Brother’s Keeper

Photo credit to Brittany Cunningham.

“…[A]m I my brother’s keeper?”  Cain, Genesis 4:9

I wasn’t intending to think about Cain.  But here I am, yet only momentarily.  I’m more thinking about his attitude.  “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  Lord, You answered, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”  That “What have you done?” is ringing ever so loudly in my ears.  I wonder if it was ringing in Cain’s ears or if he just crowded it out?  Because the fact is that Cain and Abel, and me and every person ever created were created in Your image.  You made us in Your image, after Your likeness.  That means that we were created to be like You in character and action and belief.  We were created to represent You on this earth and over all the earth, one to another.  That’s why, Cain, you were supposed to be your brother’s keeper.  That’s why I’m supposed to be my brother’s keeper and we each are supposed to be our brothers’ keepers.  Because God, You are our Keeper, and we were created to be like You. 

“What have you done?”  Cain rebelled against the very essence of who he was.  “What have you done?”  He robbed himself of the glory of who he was created to be.  He became something he originally wasn’t.  He became deformed in a sense.  He despised his own purpose and the purpose of his own brother.  Here he was created to glorify God, to walk in His image, to be like Him and he threw it all away for what?  A life making his own decisions?  A life influencing others to live by their own choices?  A life not caring for others and not caring to teach others to care for others?  A life not valuing God and returning His glory to Him?  A life teaching others to disregard You, Lord, and esteem their own value instead? 

And what got me thinking about these things is reading Malachi.  It’s only 4 chapters so it’s doable in one sitting.  But Malachi, in my simple mind, is about the same kind of thought going on.  You, God, are reprimanding the priests, the Levites, who were chosen and appointed to take care of their brothers by representing You rightly before them.  But, like Cain, they were anything but their brother’s keepers. 

I think of what You invested in each of us.  I mean, here You are God of the Universe, Lord of hosts, and it’s not just so You can “lord” it over us even though You have every right to do so.  You invite us into this personal relationship with You, the Lord of hosts.  You invite us to be Your representatives.  That’s what Cain was supposed to be.  That’s what the Levites were supposed to be.  Not just because You made them, but because You are more than worthy of being represented in loving worship by those You have given life and everything to.  It’s not just a mandate.  It’s personal. 

Here’s what You asked the Levites, “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master.  If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?’ says the Lord of hosts to you…” Paul, to the Romans, also appealed to his brothers, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  This is the relationship we were created for.  This is our purpose.  But let’s take it a step farther.  The King James Version actually uses the words “reasonable service.”  This is our rational, reasonable worship back to You, God.  This is what makes sense of our lives, when we respond in this way.  Anything else is messed up and we have to ask, “What have you done?”

Worshipping You like You require, like You created us to, and like You expect and desire and deserve is logical.  Yeah, it’s actually the Greek word logikos.  It makes wonderful sense.  But just like the Levites in Malachi’s day, we go around like Cain asking, “How have we polluted you?”  When all along we despise You and all that You stand for.  We disesteem Your character.  “Oh, how do I do that, Lord?  I love You.”  I do that every time I don’t value what You value.  I do that every time I don’t detest what You detest.

“’For from the rising of the sun to its setting My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My name, and a pure offering.  For My name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  Does that seem too much to ask of us, to make much of Your name?  No, not at all because it’s logical to make You great since You made us in the first place.  There’s not a moment in any day when You aren’t great whether we make much of You or not.  You ARE great.  It’s not just about saying, “God is good,” or putting up crosses, or Jesus’ name on billboards.  Your name is all about who You are.  It’s the essence of You.  You and Your character and all that You are and have been and will be is great among the nations and will be.  You created us to proclaim that with all of our lives as an act of living worship declaring with like character the glory of You among all the nations.  It’s what You called the Levites, the priests, to, and the nation of Israel, and it still applies to believers today.  Peter tells us, “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9)  We still have the same life purpose since the beginning of creation.  What are we doing with it?

You, God, have not changed.  You are still the same and always will be.  “…’For I am a great King,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and My name will be feared among the nations.’”  Am I doing my part to honor You?  I suppose sometimes we want You to give us direct commands like, “Thou shalt!” or “Thou shalt not!,” in order for us to acknowledge something.  But the fact is that since You invite us into relationship with You by creating us with this glorious ability to represent You and live in You, why do we need commands to do what we we were naturally created for?  Isn’t that an illogical notion? 

