Category: Cain and Abel

Shallow #6

Sunday, October 27, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

Adam deliberately rejected God’s Word—so did Cain, Noah’s generation, and the post-diluvial (“after the Flood”) human race at Babel. For 2,000 years, God has attempted to use mankind in the earth for His glory, but mankind has audaciously and willfully rejected His Word and will. Dear readers, secular humanism is nothing new!

So, in Genesis chapter 12, God finds Abram, a pagan Syrian, and through this one man—whom He will later rename “Abraham”—He will create a group who will accomplish His will in the earth (which Adam and all of his descendants up to that point had failed to do). According to the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3), God created that nation, Israel, using Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob and Jacob’s 12 sons (heads of the 12 tribes of Israel).

About 500 years after the Abrahamic Covenant was instituted, God through Moses leads Israel (now about two million in number) out of Egyptian bondage. In Deuteronomy 4:1-49, Moses cautions Israel not to reject God’s Word to them (the Mosaic Law). They are to obey His every command when they arrive in the Promised Land. “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” (verse 7). The wayward nations (Gentiles) were to see the wisdom of the Creator God demonstrated in Israel’s behavior and lifestyle (verse 6).

Alas, as the centuries passed, Israel went deeper and deeper into apostasy. Circa 700 B.C., JEHOVAH chided Israel: “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land” (Hosea 4:1). Rather than knowledge of God’s Word in Israel’s land, there is idolatry, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and violence (verses 2ff.). Like the billions before them, they too have intentionally rejected God’s Word and will for them (verse 6)….

Shallow #4

Friday, October 25, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

Man’s fall into sin resulted because of his deliberate disregard for God’s Word. What was the result of this fall? It did not take very long for the degradation of human marriage (Adam turning on his wife, Eve), the decline of the family (Cain murdering his brother, Abel), and the collapse and nearly complete obliteration of human civilization (the wicked world destroyed in the Great Flood). We will briefly focus on the last two events.

Cain refused to bring the blood sacrifice that God commanded, so when his brother Abel confronted him, Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:1-7; Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:12). Not only did Cain reject God’s Word to him that Abel spoke, but Cain was unconcerned about his brother and he showed no remorse when God asked him where Abel was (see Genesis 4:8-15).

In Genesis chapter 6, some 1,600 years after the Fall of Man in Eden, we read: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (verse 5). Here, the human population may be as high as four billion, and nearly every soul is cooperating with Satan’s policy of evil. Amidst this worldwide corruption and violence (verses 11,12), we find one man, Noah, “a just [righteous] man and perfect [upright] in his generations, and [he] walked with God” (verse 9).

Of all the billions in the world, God commissions Noah to build an ark, in order to save the animal species and the human seed-line. There is a worldwide flood coming, and for 120 years, Noah preaches God’s Word to the world (Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:5). Instead, they ridicule and ignore God’s Word through Noah. As Noah constructs the huge ark, the world just continues—gleefully and deliberately—in its wickedness….

Shallow #3

Thursday, October 24, 2013

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34 KJV).

If the professing “Church” is to impact our culture as the Lord Jesus Christ intended, then it had better recognize today’s Scripture as applicable to it!

In the moments following Adam’s consumption of the forbidden fruit, he and Eve realized that Satan’s policy of evil was infiltrating creation. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). They knew what happened as a result of their abandonment of God’s Word. The effects of sin were felt immediately.

On the very day of man’s fall, we see the cessation of Adam and Eve’s perfect marital relationship. Man’s perfect relationship with his Creator also vanishes. When the LORD God asked Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden tree, Adam replied, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12).

Adam has now turned against Eve. Notice how he blamed Eve for his deliberate mistake in following her in her ignorance! Eve was tricked, and so she ate; however, Adam knew better and he ate anyway. Also, see how Adam shifted the blame from himself, to Eve, and ultimately, to God—“the woman whom thou gavest to be with me.” Adam blamed God for his sinful action because God had given him Eve. Again, recall, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14).

We must not look down upon Adam. To this very day, we all, at some time or another, deliberately reject God’s Word, sin, and then blame someone else—often God! Yes, Genesis chapter 3 is the best authority on human psychology!

As time passes, Adam and Eve have sons, Cain and Abel, with Cain eventually and unapologetically murdering Abel in a fit of religious rage (Genesis 4:1-15). Here, we see the breakdown of the family. By the time we get to Noah’s day, 1,600 years later, there is worldwide wickedness (Genesis 6:1-8). Now, we see the breakdown of civilization….

