THE CAIN PRINCIPLE

 

After a couple of weeks of warm, spring-like weather, winter returned to Israel this week with a vengeance. On Wednesday the whole country was blanketed in a very dense cloud of dust, courtesy of the Sahara. Late in the afternoon it began to rain lightly here,  coating everything in a thick layer of sticky mud. Only the car wash people were rejoicing! That night and over the next couple of days heavy snow fell in the Golan and northern Galilee, but none here in Jerusalem. Along the coast heavy rain and hail brought flooding in some areas. Again here in Jerusalem, not a drop in spite of the bitter cold and heavy cloud cover. Last night there may have been a shower here. I hope so, as the trees badly needed their leaves washed before summer sets in.

Sunset in the dust storm on the Sharon coast
 

 

 





North Golan Heights (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625804,00.html












Alonei Habashan (Photo: Yaske Dekel)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625804,00.html

In spite of this week's wintery spell there are many signs of spring around. I am sitting on my balcony and in the yard below I can see the birds sipping the nectar of the blossoms on our almond tree. Last weekend I joined thousands of Israelis on our annual 'pilgrimage' to the countryside to see the beautiful displays of wildflowers.  

 

 



Anenomes at Gal Ed

Don't think you are 'getting away from it all"! Note the cars.



Cyclamen at Rakefet Mountain

 













 



THE CAIN PRINCIPLE

In my last blog I spoke about how  Israel is more and more being accused of being the root of the problem in the Middle East, the cause of all the violence. This is a Lie being spread by the Enemy and one that needs to be countered and rejected, especially by those who believe the Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures.

The State of Israel is not the 'problem'; the problem is man's rebellion against God and His plans for redemption. Indeed, far from being the 'problem', the people and nation of Israel is very much a core part of the solution. It is through the people and nation of Israel, and the Messiah born of that nation, that God is working the ultimate redemption of the whole world.

The hatred and violence of her neighbors against Israel goes far back in history, and we can see its roots in the account about Cain and his brother Abel (though one could argue it goes back even further, to the rebellion of Adam and Eve). In the story of Cain and Abel however we can see a fundamental principle revealed - the one I call the Cain Principle. Below is an excerpt from a book I am currently writing about this very subject.

After Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain the elder and his brother Abel. Abel grew up and became a keeper of sheep and Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground. In due course, they brought offerings to the LORD. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel brought of the first-born of his flock, and we are told that God respected the offering of Abel, but not that of Cain. Understandably perhaps, Cain felt rejected and angry, but God came to him saying, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 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” (Genesis 4: 6-7).

 

In these words lies a fundamental principle, which underlies all God’s dealings with man and which underpins all of human history. Cain brought an unacceptable offering to the Lord. He had not done well, and his offering had been rejected by God. At first glance it seems that Cain had been treated unfairly by God. How was Cain to know what would constitute an acceptable offering? It is not totally clear in the Scripture, but some say that Cain should have known. In Genesis 3:21 we read that after Adam and Eve had sinned and become aware of their nakedness, God had killed some animals and made them tunics of skin. This is the first time that we see in Scripture the necessity of the shedding of blood for the covering of sin. This happened before Cain was born but he would surely have known about it. Perhaps therefore he should have understood that the shedding of blood was required. Be that as it may, there can be no argument that Cain chose to do things ‘his way’ and not God’s way, whether knowingly or not.

 

From the passage quoted above it seems to me that Cain’s incorrect sacrifice was not counted as sin at that point, and God gave him an opportunity to correct his mistake. Cain still had the choice whether or not to let sin enter into his life. He could have simply brought to God the correct sacrifice and found full acceptance. However he chose otherwise. He allowed jealousy and anger to rule over him, and this ultimately led to the murder of his innocent brother.

 

Even after this terrible act, God gave Cain one last chance to repent, when He spoke with him saying, “Where is your brother Abel?”, but Cain refused to take responsibility for what he had done and lied to God (Genesis 4:9-10) thereby increasing the trespass even more. Consequently God cursed him saying, “So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand”. The word, ארור, here translated as ‘cursed’ implies that the very nature of something has changed. It also carries a sense of finality. There will be no more chances. Now Cain has so hardened his heart against God he will no longer listen to Him, nor even to his own conscience. Interestingly enough, if we continue reading in Genesis 4 we see that one of Cain’s descendants, Lamech, was also a murderer and even presumed to claim the ‘mark of Cain’ to protect him from vengeance ‘seventy seventy-fold’ (Genesis 4:23-24). If we harden our hearts against God there is a tendency to slide ever deeper into sin and this tendency is very often passed on down the generations.

 

Incidentally, we are told that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 4:16). This passage does not say that God cast him out from His presence. God had merely told Cain that he would be cursed from the ground, which would no longer yield its strength to him and he would become a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. Yet Cain exaggerated the situation, and added his own interpretation, saying “I shall be hidden from your Face… and it will happen to me that anyone who finds me will kill me”. His anger and his sense of rejection caused him to perceive his punishment as being worse than God intended, and this just fueled his indignation and intensified his anger. It was this that drove him out from the presence of God. Thus it was Cain who rejected God, not the other way around.

 

Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod to the east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). Where was the land of Nod?  We are told it was east of Eden and some believe it to have been the Arabian Peninsula. The land of Nod may not have been an actual place since this phrase could also be translated as the land of wandering, an allusion to the type of life Cain and his descendants would experience as fugitives and vagabonds.

 

As we continue to read through the historical books of the Old Testament we see this pattern, repeated again and again. Every individual and every nation faces exactly the same choice, then as it is today. Will we do it God’s way, or rebel and go our own way? Will we choose obedience or rebellion, love or murder? Will we accept God or reject him? Will we cooperate with him towards redemption or will we fight against him?

 

This is what I have called the Cain Principle and it underlies all of human history, from the time of the Fall until now. We can see it at work on many levels, but especially we can see it as it relates to the chosen line of the Messiah. The Enemy, Satan, works through mankind trying to bring to naught God’s redemption plan. If he, Satan, can arouse our jealousy and anger towards God’s chosen, he can lead us to murder. This is the root of the ancient enmity, towards God’s chosen, both Israel and the saints in Yeshua (Jesus).

 

Satan, by causing Cain to murder his brother and to go out from the presence of God, tried to break the line of descent that would lead to the Messiah. God however raised up a third brother, Seth (Genesis 4:25), to replace Cain and Abel.  Seth was the beginning of a line of descent through which the promises of God for redemption would be carried until it gave rise to the Messiah, Yeshua (Genesis 5, Luke 3:23-38). At various points of history, Satan tried to break that line in an effort to derail God’s plan. After the Fall in Eden, the next major attack came during the days of Noah....

This is why we are exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for in Jerusalem and in God's chosen people, Israel, lies all the hope of the world. The people of Israel are as sinful as any other nation, but they are still the chosen of our God. That has never changed in spite of what the preachers of replacement theology claim.

The Apostle Paul addressed this issue very clearly:

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.  God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew....

 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.  Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,  if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.  For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

  Romans 11: 1-2, 11-15, 25-27, 29 

 We need to pray for Israel, that they may be saved, for as Paul says, their acceptance into the by God into the Kingdom will bring forth life from the dead, the final resurrection and the redemption of the world. Herein lies our only hope.

Sunrise over the mountains of Edom from my balcony