The story of these two brothers epitomizes the importance of value a person puts in his offerings to God. I want you to take notice of the relationship and meaning of Cain's name with our subject matter: about pleasing and acceptable offering. The name Cain is sounding like the Hebrew word “brought forth or acquired.” Cain’s account is an illustration that has something to do with material possessions, which the story and the meaning of the name imply. As people derive offering from their own possessions and personal wealth, the story of Cain and Abel envelopes this act of submission to God through their act of offering.
One may wander why has Cain, after murdering his brother (the first killing accounted for in the Holy Scriptures), still has received immunity from death and extending this inviolable precept of protection from any person who shall murder him http://bible.cc/genesis/4-15.htm (Genesis 4:15). Being classified as a murderer, why has he been a predecessor of Enoch who was documented to have lived righteously and was taken by God? Once again, if we parallel Abraham’s life to the story of Cain and Abel-if we closely look at the mind and stature of Abraham, being in a monarchy, it also has its justice system, and as a patriarch, Abraham likewise exercised governance and prevailed justice. Cain’s character is similar to governments’ personality as Cain was equated with. Since, any government has the capacity to take away lives-in death penalties at a national level or engaging war to whom it may feel threatened externally. Yet, possess perennial local domain and enjoys sovereignty before other nations. Speaking of domain and imminent domain, the sounding Hebrew word of Cain, again, means “acquire.” Abraham’s exercise of power is no lesser than any government’s capacity in acquiring anything and exhuming relief from criminality to a system where death was practiced http://quran.com/2/258 (Kuran 2:258).
This is true considering that these times were developmental stages of spiritual, social and environmental consciousness, Abraham’s unyielding faith in God, by which passing a death verdict only means renewed hope to the good and just. Primitive situations came also primitive justice system. Cain’s contriteness thinking that God would hide away from him is relative to the mourning, discomfort and discontent of government of how it feels each time it kills (death penalty) through the contemporary due process of the law of most lands. Governments are composed of human beings too, who are, contrite and humane enough, to get saddened whenever death occurs. Cain felt the discomfort of his action, yet, he was spared from total destruction. I have often wandered and expressed this similarity in character of Cain with forms of government. It is amazing that no matter how any government may have wronged people in history, it still thrives and continues to represent its people. And better yet, they do not “die” or loose its domain.
As far as the account of Cain and Abel’s story is concerned, it is undated and similar metaphorical approach liken to the Garden of Eden, this, Abraham must have influenced and crafted.
If we closely internalize social settings of that ancient age, convicting the guilty with a verdict of a major crime was always death-for even now, we still see government practicing death sentences.
Imbibing utmost consideration to holiness and acceptability before God, the story of Cain and Abel singles out one thing: telling us how man, in spite of its horrible past could still manage to hone righteousness and nurture pleasing descendants before God, as the story of Enoch further teaches us.
If we look closely to the character of Cain, his manifested recognition of God’s sovereignty and omniscience in his own life, he thought God would hide from him and that he would be vulnerable to death. Execution and practice of death therefore, in this account, shows a balance structure of mind-set. Whether death emanated from a verdict of higher authority or may it be borne of a criminal act, the omniscience of God always remains within who inflicts death. Generally, criminals on the other side of the scale, commit such acts for survival just so to satisfy a need-whatever need it may be.
Abraham has performed a Herculean task, with so much grace, to have caused enormous impact to elicit men’s inclination to shun evil, and to garner absolute praise to God. By grace, he created explicit places, combining spiritually pressing issues, through wonderful three-dimensional events using his very own experiences. He summed up all to an absolute blueprint of life, showcasing his reverence to the might of God. Like King David on the Book of Job, Abraham may not wanted himself documented as the author of major accounts of Genesis for it contain such personal phenomenon. This topic is further covered in chapter IV-Satan’s Doom.
No comments:
Post a Comment