Last time in Bible Understanding, Cain murdered his brother Abel. Following this, God asks Cain "Where is your brother Abel?". Cain responds, "I don't know, am I my brothers keeper?". Cain had deliberately tricked his brother by inviting him out into a field with the intention of killing him and with callousness after the fact, he lies about knowing where his brother is and suggests to God that his brother really isn't his responsibility. Of course God knows what Cain has done and questions "what have you done?". This is not an inquiry, this is Gods way of pointing Cain to acknowledgement of the heinous crime committed. Cain's unwillingness to confess, despite the recent shedding of his brothers blood, has dire consequences and is a foreshadowing, a fortune telling of the evil that exists in man and the resultant destiny that follows when Gods created are murdered. With disregard for life and a hardened jealous heart, man is capable of killing and God as Creator has the final word: "Listen! Your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground." There is something horrific and eerie in Gods instruction to LISTEN...I invite you to listen and to see with your minds eye the shock, the pain of realization and perhaps the desperate cries from Abel as his own brother shamelessly betrayed his trust and with murderous intention, laid his hands on Abel, thieving him of his life. Alas, regret and remorse are not to be for Cain and we learn just how calloused a man he is, when next we meet in Bible Understanding.
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