Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Compassion Ministries, Student Workbook, SW16

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D O I N G J U S T I C E A N D L O V I N G M E R C Y : C O M P A S S I O N M I N I S T R I E S

11), or as “sin against one’s brother” (1 John 3.12, 15). All in all, this story reveals the kind of profound and cancerous lack of trust and obedience to the Lord which results in a dangerous envy of God’s own people. This envy is deadly, and leads to violence, murder, alienation, and finally to the very judgment of God himself. In this text, the brothers of Cain and Abel are contrasted and played against one another, with the entire passage above contrasting them in every way. Cain is shown as a person whose work, as one commentator puts it, “lines him up with the curse,” one who works the ground, (cf. Gen. 4.2; cf. 3.17). Abel, on the other hand, appears as a keeper of sheep, worships God through the sacrifice of the flock, a form of worship which foreshadows the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to the Apostle John, Abel’s act of offering sacrifice in worship was righteous, while Cain’s works were evil (1 John 3.12). We know that the heart of the sacrifice was the offering of the gift in faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11.6). Instead of learning the kind of sacrifice that would please God, Cain’s lack of trust in God is shown in his reaction to God’s rejection of his fruit offering. Cain became angry, so much so that he refused to listen even to God’s own advice (4.6-7). God’s counsel was telling and specific: if in fact Cain would do what was right and therefore please God, his situation would be well. However, sin was crouching like a predatory beast ready to overcome him if he refused the counsel and surrendered to his dark discouragement. Sin desired him but he could master it. Cain refused the good counsel of God and murdered his brother. Rather than admit any wrong, he denied his responsibility for his brother. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Here is the clear image of a heart that is dead and dark, that can hate his brother so much that he rejects all responsibility for his welfare, and even kill him, and feel no remorse for it. Here, in bold relief, is the modern problem—that rebellion against God creates an inevitable alienation with our brothers, and ultimately, if left unchecked, can lead to murder and curse. God is gracious even in judgment, protecting Cain in his banishment with a mark or sign that would deter those seeking to avenge Abel’s murder. Even in this, the rebellious Cain defies God’s punishment of wandering and instead builds the first city in the land of Nod (meaning “wandering”), east of Eden (v. 16). The lessons for us are clear as we begin our module study. Our relationship to God and relationship to others are deeply interconnected and affecting; no one can claim a deep walk with God and hate their brother (1 John 4.20-21), and if we do love God, we will sacrifice on behalf of our brothers and sisters (1 John 3.14ff.). We are in fact

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