Malachi refers to something called a covenant with Levi.  You, Lord, say, “‘So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand,’ says the Lord of hosts.  ‘My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him.  It was a covenant of fear, and he feared Me.  He stood in awe of My name…’”  Who hears of the covenant of Levi?  But if I go back to Deuteronomy when the sons of Abraham are being blessed, I hear it and read of it.  I see the heart of it, this privilege of glorifying You given to men, to mere men!  “…[F]or they have observed Your word, and keep Your covenant.  They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances, and Israel Your law; they shall put incense before You, and whole burnt-offering upon Your altar.” (Deuteronomy 33:9,10)  You gave them a purpose, to be Your image and Your likeness before the nation and before all nations.  And blessing would come from that relationship with You.  It was more than about offering incense in a container or sacrifices on an altar.  It was about the aroma of true worship in prayer and life.

But the problem with the Levites, and Cain, and us is that sometimes, or all the time, we “’have turned aside from the way.  You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.  You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  Whose way am I teaching?  What kind of brother’s keeper am I? Here’s the logic: “Have we not all one Father?  Has not one God created us?  Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”  Why are we faithless? Why am I?  Why do I choose my own way over what’s logically and inherently good?  Why do I choose falsehood over truth?  Why do I choose the unnatural over the natural.  Why do I rebel against who I was created to be and what I was created to be in You?  Why do I trade in the glorious for the inglorious?

You warn, “So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”  Guard that breath of life itself that God has placed in you.  Protect it.  Pay attention to it.  This purpose of yours, follow it through.  This life of worship you were created for, live it.  Don’t settle for false worship.  Don’t be mislead by the lure of divorce.  It’s not logical.  It’s not what You were created for.  We were created to be united with the One who created us.  Everything in our life ought to resemble that purpose.  Anything less is illogical.

When will I delight in that purpose?  Because if I don’t, if I rebel against my purpose, then Jesus will come “like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord…”  I was created to “fine” like You.  Have I lost my “fineness”?  Do I have to be “re-fined”?  What is my worship like?  Is it anything like You require?  Is it anything like what You deserve?  Is it anything like what You demonstrate before me in Christ?

“‘For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed…Return to Me and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  I’m the one who changed from my original purpose, not You, O Lord.  You have remained the same.  I’ve robbed You of Your glory by desiring to be who I wanted to be or have life as I want it, when You created me for something more sublime.  But You don’t give up on us.  Thank You, Lord!  You tell me, “‘Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.  And thereby put Me to the test,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear,’ says the Lord of hosts.  ‘Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  Is this just for Israel?  No, if I return in full faith and give the worship You deserve and require, I will see You be glorified in me and around me.  Who do I think the devourer is?  Is it just another nation?  No.  Peter tells us that we need to be “sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  ( 1 Peter 5:8)  If I want You to rebuke Satan in my life, then I have to live in Your image and be made into Your likeness.  I have to enter that covenant relationship on my part.  I have to worship with all of me the way You require.  And what of the vine and bearing fruit?  John shares Your own words, Jesus, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me…I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

This is such good news for me.  I can live out my original purpose.  I can be my brother’s keeper by honoring You, Lord, first in all I do.  My life can be all about worshipping You with every part of my being.  I can rejoice with my brethren and bring other brethren into Your kingdom.  I can be restored like those in Malachi.  “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.  The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed His name.  ‘They shall be mine,’ says the Lord of hosts… ‘But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall…’”  I can receive healing.  I can go out into the world rejoicing like a calf leaping from it’s stall.  My name is written in His book.  I can esteem You with all my life.  I can live out worship in spirit and truth.  And You will turn my heart to be my brother’s keeper when my heart is turned to You. 

Lord, You promise to “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers,” when we start accepting our true purpose in You.  I want my relationship with You and under You to be the most right thing in my life so that You will bring every other relationship into right perspective.  I’m not just realizing today that You created me and each of us to be our brother’s keeper, but I am realizing that I need You to make me so much more than I have been.  Help me to be so committed to Your required worship that it becomes natural.  Let me so delight in You that I feel the way You feel and I see things the way You do.  Help me to think about You and Your ways so much that You inhabit my every thought and it comes out reflected in my life.  Continually remind me that I am my brother’s keeper.  Why?  Because You are my keeper and my brother’s keeper and I was created in Your image and in Your likeness.  This is who I am and anything less is unnatural.

Taking Control of the Heart

“If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not well, sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”  Genesis 4:7

Maybe I think about things too much.  Maybe I don’t.  I wonder if it isn’t a good thing to really think about, to really take time and dwell on and meditate on what we read in God’s Word.  I wonder if You God would really like us to just sit down and think about You and these people we read about and the reality of their everyday lives and what could have possibly been going through their minds.  I wonder if we should accept facts as facts, those things that You tell us outright.  And I wonder if we should realize when we’re speculating and accept that as speculation and be alright with saying, “Well, this could have been, but I wasn’t there so I don’t know for sure.”  Because that’s what the truth is.  The truth is that we don’t know all the facts.  But we can get everything we need to by the truth that You share.

