ABEL.
And Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.—Genesis, iv. 4.
They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel.—II. Samuel, xx. 18.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.—Hebrews, xi. 4.
Blood has a voice to pierce the skies;
Revenge! the blood of Abel cries;
But the dear stream when Christ was slain,
Speaks peace aloud from every vein.
Watts.
Adjacent rose a myrtle-planted mound,
Whose spiry top a granite fragment crowned.
Tinctured with many-coloured moss the stone,
Rich as a cloud of summer-evening shone,
Amid encircling verdure that arrayed
The beauteous hillock with a cope of shade.
“Javan,” said Enoch, “on this spot began
The fatal curse;—man perished here by man.
The earliest death a son of Adam died
Was murder, and that murder fratricide!
Here Abel fell a corse along the shore;
Here Cain’s recoiling footsteps reeked with gore.
Horror upraised his locks, unloosed his knees;
He heard a voice, he hid among the trees:
—‘Where is thy brother?’—from the whirlwind came
The voice of God amidst enfolding flame:
—‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’—hoarse and low,
Cain muttered from the copse—‘that I should know?’
*****
That mound of myrtles o’er her favourite child
Eve planted, and the hand of Adam piled
Yon mossy stone, above his ashes raised,
His altar once, with Abel’s offering blazed,
When God well pleased beheld the flames arise,
And smiled acceptance on the sacrifice.”
J. Montgomery.