Summer Snapshots: Favorite Pictures from the Bible
Genesis 4:7&8
Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Walter Cronkite hosted a TV show called, “You Are There.” It was a show that dramatically portrayed historical events and characters for a television audience. It was a great way to make history come alive to people. Many of you know that I am a history nut. My degree is in history, and I love to read histories of both ancient and modern societies. Most people think I’m just a nut. They can’t understand how anyone could love history. They see it as a drudgery, and they remember having to learn long lists of names and dates.
There are lots of situations where I have found myself thinking, “Oh, I wish I could have been there!” And I like history because of the ability of the human mind to transport itself back to the situations that we read about. To engross yourself in a historical situation, and be allowed to get a “first hand” feel for the events and characters. Over the remainder of this summer, I want us to have that kind of experience with some of what I feel are amazing scenes from the Bible. Some of the scenes will be familiar to many of you, some may be a surprise, but I hope that it will help you to develop a desire to dig in for yourself, and read with an new interest this book, which is much more than just a history of the world – it is a story of God’s love and patience with man – the story of His willingness to allow us to choose to follow or reject Him, and the consequences, good and bad for those decisions. Some of the snapshots of history we are going to look at will leave a smile on your face, and a feeling of, “Oh, I wish I could have been there!” Others will leave you sorrowful, wishing that the characters had made better choices, with happier outcomes.
One of the saddest parts of human history is that many of the names and dates we remember and use to track our past come from violence and death. Most of the names of people we know from the past were great warriors or conquerors. Many of the dates are dates of battles won or lost, empires established or overthrown. If you think about it for a moment, you will recognize that much of our history classes, books and films center around wars and death.
Earlier this year, a movie was released entitled “Enemy at the Gate.” It was the dramatic telling of the standoff between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in 1942 at Stalingrad. Stalingrad was a city in the far southwest region of the Soviet Union, and can be in some ways compared to New Orleans in the US. From that city, the great Volga River runs into the heartland of the Ukraine, and if the Germans had taken that city, and controlled th river, the war would most likely have ended much differently than it did. For 6 months the Russian army withstood the siege of Stalingrad, draining precious resources from Hitler’s military machine, and leading eventually to the German loss on the Eastern Front.
This morning we are going to look at where it all began. The first act of violence and death, the first reference to an “enemy at the gate.” And while some of the scenes from the Bible we examine this summer will be happy, joyous occasions, this one is very sad. Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4. It is found on page 3 of the Bibles in the chairs you will find in the chairs around you. ( I told you this was at the very beginning!) Let me read for you the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:1-8
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD." [2] Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. [3] And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. [4] Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, [5] but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. [6] So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? [7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." [8] Now 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 killed him.
There are some really powerful lessons to be learned as we gaze into this snapshot from the Bible. Let’s start at the beginning. We find two brothers, Cain, the eldest, and Abel. Cain, whose name means, “given” in Hebrew, is a worker of the fields, he tills the ground, working the cursed soil. Remember, it was to his father, as a result of disobedience, that God has said, “cursed is the ground for your sake, In toil you shall eat of it…but thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread…” (Gen 3:17ff) Cain was living out the curse that his father had brought on the earth as a result of sin. He was a sod-buster. His brother, Abel, was a shepherd.
In verse 3 we read that at a specific time, Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain brought an offering of “the fruit of the ground,” while Abel brought “of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.”
God accepted Abel and his offering, but He did not respect or accept the offering of Cain.
Why do you suppose that Cain’s offering was not accepted while Abel’s was?
There are varying responses. Some believe that because there was not blood, Cain’s offering was unacceptable. However, we see many offerings of grain and cereals in scripture. It would seem more likely that God’s rejection of Cain’s offering is due to the attitude with which it was given. We read that Cain brought “of the fruit,” “some of the fruits” (NIV), while Abel brought his best. Abel brought “of the firstborn and of their fat.” Abel offered his best as an act of worship, while Cain brought “some of his crop” as an act of religious observance.
Lesson one: God is not interested in our religious observances.
There are many examples throughout scripture of people who were surrounded by religious trappings but whose lives and worship were unacceptable to God. Just a few: King Saul, who disobeyed God and kept all the best part of an enemies cattle and wealth, and when he was caught, tried to say that he was going to sacrifice the cattle to God. The prophet Samuel said, “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the fat of rams.” In Isaiah 58, we read that God is not pleased with the religious observances of the entire nation of Israel. Even when they fast, and follow religious tradition, God was not satisfied because they did not worship Him with their hearts. In the New Testament, Jesus was often filled with disgust by the religious observances of the Pharisees who were very careful to obey rules and regulations, but were hypocritical lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God. Paul writes of people in the church who “have the appearance of Godliness by deny the power of it.”
This week I was talking with Kevin and he mentioned that he had been reading this story, and had wondered, “Why did God reject Cain’s offering?” Then he had kept on reading, and got to the story of Abraham, and saw how Abraham had been completely sold out to God, and he said all of a sudden, the story of Cain made sense! “Oh! It has nothing to do with the offering, it has everything to do with the heart of the person.” You know what? Kevin gained an insight that I think is perhaps the most important lesson from the Bible. Mere adherance to religious duty is a very dangerous place to be. It causes us to feel that we have somehow fulfilled our duty to God. I would bet that that’s how Cain felt. He comes up, drops off his fruit basket, and says, “There, I did my part, off to the bar for a bloody Mary!” But God did not accept his offering.
