How people buy poverty (1)
1 – “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 – And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 – And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 – And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 – But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 – And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 – If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 – And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 – And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 – And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 – And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 – When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” (Genesis chapter 4 verses 1 to 12)
Cain did not blame himself for not doing the right thing but he sought to blame someone who took it upon himself to do the right thing.
Cain and Abel settled on going to offer sacrifice to God Almighty which is necessary. Abel understood the tips on which to approach God while Cain did not fully understand the tips to approach God or maybe he knew but
he ignored the advise of his parents. After they have offered to God, God was pleased with the offering of Abel and was not pleased with the offering of Cain. Cain was angry about the whole process and was wrath.
We need to understand something here, Cain should have been angry and wrath with himself for not during the right thing to offer the right offering to God, and with that he could forgive himself and seek for amendment to get things right with his Maker. When he grew furious, God had to approach him and told him if he had done the right thing his offering would have been accepted. Cain did not blame himself for not doing the right thing but he sought to blame someone who took it upon himself to do the right thing.
How did Cain became so furious about the whole thing that the confrontation with God did not mellow his countenance?
6 – “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 – If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis chapter 4 verses 6 to 7)
Cain should have been angry with God in the second place for not accepting his offering. He had the opportunity to talk with God on one on one basis. He would utilise such awesome opportunity and priviledge to ask God why his offering was not accepted in the first place. God is a merciful Father. I know He would have explained to Cain the right way to offer an acceptable offering. But Cain chose to justify himself and blame everyone else for his failure and enabled wrath to grow more in his heart.
Abel was never the one who told Cain to offer to God the way he did. It was not Abel who supervised Cain offering before it was presented to God. Abel was keen about his offering to God. How did Cain became so furious about the whole thing that the confrontation with God did not mellow his countenance? Why and how did he so got hurt that all he could think and figure out was to eliminate his only brother who was not the reason for his offering not being accepted.
When evil saturates one’s heart, it will spring out havoc if care is not taken.
To my amazement, this is the first and the only time they offered to God, and Cain offering was rejected while Abel offering was accepted. What made Cain to believe and accept the fact that even if he wants to do right thing that God would not accept his offering. That was terrible! When hurt over stays it can manifest itself through elimination of life. Bitterness and hurt should never be welcomed in the first place, if ever welcomed should never over stay their welcome.
Abel never knew that Cain had an ulterior motive towards him. Even when Able knew that Cain was furious about the whole process, yet he still believed they were brothers. Abel never imagined in his life that his own brother could ever raise his hand against him. It was shocking that Abel became the true victim of what has been going through his heart. When evil saturates one’s heart, it will spring out havoc if care is not taken.
Conclusion:
10 – “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 – And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 – When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” (Genesis chapter 4 verses 10 to 12)
Cain killed Abel his blood brother. The same younger brother he should have been protecting. Cain shed Abel’s blood for due to envy. That singular act of Cain purchased a general curse of poverty to him. The blood of Abel never speaks for mercy over his brother Cain, his blood speaks for vengeance over his blood. There is more you should know about blood shed. No one has the legal right to take someone’s life.
