Claiming the Mark of Cain

Claiming the Mark of Cain

by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times. Genesis 4:24

We left Cain having grandsons for 5 generations in 2 verses and the fifth generation was Lamech. Now there was a whole lot of other begetting going on through those years because all 5 generations had wives and quite likely many other sons and daughters than just the five mentioned, enough so that Lamech had two wives and three sons and one daughter. He probably had more but these were mentioned.

Lamech’s son Jabal was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.
Lamech’s son Jubal was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
Lamech’s son Tubal-Cain forged tools out of bronze and iron.
Lamech’s daughter Naamah sister of Tubal-Cain

I’m thinking that Jabal and Jubal were fathers in the same sense that Hippocrates was the father of medicine. They may have had children but they were also fathers by teaching their crafts to others not necessarily their own children.

The Mark of Cain

The Mark of Cain

by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Genesis 4:9

The Bible isn’t laid out on a neat little calendar. It doesn’t even mention the years between stories. Genesis 4:1 covers the conception and birth of Cain. And in verse 2 we learn that ‘later’ Eve gave birth to Abel. How much later? The Bible doesn’t say. Were there other children in between Cain and Abel? It’s possible. Later could mean two years or ten. I mean Abel goes from birth to keeping flocks in the same verse. That had to be years. And those years were jumped in a single verse.

The whole story isn't there - just the important bits.

Curses and Consequences
Cain murdered his brother. Because he did not confess when asked by an all knowing God where his brother was he was cursed. There are always consequences for sin. It causes problems and heartache and death. And those problems and heartaches and death are not only what we suffer but what others suffer because of us. Yet we are always given the opportunity to confess. Adam and Eve were given the opportunity, so was Cain.

The Crouching Tiger

Picture courtesy of 

Sweet Publishing / FreeBibleimages.org

The Crouching Tiger
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. Genesis 4:7

The first few chapters of Genesis are packed with meaning for anyone wanting to know God.

In the story of creation God makes His great love for and care of His creation abundantly clear.

In the story of the fall of man we can see a clear description of how temptation operates and a clear description of our own natural inclinations when we give in to sin.
Which brings us to The Story of Cain and Abel another clear description of how we are naturally inclined to react this time when we are confronted with our own indifference.

What was wrong with Cain’s gift?

Cain was a farmer. Abel was a herdsman. They each brought gifts from what they grew. Cain brought fruit and Abel brought meat. Cain’s gift was rejected and Abel’s was accepted. Why? It wasn’t because of the kind of offering that each brought. God wasn’t looking for meat over vegetables. It was because of the heart of the giver that God accepted and rejected.

Some fruit
Cain brought something to the meeting. He didn’t want to come, he didn’t want to bring anything but he choose something from the crop, keeping the choicest parts for himself.

Abel came to the meeting because he wanted to honor God. He wanted to come, he wanted to thank God for the blessings he had enjoyed so he choose the choicest meats from his provisions.

Meeting God
This was not a mandatory meeting. God had not decreed the sacrificial offerings. God hadn’t even demanded a thank you for his provision. But Abel was grateful and wanted to clearly acknowledge the one from whom all blessings flow. Cain could barely be bothered.

They brought these offerings to the Lord and the Lord’s reaction to each was immediately known. God spoke to Cain and Cain knew the sound of His voice. God was not in some far off distant place, He was close enough to reach – and talk to.

Cain KNEW who he was bring his fruits to, he knew God, but he wasn’t particularly grateful.

The Bible doesn’t say why
The Bible doesn’t give us a psychological background for Cain or Abel. We don’t know why one was grateful and one was not. But I can imagine the scene.

I can just imagine Cain sweating in the hot sun, digging trenches, planting seeds, lugging water, weeding, and weeding and weeding. Finally a crop! Of course now he has to pick it.

Meanwhile there was Abel, sitting in the shade of the trees, playing his flute while his flock grazed on the grass around him.

Cain never saw the blessing in his crop and he never saw the effort in Abel’s flock.

Cain never saw the wolf attacks or the searching for the lost lamb. He never saw the back breaking shearing sessions or the bloody slaughter and butcher of the meat.

Cain was jealous of Abel’s ‘easy’ life. He was not grateful.

