CAIN IS NOT ABLE

"Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear!" Genesis 4:13

How many times do we blame God for the circumstances we have created--the messes that have muddled up our lives? Two sons are born to Eve and grow up together: Cain and then Abel.  One day they both approach the Lord with an offering.  Somewhere in the life of this little family God had made it plain and clear that a blood sacrifice is how you would come near Him, because "the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard." (Genesis 4:4)  What was Abel's sacrifice? A lamb.  Innocent.  Dead.  Bloody.  What was Cain's sacrifice? Produce tilled from the ground. Maybe a colorful array of fruit and vegetables with a bundle of wheat tied on the side--most likely arranged skillfully on a platter or in a woven basket. Nice. Neat. Tidy.  Beautiful to see and touch and taste.  Hmmm...sounds like the choice his mother made awhile back in the garden...

Cain becomes angry.  His countenance falls.  I don't think I would have wanted to be around him during this time.  There was a way back to God for Cain, but by God's way: through the blood of a lamb.  God tells him his countenance can be lifted up but instead Cain follows his anger, goes his own way, and kills his brother--an act that the Law of God later would consider punishable by death.

However, after Cain commits the murder, God is merciful in His justice by allowing Cain to live, but He curses the ground so it will not produce the beautiful fruits and vegetables that he so loved to till.  Cain only sees it as cruelty and that it is all God's fault.  The saddest statement found in the passage is this one:  "Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord". (Genesis 4:16)  He chose his own path apart from God.  He stayed angry, didn't he?  Cain is left to wander the land in his rebellion.  Wander in his sin.  Wander in his anger.

A painful note is that what we do in disobedience affects others around us.  Just think of Adam and Eve and their loss.  One son dead; the other chooses to rebel.  When Eve gives birth to her third son, she names him Seth, which means "the appointed one, the substitute (for slain Abel)." (1)  Just think: every time Eve called out Seth's name for dinner, she was reminded of Abel.  Forever the birth of one son linked to the death of another.

How about you?  Where do you blame God for your choices in life.  Where do you "follow the ways of Cain"? (Jude 11)  God's grace is waiting to receive you back.  He gives you a way to find fellowship with Him again, but will you take it?  You may bear the scars of wrong choices made but you can still come back into the fold and in His presence or you can go it alone: bitter, angry, blaming God.  Don't walk away from the God who loves you, who redeems you, who buys you back.  He provides forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb of God.  Go to Him in prayer and pour out your heart to Him. He is waiting for you there.

(1) Ryrie Study Bible pg. 11.  Copyright 1995 by The Lockman Foundation