learn from Abraham and imbibe for a lasting walk with God is blind faith. Abraham was a blind believer with an unquestioning belief in God’s promise, even without proof or evidence to validate it.
From the scenario that played out in the reference passage above, God came to assure Abraham that He had his back and would protect and reward him. These were desirable attributes enough, but they were not the priority of Abraham at that time as he was still without a child, even in his late 80s. He did not hesitate to bring this to God’s attention, but what happened next marked a turnaround in their relationship.
God asked Abraham to come out at night and count the stars in the sky, which Abraham could not do. God then replied by saying that was how the descendants of Abraham would be uncountable.
For someone in his early 20s, that would sound like a harebrained promise, even if he were to give birth every single day of his life. But for Abraham in his 80s at that time, that must have sounded far-fetched. However, he chose to believe God, not minding how impractical or unreasonable His promise was. And this pleased God greatly.
The fact that Abraham, who had seen enough of the world and could not be easily fazed by certain developments, would hear that, even in his advanced age, he could still father children who would give birth to several other children without number was enough to impress God. That was blind faith at its best. God said it, and Abraham believed it, without doubts, questions, or debate. God was impressed.
God was so fascinated with Abraham’s disposition that He attributed it as righteousness to him. Righteousness is the state of being that one must attain to relate with God, and by exercising blind faith or being a blind believer, Abraham attained this height. Although he had many other sterling qualities as a person, some of which we had considered in this series, they did not qualify him for righteousness. But by believing the seemingly impractical promise of God, without doubt or question, he attained righteousness. We all can learn from that.
Men in the Bible: A Responsible Man Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in…
Men in the Bible: A Responsible Man
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. – Genesis 14:14-16
Another sterling attribute we can learn from Abraham’s character is responsibility. He was a quintessential responsible man, as we can see in our reference passage today.
We had previously discussed how mature and large-hearted Abraham was in contrast to his immature and unwise nephew. Although they were from the same family and related by blood, the characters of the two men were poles apart. Abraham was everything Lot was not: mature, wise, reverential, and more.
We also saw Lot’s brazenness in the saga of his workers clashing with Abraham’s; he did not just seem to care that his workers might be disrespecting his benefactor by so doing; he also did not do anything to redress the situation until Abraham himself made an overture of peace to him. As if that was not bad enough, Lot also chose the better portion of the land as a settlement for himself without much regard for his uncle’s preference.
All this notwithstanding, when Lot fell into trouble as a result of his choice, Abraham did not hesitate to mobilize forces to go and rescue his nephew from the invaders who had taken him captive. Abraham could have said it served him right. But he neither said so nor acted it. Rather, he was quick and earnest in his desire to rescue Lot from the marauders who seized him and his assets.
Abraham demonstrated an unusual sense of fraternity and responsibility by going all out to fight with the group of kings and their soldiers who took Lot captive. That was a war he had little or nothing to do with. But he got himself involved all the same because of his nephew. A more responsible behavior we may yet find.
Men in the Bible: A Fool in Wealth and a Rich Man Without Wisdom
Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock… So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” – Genesis 13:5-9
The man in the Bible we are considering today is Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Lot is one of the classic cases of a fool in wealth. There is an African slang used to describe someone like him, “money-missed-road!” Unfortunately, that was how we first became acquainted with Lot in the Bible. as a rich dumbass.
For context, our reference passage today gives an insight into how Lot acquired his wealth. He became rich through his close association with and attachment to Abraham. Wherever Abraham went, Lot followed him. Even when he came of age and could have struck out on his own, he was still closely attached to the proverbial strings of Abraham’s apron. He went with him from Haran to Canaan, to Shechem, to Moreh, through Bethel and Ai, then to Egypt, and back to Canaan. He was that clingy.
Abraham, too, was quite accommodating of him as he felt a sense of responsibility to Lot, who was the only child of his late younger brother, Haran. Therefore, Abraham practically raised Lot and provided for his welfare from the time his brother died. This obviously paid off for Lot eventually as he became wealthy through the generosity and connection of Abraham, his uncle. He amassed so much wealth that even his own livestock and his herdsmen were rivalling his uncle’s own in number and contending with them for grazing and sustenance. It was at this point that we started seeing how immature a person Lot was.
Firstly, when the row between his herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsmen became a public nuisance, he did not do anything about it. Rather, he kept mum. Although the Bible did not tell us what his stance was, whether he supported his own staff publicly or covertly. Yet, he did nothing about the issue; thus, he became complicit in the rudeness of his herdsmen to Abraham, his uncle and benefactor, as silence means acquiescence.
Moreover, it was Abraham himself who took the initiative for peace by first reaching out to Lot to appeal to him not to let the brewing rancor between the two sets of herdsmen cause a rift in their family. Yes, Abraham demonstrated wisdom and maturity by making the first move. But so did Lot exhibit his immaturity and folly by waiting for his uncle to make the first move.
Note, however, that at this time, Lot was a wealthy man, having a large number of livestock and many people working for him. However, these did not alleviate his immaturity and lack of wisdom. Yes, he was rich, but he was a dumbass. Yes, he was wealthy, but he was also unwise.
It is a good thing we also know how Lot acquired his wealth. It was not through his own personal genius or innovation but through association with his uncle, the generosity of his uncle, and the connection of his uncle. You can then imagine the level of disregard he exhibited in this scenario. Is it that he did not know what to do? There have always been many like him around since the beginning of time who are rich in assets but poor in common sense.
Another lesson we can learn from God is His disposition to a balancing act. He is not a God of extremes. Even though some who profess to follow Him go to extremes in His name or make extreme claims on His behalf, extreme is not a label that one can pin on God. He balances the acts.
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments
Another lesson we can learn from the personality of God is that sentiments do not move Him. Therefore, He cannot be deceived into making a wrong judgment or call, as humans tend to do.
Understanding God: He is A Creator
He is a Creator. This is not to be interpreted loosely, particularly in the light of our contemporary use of the word. God is the ultimate Creator, as He created all things, even the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28).
Understanding God: God of the Beginning
There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God. He is not just the beginning but is the origin of all things.
Women in the Bible: A Paragon of Beauty
What made Sarah’s beauty so compelling that kings and nations took notice? Explore the deeper layers of grace, favour, and mystery surrounding one of Scripture’s most unforgettable women — and discover why her story still provokes wonder today.
Men in the Bible: A Man of Ambition and Adventure
Terah may not have reached Canaan, but his courage to start a life-changing journey laid the foundation for Abraham’s destiny. Discover how ambition and bold steps mark a life of significance.
Men in the Bible: An Impetuous and Impudent Man
A revealing glimpse into a man whose choices exposed deeper issues of character, showing how hastiness and entitlement can quietly shape a destiny, and why his story still speaks to us today.
Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight
Sometimes what looks like a smart choice can hide the seed of a mistake. This reflection from Scripture invites us to think again about how foresight — or the lack of it — shapes a man’s story.
Men in the Bible: The First Man to Tithe
Before laws, temples, or traditions, one man honoured God with his substance. Abraham’s tithe was not commanded, demanded, or enforced. It flowed from reverence.
Fathers in the Bible: A Destiny-Shaping Father
What makes a man a truly aware father? Discover how one man’s prophetic foresight shaped his son’s destiny and changed generations forever.
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