Genesis 4:3 (NKJV): And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Fruit doesn't grow on the ground normally. The phrase "process of time" sounds like it might be expressing that it happened late in the harvest which makes it sound as if Cain is gathering fruit that has fallen. And even more importantly, God rejects fallen fruit. Is this a likely interpretation?
The term translated fruit, in the Hebrew could also be rendered in the English as the produce. The whole question of the OP seemingly rests on the English translation of the word fruit.
We have the fruit of the womb, yet humans and animals alike do not produce fruits but offsprings, but yet the Bible in English still uses the term fruit.
“Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”” Genesis 30:2
It would follow far more readily that the “fruit” of the ground was equivalent to what we today would see in farming, be it vegetables, be it wheat grains. At which point they would be in proximity to the ground or in the ground and would need processing before being offered anyway. Produce from the soil like potatoes are harvested all at once there is no first fruits per se, it could be for this reason that it wasn’t mentioned that they were the first fruits because they didn’t ripen in stages like fruits in trees do over the course of days or weeks.
Supposing the fruits being offered were in fact as the OP speculates indeed fruits from trees or bushes, despite v2 stating that Cain was a worker of the ground/soil.
It is true that of Cain it does not state they were the first fruits, they might have been from a previous harvest, Cain might have brought from the tail end of the season rather than the start of the season, whereas with Abel it says he brought from the firstling but I don’t believe Cain would have brought something bruised much less rotten to God. He may have waited to see if he had enough to spare, irrespective God didn’t look at the objects of the sacrifice as much as He paid attention to the person offering the sacrifice
“but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.” Genesis 4:5
God had no regard for Cain, emphasis fell on Cain first, and then on his offering. There was an issue with the motivation in Cain’s heart much less the offering itself. For Jesus looked upon the widow and though she put the least of all those who contributed at the temple she gave everything she had, therefore demonstrating that she trusted in God to provide for her, whereas the others were self reliant and only gave from surplus. The motivation counted for much more than the gift/offering itself.
Cain given the benefit of the doubt would have no reason to be angry if he had offered humanly speaking a subpar offering, it would be understood, but precisely because he likely offered the very best of his yield and was rejected is why Cain was angry in my view. His face fell, precisely because his expectations were amiss, he had expected a different outcome one that took into account only the offering and not also his motivation. Cain looked at the offering neglecting to take into account the motivation with which he was making his offering.
“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”” Genesis 4:7
Do what well? Bring an offering? Why would God make reference to sin? Was Cain attempting to show superiority to Abel in his offering? Was that the motivation? If this be so, then Cain most certainly brought the best of fruits. But the motivation to prove oneself through offerings shows that Cain’s heart was not toward God but toward prideful recognition and what better way to demonstrate recognition than to offer the best of fruits to God and God accept your hard earned labor.
I don’t believe in the process of time refers to late in the harvest, nor that fruits refers exclusively to fruits and berries but also to produce of the ground as the context states and there is nothing to indicate that Cain would have dared bring fruits that were bruised or fallen to God as offering. It is far more likely that Cain had exerted himself through diligent work and wanted to receive recognition through which he could boast. God first saw Cain and despite the offering Cain brought being excellent in my opinion, God could not overlook something in Cain’s heart that was sinful, a wrong desire, a wrong motivation and that’s why God had no regard for the offering because God first looked to Cain and then to his offering
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.” (Gen 4:3, KJV)
It says "...Cain brought of the fruit of the ground..."
This makes me think there is 'fruit not of the ground' or, to put it more oppositely, there is such a thing as 'fruit above the ground'. This will only make sense if that expression is taken literally.
I lean toward understanding that the 'fruit of the ground' has two applications:
....and here are my reasons...
In the narrow sense
“And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:” (Neh 10:35, KJV)
We see two distinctions here:
Notably, Zec 8:12 says,
“For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.” (Zec 8:12, KJV)
The scripture above uses "...the vine shall give her fruit..." as well as "... the ground shall give her increase..."
In the broad sense
“Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.” (Deu 28:4, KJV)
The above scripture lists types of fruit based on their sources. I will list them in no particular order:
These categories make it a little difficult to determine if "...the fruit of the ground..." in Gen. 4:3 is a general reference or if it is specific. However, since we have two categories existing in the bible, I am not worried about taking the narrow meaning of produce directly or close to the ground. I take it that Moses expected his readers at the time of writing Genesis to understand.
Why was Cain's offering rejected?
