The LORD replied, "No, for I will
give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you." Then the LORD put a
mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. Genesis 4:15
Cain killed his brother Abel, motivated by
jealousy since God accepted Abel sacrifice of a lamb, but not Cain’s grain
sacrifice. What was Cain to do? He should have known better than to strike Abel
with such a maddening blow that it ended his life. Look at what happened…
When it was time for the harvest, Cain
presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the
best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his
gift, but He did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and
he looked dejected. "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked Cain.
"Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is
right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching
at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its
master." One day Cain suggested to his brother, "Let's go out into
the fields." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother,
Abel, and killed him. Afterward the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother?
Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my
brother's guardian?" But the LORD said, "What have you done? Listen!
Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!" Genesis 4:3-10.
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| Sheep in Israel |
Cain brought a gift to God of some of his crop while Abel brought the best of the firstborn lambs. The
Lord accepted Abel’s gift, but not Cain’s gift. Dejected…discouraged…disheartened. Cain really wanted to
please the Lord, but he wasn’t intentional about finding out just what would
please Him. Should he have raised a few lambs himself so that he could give the
best of his flock to God? Could he have traded some of his grain for a pure,
blemish free lamb from his brother Abel’s flock? Did Cain have options? Jealously
murdering his brother doesn’t seem like a very wise option. God wasn’t pleased,
but He didn’t want anyone to kill Cain, so He put a mark on him. Punishment was
promised to anyone who tried to take Cain’s life.
Vengeance is the Lord’s.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but
leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I
WILL REPAY," says the Lord. Romans 12:19 NASB
We don’t know what God had taught this
first family about sacrifice or sin, but Able knew to give his best to the Lord. What
do we give to the Lord? The first of our income, the first in our time…our
thoughts? The best…or what we have left over?
Prayer
~ Lord God, open my eyes to see what I give sacrificially to You is the best I
have to give.
Bible
Reading: January 10 – Job 24-28
©
2017 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted
www.blueletterbible.org/dailyreading
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