Genesis- Oh Brother Pt.2

Monday, September 7

Last week I shared the quote from the classic poem by Robert Frost The Road Not Taken, Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

How many times do we truly understand the road we take? How many times, as we look back, do we see that we had options and wish we had a warning, or had greater intention versus simply wandering through life.

I believe this is true about the passage we looked at last week, Cain and Abel, from Genesis 4. Brief refresher read Genesis 4:2-16- Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

I think when we look at this passage, we can look at the characters or we can look at the responses and we can keep it at an arm's distance to say, “you know what? I don't think this relates to me.”

But what about the jealousy? What about the envy? What about the anger? What about the fact that Cain just wanted to be accepted? He just wanted to be looked on with favor. What about the sadness or the heaviness or the fact that his face was downcast?

Have you ever felt any of those before? Because if you have, maybe we connect with this story than we think. So, what do we do with this story? I mean, is it just sibling rivalry? Is it just one story amongst the many that's happened thousands and thousands of years ago and it doesn't really have much to do with my life?

Or is there more than meets the eye? Which leads me to the next setup question. When you read through the passage, what got your attention in this passage?

Because there’s a difference between what got our attention and what should get our attention. Remember, it’s God’s activity in the story that should get our attention. People, places, and experiences come and go, but God’s activity is consistent with it all.

As you reflect on this portion of the passage what got God’s attention? How should that apply to your life?