Cain’s reasons do not matter.
It sounds harsh but if Cain’s reasons mattered they would be in the story. What matters to the story is Cain’s actions and reactions. We are living under the curse of Adam. Life is hard. Life is also a gift that comes with a multitude of blessings. We can bemoan the curse or we can be grateful for the blessings. We are going to live this life either way.

Why are you angry?
And God is gracious. When we start moaning about the life we live He will ask us why? He gives us every opportunity to stand up and look around, and be grateful.

And God is loving. When we start moaning about the life we live He will warn us of the danger waiting to consume us. Sin is crouching.

Cain was given this opportunity and this warning. He chose to ignore both. But we can learn from his mistake. We can recognize our own angry reaction to getting caught, and hear the voice of God: “Why are you angry?” Even if we have chosen poorly, we can hear the voice of God: “If you do what is right will you not be accepted?” And we can choose again.

Simple – Ain’t – Easy
Sometimes it requires a U-turn
Wendy

The Devil Made Me Do It! And It's All Your Fault!

The Devil Made Me Do It! And it’s all Your fault!
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

The man said, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. Genesis 3:12

My last post dealt with the temptation and fall of man. Now let's look at what happened next.

The Devil is sneaky

I have been sorely tempted even as I was writing this blog. My computer caught a cold, a nasty virus that delayed my posting Monday’s blog and this one. It is all better now but for four days I was in the land of frustration. 

I was frustrated by the necessity of hurriedly backing up files, and relearning the roads through an old operating system on an old computer. And the whole way through I kept hearing that verse that I mentioned in a recent blog: “Fear not, I’m right here with you.” 

And miraculously my anxiety level was minimal, the whole way though the process. I got Monday’s blog uploaded! Yeah! I got my computer to the computer doctor and got it back not only healed but all shiny clean. Double Yeah!

I even congratulated myself on trusting God through out the whole process. And then…

Temptation in a Nutshell

Temptation in a Nutshell
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil." Genesis 3:5

Have you ever ordered something that looked really great in the catalog but when it arrives it is a lot smaller than the catalog made it look, it is cheaply made and it breaks the first time you try it out?

That is what the promises of the devil are like. Man ate the forbidden fruit, his eyes were opened, like God he now knew good from evil, BUT he was not like God. And now he was less than the man he was before.

In the Beginning God!

In the Beginning – GOD!
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

In the Beginning God... Genesis 1:1

My Memory Verse Book begins with this beginning of the first verse of the first book of the Bible. I love these four words. They are the reason for all that follows. Before the beginning of anything THERE was God.

I began my new Bible reading schedule with the idea that the Bible was written for me personally and that I would concentrate on this personal message. I took the books of the Bible in Biblical order and assigned a chapter of Isaiah and one or more Psalms to each book.

I began with the Gospel of Mark, which is a good overview of the Gospel.

Mark – 16 chapters
Isaiah chapter 41
Psalms chapters 96-99

Now I am moving on to Genesis – a good overview of where everything started.

Genesis – 50 chapters
Isaiah chapter 1
Psalms chapters 1-3

In the Beginning God
Everything starts with God. Now I am a Trekie and I cannot read the first verse of the Bible without hearing Carol Marcus saying “Can I cook or can I cook.” She was talking about the creation of a planet full of life from a lifeless chunk of rock. It only took her science hours to do this, which makes me laugh at the science that scoffs at the 6 days of creation.

This is Not Justice

This is Not Justice

by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity. Psalm 97:9

Following my reading plan I read Psalm 97 on May 27th.

Justice
How many of us found ourselves condemning the looters when we should have been condemning murder? This is not Justice.

How many of us would have joined a peaceful protest but were, instead, forced to seek shelter from rioters? This is not Justice.

When Fear Sounds Like Anger

When Fear Sounds Like Anger

by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Following my new Bible Reading Schedule I read Isaiah 41 on May 25th The day George Floyd was murdered. It reminded me that fear sounds like anger.

What does fear have to do with anger?
What does fear have to do with anger? I asked God that very same question. In my early 20s I had a serious anger issue. The stupidest things would set me off and my blood would boil, I would scream myself hoarse and nearly broke my hands beating the floor. I was always alone when this happened because no one deserved to be the brunt of this rage. I nearly broke my hands beating the floor because I didn’t want to break anything that would have to be replaced just because I was having a tantrum.

I cried out to God “Help me with this anger!” and God whispered, “Fear Not”