.
†. Gen 4:9 . . Jehovah said to Cain: Where is your brother Abel? And he
said: I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?
This religious man's reaction to the object of his worship is just as
unexpected as the murder he'd just committed. Cain worshipped the true
God, and his rituals were correct and timely; yet Cain was insolent and
responded to his maker's inquiry with a lie and a sarcastic rejoinder.
It's not too difficult to appreciate God's refusal of this man's recent offering.
Over time Cain had become an insensitive jerk. It would be interesting to
know what changed him.
†. Gen 4:10 . .Then He said: What have you done? Hark, your
brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!
The Hebrew word for "cries out" is from tsa'aq (tsaw-ak') and means: to
shriek; which can be defined as a wild involuntary scream.
Whether or not human blood actually has an audible voice isn't nearly
important as to what it might be saying. And in this case, it certainly
couldn't be good.
In civil law, it's handy to produce the corpus delicti in a homicide case
because it's very useful for proving the reality of a death, and for
establishing the cause, and the time of its occurrence. It's interesting that
God didn't produce Abel's body for evidence. He could have, but instead
relied upon the voice of his body's blood. So a murder victim's blood can be
introduced as a witness in the courts of Heaven. That is very interesting.
Abel's blood spoke (or rather; shrieked) and served to accuse a sinner of
homicide. In contrast, when the Lord's blood speaks; it will serve to acquit
sinners (e.g. Rom 5:6-11, 1Pet 1:18-19). That's a whole lot more to people's
advantage.
†. Gen 4:11 . .Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground
which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your
hand.
The original curse upon the soil reduced its agrarian productivity. But the
curse upon Cain brought his agrarian productivity to a complete and
irrevocable end.
†. Gen 4:12 . . If you till the soil, it shall no longer yield its strength
to you. You shall become a ceaseless wanderer on earth.
Cain went on to become a very hungry, very overworked man. Wherever he
tried to farm, the ground would respond in such a way as to act infertile and
its production was stunted. The curse was leveled right at his diet and the
source of his food. Up till now, Cain had been a successful, independent
farmer. But no amount of agricultural wisdom would ever restore his
independence, nor his once green thumb no matter how hard he tried to
overcome it. Cain had crossed over a line and there was no going back.
Since Cain could no longer sustain himself by farming, it would be difficult to
settle down and build himself a home; so he was forced to become
migratory and forage for seasonal foods like the uncivilized beast that he
was. It was poetic justice. The punishment sure fit his personality. If he was
going to act like a predatory brute, then he deserved to live like one.
Though the Bible doesn't say; it would seem to me a reasonable assumption
that Cain's curse effected his progeny too. Up ahead we'll see that they
became renowned as an industrial society rather than agrarian. As time went
by, and the Adams family multiplied and spread out; Cain's community no
doubt traded with them using income from the sale of manufactured goods
to pay for the foods that they themselves were unable to grow. Dependence
upon imported food may not be ideal; but it's certainly better than going
hungry.
NOTE: The punishments inflicted upon Cain weren't according to the letter of
a legislated code. They were judgments under the table, so to speak, that took
Cain's personality into consideration along with his conduct rather than his
conduct alone. God is at liberty to proceed that way in situations where no law
has been broken.
Another element in this case pertains to the relationship between God and
Cain. In other words; Cain's punishment was personal, slammed on him
directly from the hand of God. Compare Gen 3:16 where the physical and
emotional unpleasantries associated with bearing children were slammed on
Eve in a personal way too.
But though God sometimes gets personal-- and even passionate --when He
lowers the boom on people, I think we can be confident that even when
angry, God remains fair rather than prejudiced.
/
†. Gen 4:9 . . Jehovah said to Cain: Where is your brother Abel? And he
said: I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?
This religious man's reaction to the object of his worship is just as
unexpected as the murder he'd just committed. Cain worshipped the true
God, and his rituals were correct and timely; yet Cain was insolent and
responded to his maker's inquiry with a lie and a sarcastic rejoinder.
It's not too difficult to appreciate God's refusal of this man's recent offering.
Over time Cain had become an insensitive jerk. It would be interesting to
know what changed him.
†. Gen 4:10 . .Then He said: What have you done? Hark, your
brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!
The Hebrew word for "cries out" is from tsa'aq (tsaw-ak') and means: to
shriek; which can be defined as a wild involuntary scream.
Whether or not human blood actually has an audible voice isn't nearly
important as to what it might be saying. And in this case, it certainly
couldn't be good.
In civil law, it's handy to produce the corpus delicti in a homicide case
because it's very useful for proving the reality of a death, and for
establishing the cause, and the time of its occurrence. It's interesting that
God didn't produce Abel's body for evidence. He could have, but instead
relied upon the voice of his body's blood. So a murder victim's blood can be
introduced as a witness in the courts of Heaven. That is very interesting.
Abel's blood spoke (or rather; shrieked) and served to accuse a sinner of
homicide. In contrast, when the Lord's blood speaks; it will serve to acquit
sinners (e.g. Rom 5:6-11, 1Pet 1:18-19). That's a whole lot more to people's
advantage.
†. Gen 4:11 . .Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground
which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your
hand.
The original curse upon the soil reduced its agrarian productivity. But the
curse upon Cain brought his agrarian productivity to a complete and
irrevocable end.
†. Gen 4:12 . . If you till the soil, it shall no longer yield its strength
to you. You shall become a ceaseless wanderer on earth.
Cain went on to become a very hungry, very overworked man. Wherever he
tried to farm, the ground would respond in such a way as to act infertile and
its production was stunted. The curse was leveled right at his diet and the
source of his food. Up till now, Cain had been a successful, independent
farmer. But no amount of agricultural wisdom would ever restore his
independence, nor his once green thumb no matter how hard he tried to
overcome it. Cain had crossed over a line and there was no going back.
Since Cain could no longer sustain himself by farming, it would be difficult to
settle down and build himself a home; so he was forced to become
migratory and forage for seasonal foods like the uncivilized beast that he
was. It was poetic justice. The punishment sure fit his personality. If he was
going to act like a predatory brute, then he deserved to live like one.
Though the Bible doesn't say; it would seem to me a reasonable assumption
that Cain's curse effected his progeny too. Up ahead we'll see that they
became renowned as an industrial society rather than agrarian. As time went
by, and the Adams family multiplied and spread out; Cain's community no
doubt traded with them using income from the sale of manufactured goods
to pay for the foods that they themselves were unable to grow. Dependence
upon imported food may not be ideal; but it's certainly better than going
hungry.
NOTE: The punishments inflicted upon Cain weren't according to the letter of
a legislated code. They were judgments under the table, so to speak, that took
Cain's personality into consideration along with his conduct rather than his
conduct alone. God is at liberty to proceed that way in situations where no law
has been broken.
Another element in this case pertains to the relationship between God and
Cain. In other words; Cain's punishment was personal, slammed on him
directly from the hand of God. Compare Gen 3:16 where the physical and
emotional unpleasantries associated with bearing children were slammed on
Eve in a personal way too.
But though God sometimes gets personal-- and even passionate --when He
lowers the boom on people, I think we can be confident that even when
angry, God remains fair rather than prejudiced.
/