So I’ve been looking into this true story about Cain and Abel.  And I had this idea that I would look into what the Jewish Rabbis had to say about it.  I mean, after all, Paul says that the “Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”  So it would make sense that there are some things that they have had passed down and studied longer than us newbies to the Word.  And there’s this part in the story that says that You respected Abel’s sacrifice but would not respect Cain’s.  I really wanted to know what the traditional low down was on that, and what was traditionally said about that.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let me relate the story found in Genesis 4.  “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.  And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.  So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.  The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.’  Cain spoke to Abel his brother.  And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.  Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Able your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’  And the Lord said, ‘What have you done?  The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.'”

Wow!  That’s a sad story.  But let’s think about it.  Now sometimes we speculate that starting with Adam and Eve and the first sacrifice that God performed to clothe them, that You established the expectation of a blood sacrifice to atone for sin, you know, looking forward to Christ.  But as I read Scripture, I don’t see that as more than speculation.   I know that was established with Moses in Deuteronomy but I can’t say it was established for a fact here.  I can’t say that the lack of blood was the problem here.  Maybe.  But maybe not.  The Rabbis, who are familiar with the blood sacrifice system don’t mention it either.  But there are some things I know for sure here.  One day, Cain decided to bring an offering to You.  He selected from the ordinary fruit of the ground, from his ordinary work that he did.  I also know that Abel decided to do the same, only he selected from the firstborn of his work, and of that portion, he selected the fattest, the best of the best.

Now, from looking at the evidence of the story, I want to make this educated guess- Cain did not respect or regard You God, rightly.  It’s not the matter of blood or not blood maybe.  Maybe it’s the matter of the heart and how we feel about God and how that is demonstrated by our actions and what we give back to You.  Maybe Cain was going through the motions, doing what he thought would appease You, or looking for a pat on the back.  I say that because I wonder why he wasn’t disappointed about Your disappointment in the gift?  If he was more concerned with You, wouldn’t he still want to please You?

But where was Abel’s heart?  Was he caring about delighting God’s heart?  Would he be willing to part with the best of the best to show You how much he valued You?

The King James Version says the Lord had respect unto Abel but not unto Cain and his offering.  That’s like saying that You looked at Abel’s offering and accepted it.  Here’s a speculation, but maybe You just miraculously burned it up and took it up to heaven as a sweet savor.  Don’t know about that.  But You wouldn’t even look on Cain’s and there was no accepting of his offering.  Now when the KJV used that word respect, it brought back to my mind where Scripture says that You are not a respecter of persons.  And that’s not the end of that verse.  Peter continues that thought in Acts 10:35, “But in every nation he that fears Him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him.”  What were You looking for in an acceptable sacrifice?  Someone who was in awe of You and doing what pleased Your heart.

So, I think we can safely say that Cain, by his offering and his attitude is showing that He is not in awe of God and his number one desire is not to do Your will.  Cain becomes much more than just disappointed.  Cain became angry.  Not only that, “his countenance fell.”  It was all over his face.  Boom!  There it was. ” I came first to make the offering.  It was my idea.  And now Abel is getting all the credit and I get nothing.  If he hadn’t come, my gift would have been fine.  God wouldn’t have compared it to his.  If it weren’t for Abel I’d be ok.  I’d be on top.”  I mean, I don’t know Cain’s real thoughts, but I can imagine they were pretty close to that.  His desires and plans were frustrated.  It made him angry and depressed.  His heavenly Father saw.  His heavenly Father loved him and wanted him to understand what was going on in his heart so He asked him two questions, “Why are you angry and why are you depressed?”  He’s not asking because He doesn’t know the answer.  These are questions of the Counselor.  These are questions to get Cain to examine his heart.

Cain thought his problem was Abel.  But the truth that You were trying to help him see is that his own heart was the root of the problem.  And to fix the problem, he had to take care of his own heart.  You continued, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not well, sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”  If you are not accepted, it’s not someone else’s fault.  If you do the right thing, it will be accepted.  You know it.  It’s up to you to make that decision.  God won’t make you.  If we want Your acceptance, then we must choose to do the right thing regardless of everyone or anyone else around us.  Sin is just waiting to make us angry and bitter and depressed and hopeless and sarcastic and self-sufficient and braggarts and killers.  But we can choose to be in charge.  We can choose to deny sin a foothold.  We can choose to examine our own hearts and our own motives and correct our offering and make it acceptable.  Because if we choose to stay where we are, and to blame everyone else, and to let sin rule, we won’t become any more acceptable.  Am I really in awe of God or am I in awe of my own praise and my own way?

