Sharkbait, Hoo Ha Ha - Part III

Or what we can know about sacrifice

November 21, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

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Now…into todays content!

Recap: Yesterday in the newsletter, Jon explored what makes Cain and Abel the “first true humans”. Today we’ll explore the way sacrifice is used in their story.

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Most children of the 2000s can easily recognize the chant…

“Sharkbait, Hoo Ha Ha!”

It’s etched into our minds from that famous scene in Finding Nemo.

It’s during this scene that the titular Nemo undergoes an initiating ritual that’s rife with sacrificial imagery…

  • Mountain peaks

  • “Fire”

  • Intimations of rebirth

  • It’s got it all

Few scenes are as iconic.

These images bring a strong cultural resonance, a resonance born not from the movies but from centuries of religious practice.

What is Sacrifice?

Sacrifice is a key theme in the Bible and while the goal of today is not to explore that theme in its entirety we will see how it factors into the story of Cain and Abel.

Before we can get into that, though, let’s take a quick look at two other biblical examples of sacrifice in 1 Samuel 15 and Psalm 51.

In 1 Samuel 15, Israel’s King Saul returned from a successful campaign against the Amalekites in which he was instructed to destroy them. Saul did otherwise and, instead, brought back valuable plunder from the enemy. 

The prophet Samuel confronts Saul who defends his decision by claiming that he will present these spoils to God as a sacrifice. Samuel, speaking on behalf of God, responds:

❝

Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the LORD? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed better than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15v22

This same point is echoed in Psalm 51 when another of Israel’s kings, David, is reflecting on a recently committed sin of his…

 

❝

For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51v16

Catch the theme?

Through these stories, we see that sacrifices are not so much about the practice itself but the heart behind it.

It’s relational over transactional.

God’s Relationship with Cain and Abel

God had a relationship with Cain and Abel, their sacrifices were the way each showed how much that relationship mattered to them. And it mattered much more to Abel than it did to Cain.

This is why God says to Cain…

❝

Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?

Genesis 4v6-7a

God encourages Cain to put in the work of the relationship to find the acceptance he craves.

Then God adds something else, a warning with ominous overtones…

❝

And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it,

Genesis 4v7b

What is lurking at the door?

Application: Thinking about sacrifice as relational over transactional, what are some sacrifices you think are worth making for your relationship with God?

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter

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