In some respects, Cain had a real benefit – God Himself let him know that his offering was not acceptable, and when Cain got angry about it, God Himself came to discuss it with him. “Cain, why are you so angry? Why are you so down in the dumps? If you do the right thing, your offering will be accepted…” God calls on Cain to consider his situation. “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” God asks. Cain, worship with a pure heart, give with a grateful spirit, and you offering will be accepted just like your brothers.”
But God also gave Cain a warning. The enemy was at the gate. Look at verse 7. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Listen to the way the NIV puts that phrase,
Genesis 4:7
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 master it."
Cain is warned by God that his actions and attitude have put him in a very dangerous place. The Father says, “Cain, sin is crouching at the door – the enemy is at the gate, and it wants to have you…”
Here’s lesson #2: We all face a very real enemy, and he desires to destroy us.
Sin desires to have us. It desires to control us, and to consume us and to destroy us. Look at the imagery in that sentence! Sin is crouching at the door – Peter says that Satan “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he may devour.” That statement fits hand-in-glove with our story today. I don’t know about you, but I can seriously relate to God’s warning to Cain. There are times when the temptation can be so strong, the desire so compelling, that I can almost feel the breath of the beast ready to spring on me. That sin wants to have me – it wants to control me – Satan wants to devour me, to consume my soul. And if I am a believer, then the thing he wants to do is destroy my effectiveness, my credibility, my worship. He wants to fool me into falling in to the trap of Cain – giving “worship” as religious duty, not out of a heart of love and awe. Sin is crouching a the door – there’s an enemy at the gate.
But God does not stop there – His warning to Cain continues. “Sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it…”
Lesson #4: We must rule over the sin that desires to rule us.
Look at that last phrase again. “But you should rule over it…” The responsibility for who will win this battle lies squarely with Cain. There is no passing of the buck. There is not blaming of the parents or the neighborhood conditions of Cain as a child. There will be no plea of insanity. The victory in this battle will be won or lost with the choice Cain makes. He alone will bear the consequences of his decision.
God would not tell Cain that he should rule over that sin unless he could rule over it! The fact that God tells can that he ought to resist the temptation that he is facing tells us that Cain had the ability to do so. We live in a culture today that does not want to hear about personal responsibility. A mother kills her five little children, and every psychologist in the world wants to blame circumstances, or psychosis for her behavior. Youths are killed on the streets of Milwaukee and leaders want to blame the society and culture that they are raised in for their behavior instead of holding those individuals accountable for their bad decisions. We are faced with the temptation of watching things we know we shouldn’t, saying things we know are untrue, taking things we have no right to, and we excuse our behavior by refusing to take responsibility – “But the temptation is so strong,” “I couldn’t help myself,” “The devil made me do it!”
The truth is this – The enemy is at the gate. He is crouching like a lion ready to pounce on you and consume you. But you must make the choice. Will you rule over it, or will it have you?
Cain chose poorly. He chose to give in to the forces that lay at his door. He lost the battle, and the sin had him, and it destroyed him. The evil that he committed, and the consequences for that sin, marked him for the rest of his life.
That’s what sin does.
So this morning, as we gaze at this snapshot from the Bible, let me ask you how this might apply to your life.
1. Do you find yourself like Cain – going through the motions of religion, bringing some of your time, some of your efforts, some of your resources, and kidding yourself into thinking that you’ve done all you need to do? That somehow you have pleased God with your mediocre efforts? Is you worship a “going through the motions,” or do you worship with a pure heart, in faith, in spirit and in truth, giving your very best?
2. Do you recognize the presence of the enemy at your gate? Do you hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit as He convicts you of sin? Do you hear words of warning from the Word of God and heed to that word? Do you recognize that the enemy of your soul wants nothing more than for you to be lulled into false security through your hollow worship, or blinded to the danger altogether, so that he can have you? His desire is for you. Do you see that, as a believer, he wants to defeat you, make you ineffective, to brow beat you, to oppress you with sin in your life, convincing you that you can’t be free?
3. Do you accept responsibility for your choice to be obedient? Do you hear the word of God that says, “You should rule over this sin”? Will you vow before God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to choose to rule over that sin – to not allow it to have you? The church is filled today with people who go through the motions, who allow the sin at their gate to have them, and as a result the church is week, and ineffective and, quite honestly, filled with hypocrites. It is time we stopped making excuses and started being obedient to God and His Word!
In that passage where Peter describes Satan as a roaring lion, he says this,
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. [9] Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Will you join me today in making just such a stand? To be self-controlled, alert, on-guard against the enemy. To resist, and stand firm in the faith. The choice is ours alone, but we never stand alone. The Holy Spirit strengthens, arms and equips us to do battle, but we must answer the call to deny the enemy the victory, and by God’s grace, to turn back the enemy at the gate!
Let’s pray.