Away From God: Genesis 4:9-13

When we rebel, our path only gets harder.  This lesson takes experience to learn.  In the moment, rebellion feels easy because we do what we want.  Only after the moment passes do we realize the hole we’ve dug or the habits we’ve created that are no good.  Rebellion leads us into trouble every single time.

Once Cain kills Abel, God returns to His conversation with Cain.  God gives Cain another opportunity to engage in relationship with Him.  God asks Cain where Abel is.  God is omniscient; He already knows.  This question is about relationship and truthfulness, not fact-finding.

Cain continues to respond in a less-than-meaningful way.  Rather than answer the question, Cain replies with a quip.  Cain asks God if he is his brother’s keeper.  In this moment, though, Cain is his brother’s keeper!  Cain knows exactly where Abel is.  Cain knows Abel is dead and gone.  Cain attempts to disguise the truth by asking a question whose answer leads God away from the truth.

Not only is Cain being intentionally deceptive here; he builds walls.  Cain demonstrated his utter lack of interest in a relationship with God.  He didn’t want to give God a worthy sacrifice and merely tried to rise to the lowest bar possible.  He didn’t want to talk to God about what was going on in his mind regarding the sacrifice.  He didn’t want to listen to God’s warning about sin crouching at the door.  Now, he deflects God’s question to avoid being honest about his actions.

Unfortunately for Cain, God is omniscient.  He already knows.  God knew Cain was going to kill his brother before Cain did.  How can anyone think to hide their actions from God?  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve tried to hide my rebellion from God.  I understand why we try to hide our rebellion, but I don’t understand why we think it will work.

God tells Cain He knows.  Abel’s blood cries out from the ground.  Abel’s blood demands vindication.  Whether Cain wants to admit his rebellion or not, his action needs consequences.

God dealt with Adam’s sin and Eve’s sin by bestowing a curse upon them.  God deals with Cain’s sin the same way.  God curses Cain.  No longer will Cain be able to harvest produce from his fields.  He will need to wander around to get what he needs.

Once more we see a great lesson about rebellion.  Like Adam’s consequences and Eve’s consequences, Cain’s consequences allow his life to continue.  The difference, though, is his life becomes significantly harder.  Rebellion against God makes life more difficult.

When we turn our back on God, we turn our back on His ways.  However, He knows us because He created us.  His ways are the easy way for us.  It makes sense that when we rebel against God we also rebel against the easy path.  When we rebel, our path only gets harder.