Cain, in his anger and depression, ignored God’s counseling.  He was angry because the power of his will was thwarted.  How many times has that happened in our lives?  The people close to us, or traffic thwart our desires.  It doesn’t go our way.  We get angry.  But does that make sense?  Can we control anyone else’s response?  Can we control the traffic flow?  What can really stop us from being successful in Your eyes, God?  Can any frustration?  Or is it our own influence that does the damage?

Why was Cain angry?  Why are we angry?  Why are we frustrated when our brother does well?  He’s responsible for himself.  You tell Cain, “don’t worry about him.  You need to worry about you, Cain.”  So on one hand there is this problem of anger and on the opposite end is depression, the loss of our hope to succeed.  It’s the just giving up part because I can’t do it anyways.  Cain gave up on himself and focussed everything on Abel as the one who had robbed him of his ability to succeed.

Now, God, You were telling Cain that his emotions weren’t wrong but he needed to handle them rightly.  It was right for him to feel angry, but it should have been at his own heart.  He was right to feel depressed, but it should have pointed him to where his true success would lie.  But his wires were crossed.  Instead of changing his heart and giving, instead of empowering himself the right way, he decided to remove the power of his brother that threatened his image of himself.

Rabbi Dovid Green shares, “Therefore, the Almighty gave him a pep-talk: ‘If you want to improve you can also be recognized and if you don’t then you should know that there’s a force that waits by the door ready to destroy you, but you can rule over him if you want.'(Bereishis 4:8) In the very next verse, something important seems to be missing. ‘And Cain said to his brother Hevel and it happened when they were in the field that Cain rose up and killed his brother Hevel.’ What did Cain say to Hevel?The Malbim points out that Cain suffered from terminal superficiality. He says that when the Almighty said that ‘there’s a force by the door that’s ready to destroy you but you can rule over him!’ Cain said to himself that that was in reference to his brother Hevel.  How was he to eliminate the chronic pain, the constant attack on his self-esteem that his brother represented? There are only three choices; 1) To live with continuous hurt 2) To improve 3) To eliminate the external stimulus. Instead of lifting himself up, and using his jealous rage as a tool to reach his own potential, he sought to tear his brother down.”

And that’s what he did.  Instead of caring for his own heart and mending the pain, he let it fester.  He let sin control him instead of controlling sin.  And it always starts with our own hearts.  It always starts in that place where God cries out to us to take control.  And obviously we have the power to do it, the ability is there, but the desire must be there also.  This wasn’t a task that the Holy Spirit needed to do for Cain or for us.  You say we can do it.  We can choose to do the right thing.  We can choose to have a right heart.  We can choose to be in awe of You and delight in You.  But Cain did not choose You.  Cain chose self-gratification.  Cain chose wrong, not right.  And it still didn’t give him success.  Even the removal of his “problem” showed Abel more righteous than Cain as his blood cried out to God.

What bearing does this story, do these events have on me, on us?  We haven’t murdered anyone, have we?  Let’s think about that.  Have there been times, even when we were pursuing God, when someone, maybe even a close family member, seemed to thwart what we felt God was asking us to do?  Did it come to a point of making us angry? Of wishing they were out of the picture somehow?  Of being glad they were away?  Of us not feeling like talking to them?  Of a break in a relationship?  Of out of sight being out of mind?  Of not really feeling compelled to pray for someone else’s good but to pray that  God would change them to see things our way?  Did I come to the point of avoiding them?  Of not wanting to even think about them?  Of gossiping about them?  Did I become so focussed on the situation or the people that it brought me into depression?  Do I still walk in that pain?  So my question is, then who am I really in awe of?  Maybe I’m just as guilty of murder in my heart as Cain was by his hands.

If I find these things happening in my life and in my heart, You give me the same counseling, Lord.  Do right and I’ll be accepted.  Take control of my heart.  Turn back to You.  Get my focus off of others and other things and put it back on You.  Delight in You and You’ll give me the desires of my heart.  Focus on others and other things and stew over them and destruction will be my reward.  It’s a no-brainer.  But that’s the problem, sometimes we don’t use the brain that You’ve given us.  God, I’m just as guilty as Cain.  But I am so grateful that I’m choosing to gain control and not let sin rule over me.  I’m so glad that You counsel me, and You don’t stop counseling me.  And I’m so glad that You give me the ability to choose Your way over mine.  I can be accepted.  But I have to choose to want Your acceptance most of all.  I’m so glad this isn’t just an Old Testament thought to be thrown out with the bath water.  Paul reiterated it, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. ” (Romans 6:14)  Cain didn’t have to murder his brother, and neither do I.