Day 2: Genesis 4-8
The story goes: Cain and Abel were brothers. Abel offered pleasing sacrifices to God, while Cain didn't. Cain grew jealous and killed Abel. It sounds like something right out of a Hollywood film. Cain must have been dealing with some intense emotions. Anger. Hatred. Embarrassment. Jealousy. Feelings I've had before, too.
After the murder, God confronts Cain about his sin and places a curse on him, a curse of being a wanderer for the rest of his life. Cain will never have a home. He will be nomadic. In spite of this curse, God still does something for Cain: God puts a mark on Cain so that no one can kill him. God actually protects Cain from being murdered by others. I find it a bit strange that God would do that. God could have punished Cain in so many ways. He could have struck Cain down himself right then. Or he could have done nothing for Cain and just let him go, knowing full well that someone else would kill him for what he had done to Abel. An eye for an eye, right? But no. God protected Cain. What kind of justice is that for Abel that his murderer can never be murdered? Cain murdered Abel, but Cain himself could never be murdered. What?!! God’s choice puzzles me a bit because it seems like such a strange choice. Has justice been served here? It doesn't appear so.
Perhaps this story says something to us about who should be the one to dole out justice. God is the ultimate judge, and he chose to protect Cain. Maybe we should think twice before we seek justice for something done to us or someone we love. Maybe this story teaches us to give God the control when bad things happen to us. While we might want to take out our wrath on someone because of the awful and unspeakable things that happen to people in our world, especially when they happen to people we love, perhaps we should let God do the avenging and punishing. Not because that person doesn’t deserve to be punished. And not because we don’t feel anger, hatred, jealousy, and revenge, just like Cain. By no means! We should let God be the judge. God can even take our feelings away. He wants us to be formed in ways that bring peace and purification to our souls and part of this is not seeking revenge. When we do this, we don’t have to carry around those feelings forever, and we will be formed in ways that are holy and good. And, ultimately, we will find peace.
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Genesis 6:5-8 is so powerful. The passage begins with the Lord seeing how great the wickedness on earth had become. It then moves to the Lord regretting that he had made human beings in the first place (I guess God was not viewing things so “good” after all). And it ends with “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” The contrast of Noah with the rest of humanity cannot be missed.
I like the faith of Noah. He built a huge boat because God told him to do so, and God saved him from the destruction of the earth because of Noah’s righteousness. Noah’s family was saved, too—all because of the faith and righteousness of Noah. I want to have faith like Noah. I want to be able to hear God speaking to me and to obey his commands.
Side Note: “Noah’s Ark” really is a violent story. Tell me again why Peyton's baby nursery is decked out in this stuff?!! And why is this story one of the most popular ones we teach our children?!! Maybe we should rethink this approach.
5 comments:
A lot of the bible stories we tell our children are quite scary. I am not quite sure how the wiping out of the human race (Noah's Ark) and the consumption of disobedient men by sea life (Jonah) and the almost-killing of a son(Abe and Isaac)became the standard children bible stories...
I totally agree, Lynley. I think it's because they are concrete stories rather than more abstract ones. Maybe we should spend a lot more time on Jesus and his parables!
We've been able to sanitize the stories with pictures of saved animals and boats floating on water, as if they were just going on a cruise for a year. Amazing.
Are you sure the mark was protecting Cain? I'm sure it seemed that way at the moment, but as the years and decades passed, I'd have to imagine his regret and shame for killing Abel ran deep. He might have preferred a release as the impact built up and weighed on him, but God kept him alive as long as He willed.
It might also be none of that - just a thought.
Charles--You make a good point about the pain that Cain must have felt his entire life. I also think, though, that Cain didn't want to die. He actually asked God to protect him in the first place. But you're right. God could use this as his punishment--the ultimate retribution...having to think about what he had done.
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