CAIN – 6/2/20
Genesis 4:8-10, “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. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
Am I my Brother’s Keeper? That is Cain’s sinful question-his divertive question to God. God says Abel is your brother, He never mentions keeper. No, Cain you are not your brother’s keeper! But you are your Brother’s Brother!
Keeper in Bible means owner, warden, ruler and sovereign. Flocks have keepers, zoos have keepers, bees have keepers, prisons have keepers and small children must be kept. No! We are not the owners, rulers or keepers over other people
In verse 10, “Your Brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” Blood here is plural—bloods. Your brother’s BLOODS are crying out to me from the ground. Not just Abel’s blood, who never said a word in Genesis. But Abel’s bloods are all the possible descendants of Abel until now—billions. Jesus called it “the righteous blood of Abel”. So that when we kill someone we kill all of his or her descendants.
Any murder is genocide of whole generations of people because we are all Brothers and Sisters of one another! For we are all kin: Acts 17:26, “And He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (KJV). NIV says of He has made of “one man” everyone who dwells on earth.
Gen 3:20, Eve is said to be the mother of all living. Malachi 2:10: “Have we not all one father?” hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”
Some of the Biblical words for “Brother or Sister” mean and ox/ wall: A strong one who puts a wall of protection around you; The one who takes responsibility for your well-being.
Cain was not Abel’s keeper; neither did he act like he was his brother. Rather than protecting his brother he killed him. The first murder was the murder of a Brother by a Brother. And so every murder ever since has been the murder of a brother or sister by a brother or a sister. And we are accountable for the blood of that person’s possible descendants forever. That is why murder is such a horrible thing!
Brother and/or Sister means that we take responsibility for the well-being of each other. Not just who we call “kin” people because we are all kin people. Not just blood kin because we are all of the same blood because we are all made “from one blood”.
The word Responsibility comes for Latin and it means to answer to someone or to give account to someone. Greek words usually mean that we have to answer for some things—like a job. Hebrew means to answer to God for our actions towards humans. For everyone must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account for the deeds done in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:10). Gen 9:5, “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
While I am not a keeper, I am responsible for the other human—before God.
A sociopath (psychopath) is one who realizes no responsibility for others. They have no feeling or love for anyone but themselves. They have no conscience and refuse to be responsible for the pain of others. A Cain is a sociopath—someone with no conscience—a murderer. So that Cain and murderer and synonymous. To the degree that you refuse responsibility for the other is the degree you are a Cain, a sociopath and a murderer.
The Hebrew word, shalom, means not just peace but rather the wellbeing. Tribalism limits a person’s responsibility to the wellbeing of the tribe. Racism is simple tribalism in extended form—love your race/hate other.
As Christians, we are responsible for the wellbeing of everyone alive: God holds us accountable for them—as brothers and sisters. Jesus did say to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And love even your enemy. There is absolutely no room in Christianity for racism or tribalism, or in heaven!
Christians are responsible for all races, tribes, nations and peoples. Well-being means life and all the things that bring life. There have always been Cains (sociopaths) in every race. There are Cains in every human endeavor—every occupation on earth. Sometimes it is very hard to screen them out until they hurt someone.
There are Cains in the ministry, in medicine, in law, in banking, in factories and in families. There are fathers, mothers, children all over the world who are sociopaths. The scandals involving ministers and priests—Cains. And there are cops who abuse and kill people—Cains.
But not all fathers and mothers abuse children and each other, not all teachers abuse children not All ministers are involved in scandals, not all cops are racist sociopaths, not everyone is a Cain! But some are and a rotten apple can spoil the barrel. But some are! Most are good actors and are extremely hard to find.
All people are not Christian and do not take being brothers and sisters seriously. Those who are not Christian are to some degree Cains. Their consciences have been burned with a hot iron. They care mostly for themselves and/or their own tribe. But how do you expect a non-Christian to behave?
There are Cains in every nation, tribe, occupation and human endeavor. Yes, Cain, you are responsible before God and you alone must give account to Him for what you have done.
One of the ways repressive governments act is to tell its people they need to be kept—looked after, treated like children or slaves—for their own good. They tried it with the American Indians—kept on a Reservation. It was the crux of slavery, communism, and dictatorships the world over. To keep anyone you have to consider them inferior to you only the superior keep the inferior.
I am not completely sure why George Floyd died. I do not have all the facts. A couple of Autopsies now say he suffocated and/or heart stopped from the knee on his neck. I do know he was a Black man who died while in custody of police. He was a big man who had work as a security guard for a restaurant at the same time Officer Chauvin did—whether they knew one another is unknown. Many say he was a good Christian man and sang in a Christian group in Houston. Some say he was spaced out on drugs. I don’t know the truth.
White Officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground backwards 8 minutes and 46 seconds with his knee on his neck while he repeatedly said I can’t breathe. It was an act of Cain—and as Cain he will have to give an account—he all like him, whether a cop, preacher or not!
But not everyone is a Cain! Not all cops are racist sociopaths or Cains. There are over 900,000 cops in America an only a handful are Cains, as only a handful are Cains in any occupation on earth. And we cannot lump people together and punish all because there are a few Cains in their group!
Peaceful protest is a right of Americans and is used to bring attention to injustice but rioting, looting, violence, and destruction are acts of Cain!
As Christians we must aid the victims of Cain everywhere. We must demand that Cain be removed from society wherever he or she is found! And we must try to convert Cain to Jesus Christ.
Paul tells the Corinthians, “And such were some of you, but you were changed”. Before we judge Cain too harshly, there was/is a little bit of Cain in each of us. Christ Jesus came into the world to save Cains—the sinners of the world. And many Cains, like me, have been converted!
In the end, former Cains (Christians) will gather in Heaven. Rev. 7:9-10, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
Jim
