God is so cool! He keeps sharing the best stories for me to learn from.
I am currently studying the ESV Bible – I suggest followers of the Lord compare their favorite versions. Slight variances are common, even between the ESV versions – The Bible is the Word of God – study to show thyself approved. Stories of value present themselves in the most significant and satisfying ways.
In the last few months of studies, God brought the story of Cain and Able to my attention. The gravity of this story popped out, and I had to share it. I look forward to the continued discernment/pondering of this amazing God I serve.
Blessed be all who have an ear to listen. May the only God bless and multiply: peace mercy and love to you always.
Genesis 4
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten[a] a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?[b] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to[c] you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.[d] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.[e] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,[f] east of Eden.
Jude 1:8-25
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs[e] at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They[f] said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[g] stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time[h] and now and forever. Amen.
I had to leave the rest of Jude here because its so powerful and beautiful.
Hebrews 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Cain is only referenced in Genesis 4, once in Hebrews 11:4, and once in Jude. Intriguing.
Faith is clearly the key. So, was it just his lack of faith? Was there more? Not believing that what he had done was enough?
Paraphrasing: God hears Ables's blood cry from the ground and asks Cain about it; Cain – tries to divert God’s attention to Able NOT being his responsibility. Denying he had anything to do with the blood crying from the ground.
What was Cains issue anyway? Guilt and shame for the murder of his brother….?.... self-righteousness? Blasphemous judgment? After all, Cain did tell God to kill him.
It was leaning on his own judgment! Mind blown.
Thid is the very same thing Eve did.
Lay whatever you have on God. He can handle it. Do your best to find out who God is by asking him, and be patient. Be open to Divine Intervention.
A friend made an interesting statement about Cain breaking all the commandments before the commandments were given at Mount Sinai. WOW! See the article on - The Commandments to discover more (coming soon 12/6/21)
Cain made judgments - he was acting as his own god! LEANING TO HIS OWN UNDERSTANDING! JUST LIKE ADAM AND EVE! He didn't honor his mother and father, he took a life, and he coveted his brother's position.
I also deduced his offering to God was his everyday stuff; though it was the 10th of the first fruits, it wasn't what God asked for. There was no real reverence for God ie a broken spirit and contrite spirit with his offering. We presume they both received the same instructions. Why did Cain bring the work of his hands? He didn't seem to have contrition. How would that affect covetousness and overall sin?
For sure, it is the first parallel of God showing the connection to the sacrifice of His Son (Jesus Christ), who is the Lamb, and would later be sacrificed for the sins of our common world. We don’t know what Cain was thinking, but he clearly had some hard feelings toward his brother. Maybe he even believed God loved Able more – that he was second fiddle. Yet, so self-righteous that he thought he was better off without God! Even asking God to first kill him and then so ashamed he hid. How interesting that when we lie and do evil (what we instinctively know to be wrong) we avoid the ones who know us best and call us out.
What I love about this story is God “No! I still want you to live and seek righteousness!” and marked Cain so that if anyone did harm him, those people would get sevenfold what they did to him.
In 1st and 2nd Samuel, the story of David – a man God clearly loves and had HUGE FAITH – David and Goliath. David, after he killed Goliath, for some unknown reason, sends someone in his place of himself for war. As a result, he is now in a position to relax, and he notices a beautiful woman (Bathsheba). She was another man's wife, nonetheless beautiful. When David saw her beauty and was overcome with sin. She didn’t want to KNOW him, but he apparently demanded this interaction, resulting in the impregnation of his seed, and Bathsheba conceives a child! When her husband returns from the war, the same war David was meant to go to, David hears her husband never went home. King David tells the man to go, but he doesn’t, and now time is passing. David ends up killing her husband, Uriah. The story just goes deeper!
This morning God brings it all together with David’s story! David was lamenting the death of this child before the child even died due to his own disobedience. God has gifts for those who love and follow Him; David’s son paid for the sin of his father, making it so that David would escape his own death. You can hear the pain in David’s heart for what he did here in Psalm 51.
David cries out loud to the LORD for mercy and grace.
Psalm 51:16-17 (Go read these stories!)
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
What stuck with me about these stories is the innocence of sin. How do we decide?
The Bible shows us what it means to rule over our contrary desires! It is literally the guide to how complicated life is and what kind of attitude to have when I’m asking requests of God for you. My takeaway – is to worry about my own relationship with God. Trust God that he will teach me and deal with me accordingly so that I may stand with him forever in eternity. Wow.
God is continually brings up His love for me.
1John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Revelation 2 - To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary4. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
1 Peter 5:1-14
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are b
eing experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