Good Riddance! #9

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Let us leap into the future and observe the world’s moral conditions during the Tribulation period: “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, not of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:20,21). Even as God’s wrath is being poured out on earth, mankind just defiantly and unapologetically continues its murdering, its stealing, its idolatry, its sexually-perverted activities, and its devil worship! (This will be the result of today’s “progress,” and believing Israel will confront such a depraved society during the Tribulation.)

As Jesus Christ Himself affirmed, the first person to die for having faith in the God of the Bible was Abel (Luke 11:50,51). Abel adamantly stood for the principles of the God of heaven and earth, and he died because of it. God commanded the blood sacrifice, and his brother Cain willfully ignored that instruction and brought his “alternate” belief and sacrifice. Even after Abel and he talked, Cain was still convinced that his religion was “just as good” as Abel’s, and that he would be right with God without doing it God’s way (sounds just like today’s “everyone will make it to heaven eventually” argument, huh?).

Cain hated God’s testimony that his brother the prophet Abel uttered. Just as lost people execute Christians and silence God’s messengers today (and they will do it in the Tribulation), it all goes back to the first brother of the human race who got rid of his godly sibling who stood up for God’s Word….

Good Riddance! #8

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

While today’s Scripture is not written directly to us members of the Church the Body of Christ in the Dispensation of Grace, what John wrote is just as applicable to us as it is to his audience, Israel’s believing remnant during the seven-year Tribulation (which is still future). Regardless of the dispensation, lost people always hate God’s people.

Just as Abel withstood Cain’s unbelief by rejecting his “form of worship,” Israel’s believing remnant will refuse the antichrist’s “form of worship” (the religion in which apostate Israel will participate in the Tribulation). Both Abel and Israel’s little flock are persecuted for obeying God’s Word, and both are executed for believing God’s Word.

Moreover, this has been true for many members of the Church the Body of Christ. Currently, Jesus Christ is sitting at the Father’s in heaven’s glory (Colossians 3:1); nevertheless, Jesus Christ is here on earth in the form of us Christians. Just as Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended back into heaven as a hated exile, the lost world also wants to get rid of us! They cannot harm Him, but they can (and do) attack His people, the Church the Body of Christ.

Ever since Adam and mankind’s fall in Genesis chapter 3, man has become dumber and dumber spiritually: “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). The result? Read verses 22-32, which mention, among other things, homosexuality, fornication, envy, murder, deceit, haters of God, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, those without natural affection [abortion, for instance!], unmerciful, “[who] not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (verse 32). We just outlined the social “progress” in “progress” today, and like Abel and believing Israel, we receive flak for opposing it….

Good Riddance! #7

Monday, April 15, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

The unsaved, hell-bound world around us complains, “Jesus preached love! Why are you judging? You Christians need to stop trying to force your beliefs on others and just focus on the wonderful things Jesus did and said.” To these “defenses,” we reply to them, “Where is your love for Jesus, for His people, for His Word? Why do you hate Jesus’ people for repeating His wisdom?”

Of course, our questions to them are rhetorical—we know the answers (lost people hate Jesus Christ, they hate His people, for sinners and saints are from two very different families!). Their questions, on the other hand, are just desperate attempts to avoid accountability to a holy righteous God, to ease one’s conscience, to discredit the message, to ignore their sin problem, to blame shift, et cetera.

Beloved, this thoroughly confused, lost, and dying world still needs the forgiveness and soul salvation only found in the Lord Jesus Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins. Like Cain, they use religion to cover up their sins (to no avail). They, like Cain, ignore God’s “words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Like Cain, they want to change the laws God has already established and replace them with “alternate” beliefs, and get rid of those who speak out against it. They, like Cain, live their lives the way they want, but without coming by faith in Jesus Christ, they will never come to know their Creator God. They can die in their sins and go to hellfire denying God’s Word forever and ever, but it will still be true. They can even hate and murder God’s people, the Christians, but the message the saints preach is authoritative, relevant, eternal, and true!

They know they cannot get rid of God’s Word, so they attempt to get rid of God’s people….

Good Riddance! #6

Sunday, April 14, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Satan is God’s enemy (Satan is Hebrew for “adversary”); hence, Satan’s children hate and oppose God’s children. Recall Jesus’ rebuke of Israel’s unbelieving religious leaders, Satan’s counterfeit Jews: “If God were your Father, ye would love me…. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning [referring to Cain killing Abel], and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:42,44).

The conflict between lost people and Christians is actually the visible manifestation of the invisible spiritual battle that Satan’s lie program is waging against God’s truth. Unbelievers have slaughtered millions of God’s people throughout the ages. Even today, Christians worldwide are imprisoned, tortured, and slain for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth. (Fret not, for He knows the names of all, and His righteous judgment will be expressed in due time!)

