Reactions to Rejection

Discussions in Genesis 4

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

All right, we're in Genesis chapter number four. We ended talking about these uh verses of God's response to Cain's sin. God comes in verse number six of Genesis four and asks Cain, Why art thou wrath? Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. I want to just start off by talking about the lack of acceptance on Cain's part. And the question came up in the last episode is does God accept half-hearted worship? Or why couldn't God accept that? Um, I think there uh is something that we can follow through scripture, even into the New Testament, about people when they offer free worship has to do with our will. It's not a requirement. There are things in God's word that are commands, but worship is something that God wants us of our own free will to offer to him. And when it comes to that, we worship based on his worthiness. So if we're offering half-hearted worship, we're saying with our hearts, he's not worthy. So that's exactly what was going on right here. I I think into the New Testament about times like Ananias and Sapphira, God did not require them to do what they did. They were doing something that was an act of their own will. The church wasn't asking them to sell their land and give the money to the Lord, but because someone else was doing that as an act of their free will worship to God, it's it's the same thing. Two brothers at odds, and they see this other brother that's accepted because he sold his property, and they see that as gaining some benefit. They sold theirs and kept back a portion, but made it seem as though they were giving everything, they were lying about it.

SPEAKER_03 2:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

And so God comes down in swift judgment about that. Yes. Um, this is something here that that we again we wrestle with. God comes and asks Cain this these questions. Why art thou wrath? When God asks us questions, it's for us to do soul searching. We go back to the questions he asked in Genesis 3. Adam, where art thou? It's for him to admit where he really is with God. I'm a long ways away from you, God. I think about what could have happened in this situation. Cain could have fallen on the mercy of God and said, God, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I will give you everything. But instead, after God asks this question and asked why his countenance has fallen, then he says, If you are doing what's good, will you not be accepted? It's this battle between good and evil. But if you do not well, sin lieth at the door. But look at the latter part of verse number seven. Sin lies at the door. What's he talking about? A door. And he also talks about sin as though it's this crouching animal. It's not implicit in our text, but the Hebrew paints sin right here as this animal that's waiting and ready to pounce and to take over something, overpower something. So Cain, at this point, the sin is still at the at the doorway, but it's just about to take you over. And if you do well, you can be accepted by me. But if you don't do well, then this crouching animal-like sin is about to take over you. And look what it says, and unto thee shall be his desire. Sin desires to take complete control of you. Yeah. But thou shalt rule over him. Like you've got a choice. You should. You can and yeah. So back to my question. What's he talking about? A door. Where are they? Where are they in location? Right outside the garden. Right outside the garden, and what's what's if you look into the garden, what's there? God's presence. God's presence is in the center, but there's something between you and God's presence. At the end part of chapter number three, Adam and Eve are driven out of the garden, and God placed cherubim. Cherubim's there, these multidimensional create uh creatures that are like representative of all of Greek God's created order that are guardians of the presence of God, and they're standing there on either side of the way that would lead into God's presence if man could just get there. And they have twirling swords that that turn about every way that if you were to get close, you're gone.

unknown 5:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

So is the door here talking about the doorway to the divine presence? Like we're as close as we can get. Think about Israel again. When they're standing at the tabernacle and they're looking in toward the presence of God, here's two cherubims that's that's etched on the outside of the door of the temple or on the tabernacle. It's it's into the curtains of the tabernacle, a picture of these cherubims who are guardians of the presence of God. The only way in is to go through those cherubims. So I feel like that the door that's being talked about is they're they're standing here right outside the garden, right outside the doorway to God's presence. Yet God's not withholding himself from them, even though they can't come in. He's going to accept their sacrifice of worship. But there's also something else at the door. Right outside the door, there is sin that is about to go to another degree or another level in taking over one of the humans.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Would it be a right thing to say? It's hard to know. Is this a physical God and Cain in a physical meeting?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

That's a good question, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:39

Could that be a hypothetical?

