Lesson 3

Lessons About Worship From Cain & Abel

Read Genesis 4:1–5. Did both of the brothers worship? Is it possible for us to worship God, but God not regard our worship?

This is such an important question for the twenty-first century, because there are so many different ways men worship God today. There are also hundreds of ways that people who consider themselves Christians worship God. How can we know the proper way to worship God?

Read Leviticus 10:1–3. What did Nadab and Abihu, Moses’ nephews, do wrong in their worship? The book of Leviticus is written primarily to the priests of Israel. It tells them how to lead the worship of Israel. There were many details they had to pay attention to—read Leviticus 1 to see how specific God was.

Nadab and Abihu performed the incense offering wrong. God was very specific about how to make this offering. Only a certain kind of incense could be used (Exodus 30:34–38). The incense was only to be lit by the coals of fire from the altar (Leviticus 16:12).

Why do you think God is so specific about the details of worship to Him? Read Mark 7:1–9. What mistake did the Pharisees make in worship to God? How is that mistake repeated today?

Read 1 Chronicles 13:6–13 and 15:11–15. This is the story of King David and the people of Israel moving the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem for the first time. What did they do wrong? Who was supposed to move it? How were they to carry it?

Bible History After Cain & Abel

After Cain sinned, he and his family moved east of Eden to a place called Nod. There they built a city and began to grow. Cain had some amazing descendants—Jubal was the father of musical instruments; Tubal-cain was the father of metalworking in iron and bronze.

When Abel died, Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. His descendants are named in Genesis 5. They were not great inventors like Cain’s family. However, many of them were mighty in faith. Because of Seth, “people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26).

Mankind was thus divided into two lines. One focused on the earth, the other on heaven—one on God, the other on man. Sadly, in Genesis 6 these two lines converge when the sons of God began to focus on the daughters of men. Soon there was only wickedness left. That is when God determined to destroy the world with the flood.

Lessons About Worship From Noah

Read Genesis 6:13–16. What were God’s instructions for the construction of the ark? How do you think God would have reacted if Noah changed a few details—perhaps changing the length to 330 cubits, or adding extra windows or doors? Should we be so detail-oriented when it comes to following God? Do you know all the details of the pattern of worship described by the apostles?

If God could have saved Noah any way He wanted, why did He make him go through all the trouble of building an ark? What do we have to do to make sure our worship is acceptable to God?