The David Spoon Experience 5-13-24 part 2
1) The next portion, starting in Genesis chapter 4:8, teaches us a valuable series of lessons, one excellent and the other not so much. Verse eight begins with Cain suggesting to his brother Abel to go out into the field. It seemed innocent enough. "Let's go take a walk and check out the field. Who knows? Maybe we can see something cool," Cain said. But that was not Cain's true intention. What Cain was planning was to kill his brother. It was merely a ruse to lure him into a trap, indicating that people have been attempting to trap others since the very beginning.
2) All because of sin, Cain attacks Abel and kills him. This isn't the first-time death has touched the planet. Adam and Eve died spiritually when they sinned. But this is the first time that death has not been attached to a natural lifespan. This should serve as a cautionary tale of how far sin can lead a person.
3) The next element is almost chilling. The Lord confronts Cain and asks him, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" Of course, the Lord knows where he is, but He is holding Cain accountable. Everyone who sins, from Adam to the last human being, will give an account. But what does Cain do? Essentially the same thing that Adam and Eve did. He evades, he shifts the blame. He doesn't pin it on anyone else, because he can't. But he simply says, "I'm not responsible. I didn't do it. It's not my fault." Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
4) Verse 10 in Genesis chapter 4 speaks hope, though many may not realize it. Because of this, the Lord tells Cain, "Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." Even though Abel is dead, he's still speaking to God. His blood is calling out to God for something that happened that never should have and was never intended to. And God's response is directly connected to Abel's outcry. This tells us there's life after death, right at the beginning of the Bible. But it also tells us that the blood of one who has been hurt often cries out for vengeance, not for grace and mercy. It's a good thing for us that Jesus's cry was different from that of Abel's.