I do not think that Cain brought some rotten vegetables or potatoes to God: I will prove this later in this post. I think it starts with something about Cain himself. Look at this:
“But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Gen 4:5, KJV)
Note the order:
It seems to be something about Cain such that it affected his offering. I see it as a domino effect.
The only scripture I can think of that corroborates my thought is Heb.11:4.
“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.” (Heb 11:4, KJV)
The scripture above teaches that Cain's offering was excellent! This scripture shows that Cain did not bring rotten 'fruit of the ground' to God.
The scripture above teaches that Abel's offering was more excellent!
Both offerings (Cain or Abel) were excellent...but someone's offering was more excellent than that of another.
What makes the difference?
Heb.11:1 says "By faith..." The context of the book of Hebrews is that the gospel of Jesus or the sacrifice of Jesus is better than that of bulls and goat. Heb.11 shows that Old Testament saints knew and lived on the anticipated sacrifice of Jesus even before it happened.
This, to me, shows that the person or the heart of Cain was not what He (God) wanted from him. Hence, God rejected Cain and it automatically annulled his excellent offering.
Cain's heart/person was not predicated on 'faith' but Abel's heart was. In fact, Abel was called righteous by Jesus in Matt.23:35.
Hence, Cain made an excellent offering in his depravity.
Cain's mistake lay in the fact that he did not offer the firstfruits of his harvest.
Let's take a closer look at Genesis 4:3-4 NIV
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering
The Genesis account does not explicitly state what's wrong with Cain's offering. However, the requirements for acceptable offerings are clarified later in the ceremonial law.
In Exodus 23:19 and 34:26, we read, "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God". Furthermore, Deuteronomy 26:1-11 explains that offering the firstfruits signifies gratitude to the Lord.
1 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.
Therefore, Cain's offering lacked the essential element of giving his best, which ultimately led to the Lord favoring Abel's offering instead.
The term in Geneses 4:3, "fruits of the soil" refers to produce cultivated from plants that are rooted in the ground, rather than fallen fruits. In contrast, fallen fruits would be described as "fruits on the soil".
We are never told exactly why the LORD had no regard for Cain's offering so any explanation is going to be guess. Based on what Scripture tells us about what God considers acceptable and unacceptable offerings, we can can use that information to make a more educated guess.
There are three generalized reasons why God would look on Cain's offerings with no regard.
Any one or all three could be the reason.
The OP notes the description begins by referring to time. In the process of time... The Hebrew is ויהי מקּץ ימים literally it came to pass in end of days... So the OP's suggestion the event took place at the end of the harvest is consistent with the literal text.
The annual calendar instructs offerings at three times of the year. The first is Firstfruits at which the first of the year's produce, barley is offered. This takes place in the spring. The second is Shavuot at which the first of the wheat harvest is offered. This takes place in the summer. The third is Sukkot which takes place in autumn. The present observance is two-fold. It commemorates the LORD's past provision, bringing the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and it commemorates the LORD's present provision of a completed harvest.
If we understand end of days as referring to autumn it would correspond to Sukkot, the time the completed harvest is celebrated. However, since the LORD instructs the people to commemorate the harvest, it is unlikely Cain's offering would be of no regard simply because it was "fallen fruit."
This raises two other considerations. One, Cain did not offer the firstfruits of either barley or wheat. Cain only commemorated the completed harvests. Two, the completion of the harvest is a time in which one looks back at the hard work in tilling, planting, watering, and harvesting. It is easy to see how Cain's motive was offering the fruit of my work.
Rather than seeing fallen fruits as deficient, Cain may have selected what he thought was the very best of the harvest. With respect to any offering of firstfruits, there is no choosing what is the best; whatever is first is that which is offered. Only after all harvests are completed is one able to pick and choose which is best. In fact, the last of the harvest might be the best fruit.
My guess is what Cain offered was in no way the issue. We could go so far as to say it was the very best of the harvest. The deficiency lies in Cain's heart. He saw his offering in terms of what he had done; his hard work and his deciding what was the best of the harvest. It was more like "I'm giving you the best of my work."
Cain was focused on his work failing to recognize the LORD was also at work. This would follow from his father. The ground was cursed because of Adam. It would produce thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18). Obviously these would not be the type of offering one makes to the LORD. Rather, one sorts through the harvest to find the best.
It is not difficult to see Cain bringing an offering which he understood was the result of the curse and the hard work to follow, "the sweat of his face" (Genesis 3:18).
