12:24 What blood of Abel is referred to here?
12:24 What blood of Abel is referred to here?
There are two views among Christians concerning this scripture.
One view holds to the blood being that which Abel shed when his brother Cain killed him (CP Gen 4:1-11).
In this view the blood of Abel cries out for vengeance, in contrast to Christ's sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives (CP Ro 5:1; Col 1:20).
The second view is that the blood is that of the animal sacrifice Abel offered up to God, which was inferior to the blood of the supreme sacrifice, Jesus (CP Gen 4:1-4 with He 11:4; 1Pe 1:2).
This view is chosen above the other because it conforms to the teaching throughout scripture of the superiority of Christ's blood, and the new covenant, over against the blood of animal sacrifices, and the old covenant (CP Mt 26:28; Ac 17:26; Ro 3:21-26; 5:6-11, 18; Eph 1:3-7; 2:13; Col 1:12-14; He 8:6; 9:11-26; 10:1-18; 1 Pe 1:18-19; 1 Jn 1:7-9; Rev 1:5).