We
are on to chapter 4 - where the story takes another big turn. At the beginning
of chapter 4 we meet to brothers - Cain and Able.
One
of the first things I noticed in this story is that Eve praised the Lord for
blessing of a son - Cain.
“Adam made love to his wife
Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help
of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” - Genesis 4:1 NIV
Even
though God had to punish them and kick them out of the Garden, Eve was still
aware of where her blessing of having children came from. But that is really
not the focus of this chapter. The focus is her sons.
The
Bible tells us a little bit about Cain and Able.
“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain
worked the soil.” - Genesis 4:2b NIV
So
I get picture of Cain being this muscular and rugged type of man. He was out in
the fields working planting crops and weeding the fields. Able on the other
hand was a shepherd. He watched over the flocks and made sure they had what
they needed. I can picture him also being somewhat muscular because he was the
defender of the flocks.
The
time then came for them to bring an offering to God. This is what they brought
“In the course of time Cain
brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel
also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his
flock." - Genesis 4:3-4a
NIV
We
get the idea from these verse that Able brought his best and with his whole
heart. Cain on the other hand brought some fruit and his heart might not have
been in it as much. So then God saw their offerings and rejected Cain's
offering and accepted Able's (Genesis 4:4b-5a).
This
made Cain very angry that his brothers offering was accepted. Able got the
blessing of God. So God warned Cain that he must get his emotions under control
because "sin is crouching at your door". But Cain didn't get his
emotions in check. He led his brother Able out into the fields and attacked and
killed him. (Genesis 4:5b-8)
Then
God comes along, much like He did with Adam and Eve after they had sinned
(Genesis 3:9), and has an all too familiar conversation with Cain.
“Then the Lord said to Cain,
'Where is your brother Abel?' 'I don’t know,' he replied. 'Am I my brother’s
keeper?' The Lord said, 'What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries
out to me from the ground.'" - Genesis
4:9-10 NIV
God
opens the conversation the same way He did with Adam and Eve. He asked Adam and
Eve "Where are you?" (3:9) and He asked Cain "Where is your
brother?" (4:9) God asked Eve "What is this you have done?"
(3:13) and He asked Cain "What have you done?" (4:10)
God
then made Cain a fugitive and put a mark on his head so that no one could harm
him less they be punished more severely (4:13-16)
This
story tell me 3 things:
1. We try and hide our sin
In
both stories, Adam and Eve's and Cain and Able's, we see a sin committed
followed by hiding. But there is really no use hiding sin. I mean you can hide
sin from people, but you can't hide it from God. God knows the sin already. He
knows everything.
2. God wants us to confess it
In
both stories, we see the question "What have you done?" Some would
say if God already knows then why did He ask? He asked because He was us to own
up to the sin and confess that we have messed up. The Bible says:
“If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 NIV
So
that makes confessing a step in the forgiveness of sin process. God didn't kill
Cain for his sin. He punished Cain because sin cannot go unpunished. But then
God protected Cain by giving him that mark so that no one could kill him.
3. We get envious
Able
received the blessing from God and that made Cain envious of his brother. The
envy that swelled up inside Cain led to him murdering his brother.
There
is another story in the Bible that speaks to this as well. In Luke's gospel
there is a story of 2 brothers. The younger brother asks for his inheritance
early and then squanders it all on crazy living. He makes lots of friends and
has a good time until the money runs out. When the money ran out so did the
friends he had. After having nothing and eating with the pigs, the younger
brother decides to go back home and face his father. When he gets home his
father runs to greet him and throws him a party. This makes the older brother
mad (envious) and he refuses to go into the party. The father comes out and
talks with the older brother. The father tells him that we had to celebrate
your brother's return, but have always been here with me and all that I have is
yours. (reference Luke 15:11-32, NIV)
When
we get envious of what other people have we can miss what God has given us or
what He is trying to give us.
God
doesn't want us to be that way toward people. God has enough blessing to go
around. The blessing supply is infinite.
__________________________
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