In the context of today’s Scripture, John is comforting his believing Jewish audience who will experience the seven-year Tribulation. He instructs these Jewish Christians to neither be startled nor distressed when the apostate Jews embrace the antichrist and shun and persecute them for rejecting him as false (cf. Matthew 10:16-42). As satanic Cain hated and slew godly Abel (1 John 3:11,12), so unbelieving Israel will despise and betray the believing Jews, the Israel of God. John consoles them to be strong by faith in Jesus Christ, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

The satanic opposition that Abel faced and that Israel’s believing remnant will face, is what we Christians face today….

Good Riddance! #5

Saturday, April 13, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

The context of today’s Scripture uses the historical narrative of Cain and Abel to reinforce the doctrine the Holy Spirit is communicating through the Apostle John: “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:11-13).

John, writing to believing Jews who will live after our Dispensation of Grace—that is, who will live during the seven-year Tribulation—uses material the Bible already taught to further educate them. We can gain two main points from this passage.

Firstly, John reminds them of the kingdom doctrine Jesus Christ uttered to His little flock (believing Israel) during His earthly ministry: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). These Jewish believers are to love one another, just as Jesus Christ loved them (contrast this with today’s Scripture).

Secondly, John reminds believing Israel that just as unbelieving, disobedient Cain murdered his brother, Abel, the man of faith and God’s prophet, so her unbelieving brethren (that is, apostate Israel) will seek to persecute and kill her. Remember, Jesus Christ warned “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:32-42). Speaking of the Tribulation, Jesus predicted His Jewish followers would not only be hated by the unbelieving Gentiles, but also by unbelieving Israel (who are all following Satan’s evil world system and the antichrist’s apostate religious system).

John, in today’s Scripture, reminds his audience suffering in the Tribulation, that Satan’s world system and its members have always hated the Lord Jesus Christ’s people. They should not be shocked, nor should they lose heart….

Good Riddance! #4

Friday, April 12, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Jesus Christ claimed that Abel was a “prophet” (Luke 11:50,51): Abel spoke to mankind on God’s behalf. Abel was also a saint, a man of faith because he believed what God said. Cain, Abel’s older brother, was just the opposite—Cain refused to believe God, and so he did not obey God. Imagine the animosity Cain had toward Abel.

Genesis 4:3-5 says, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 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: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”

Hebrews 11:4 confirms: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

Now, read Genesis 4:8: “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.” What do you suppose Cain and Abel discussed before Abel’s death? Abel spoke God’s Word, reminding Cain that he had not brought the blood sacrifice God had commanded. Cain, reacting toward God’s Word as any other religious person would, becomes even more upset—how dare God reject his “alternate” viewpoint. Cain hated Abel for his “narrow mindedness”—Abel stood in the way of man’s religious “progress” and Abel had to go! Thus, Cain murdered Abel in a fit of jealousy and rage.

Let us develop this study a bit more, and see how this narrative perfectly parallels the context of today’s Scripture….

A Rejected Sacrifice

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

“But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell” (Genesis 4:5 KJV).

We are some 6,000 years removed from today’s Scripture, and yet it teaches us a valuable lesson of eternal worth….

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…” (Hebrews 11:4). The LORD gave Cain and his brother Abel clear instructions. Only Abel did what God said because only he believed what God said. Abel, a shepherd (Genesis 4:2), “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (verse 4a). Cain, a farmer (verse 2), “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD” (verse 3).

Notice what Abel brought—a sheep, a blood sacrifice, and its fat, which is what God said to do. Observe what Cain brought—something he grew. Cain had probably slaved away watering that crop, weeding that patch of ground, and so on. Cain brought the very “best” he could bring—it was the work of his own hands. He rationalized, “Surely, God will accept this fruit of the ground. He knows I put so much effort into it. How can He say no?”

When Cain saw the fire of God come down from heaven and consume his brother’s sacrifice, and yet nothing happened to his sacrifice, today’s Scripture tells us that Cain grew very upset. “How dare You, God! It was my very best, and You do not want it!” Cain probably threw a tantrum and cursed. Eventually, filled with that religious rage, he murdered Abel (verse 8).

Cain symbolizes today’s average religious person, who refuses to do what God’s Word says: “Trust in the finished crosswork of Christ alone and I will save you.” Like Cain, they offer “their absolute best”—tithes, water baptism, acts of charity, penance, church membership, et cetera—things God never commanded them to do for salvation! Those things are “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) when compared to Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice of Himself.

And when they die, like Cain, they will be greatly disappointed.