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Yeah. We do know that God appeared in in human form later on in the Old Testament. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

So just in my simple mind, being in the presence of God like that, it's almost a saying you're in the garden, right? Because that's where God's presence is. So being in the presence of God to get in, sin cannot get in the presence of God. Right. So when it's almost like God saying, When you leave my presence, you're walking back out that door. Sin is waiting there to take you.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Which is something that Israel wrestled with. We still wrestle with it today. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

And and he's telling him, and we see, I mean, we see the reaction of Cain later, but and he's telling him, Sin wants you, but you you can rule over. You have a choice. Yeah. It don't have to, it don't have to take you.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

That might be No, that's a weird way to say that. That that's awesome to think about. You don't have to let this rule over you.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

It it's a more, to me, looking at it that way, it's a more intimate, personal conversation with God to Cain about him specifically. Like you're gonna leave my presence. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

And there's sin is waiting for you there. Well, it's like in this room, he's saying, if you go out that door, sin is waiting for you. Stay here with me. Stay in my presence. Yeah. You have that option.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Stay here at this altar of full surrender.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

But as we found out with the way sin works, man is led away with his own desires. And I think this chapter is very pivotal as well in showing that Adam's failure did not get better with the next generation. As a matter of fact, it's about to get a whole lot worse. So let's go on. Verse number eight says, and Cain talked with Abel his brother. And here's that word again, and it came to pass. When they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. So his response to God's questioning was not to talk to God. He withdraws himself from God. God gives him a choice. Look, if you do well, all you have to do, Cain, is just surrender. If you do well, shall shall you not be accepted? If you do not well, send life at the door. He leaves, look at the location. It came to pass, so some time passes. When they were in the field, they're farther away from the presence of God. Yeah. Wherever they had that encounter with God, they're a little farther away. That is the direction that sin is going to drive humanity. We talked about this two episodes ago about East being the direction of sin. And we're about to find out that he goes further east, Cain does. But now he's further away from the presence of God. When God gave him a choice, this doesn't have to rule over you. He decides to talk with Abel his brother. The Bible doesn't tell us what their conversation was. It came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. Why? Why does he spill his brother's blood on the ground? Why is that an answer? Here's something that was kind of brought to my attention that I don't know that I've ever given a lot of thought to. But if Cain thought that only one person in the family could be accepted by God in worship, then if you take that one person out, then I'll be accepted. Now, I think you kind of alluded to this in the last episode when he was talking about his response. Is that not making too little of God's grace? He had a narrow view of God can only accept a certain amount, and I'm not in that group. He was seeking acceptance, but his way of getting acceptance was completely wrong. Not knowing that God is big enough to accept everyone on the grounds of their own free will worship. What's your thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_03 11:10

Would there be any part of this that would say that it's completely different what we were talking about earlier of more of self-righteousness?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Mm-hmm. That's what self-righteousness is, right? God accepts me and He don't accept you.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

You got to take this guy out. You've got to make yourself look better. Right. So let's fast forward into the New Testament. Think about the approach of the Pharisee and the sinner or the publican in the presence of God. The Pharisee is saying, You got room for me, don't you, God? Because of all that I've done. Look what I'm doing. And I thank God that you don't accept everybody, especially this guy. I'm not guilty of what he was guilty of. I'm not an extortioner and an adulterer and all the list of well, take for instance this guy. And Jesus says, This guy is standing in the presence of God. He can't even so much as lift up his head. He's beating himself on the chest saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus says, that guy goes down justified. It doesn't seem to equate in the in the balance of the works that the other guy's doing. Sure. But the act of free will worship to God. Yeah. Cain's response to God's questioning was to go talk to his brother, not talk to God. We I'll settle this with him. I'll take him out, and then I'll come back to your presence. How does that work out?

SPEAKER_03 12:39

Well, then it's like God has to accept me. If I take out Abel, God has to accept what I've done.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

That's exactly right. And we never force God's hand. No. How many people have you saw that tried to force God's hand? I mean, there's some speculation, you know, Bible readers that speculate that that's what Judas was trying to do with Jesus. He was trying to force his hand to show us power to roam. I don't know. He was definitely under the influence of the same being that was controlling the serpent in the garden. Right. You know, there's a lot to think about. This, this, these are foundational things that are happening right here that show us the way humanity reacts to God and relates to God throughout the rest of the story of the Bible. Yes. So we don't read where Cain gets an opportunity after Abel's gone to go back to the presence or back to the door and try to offer another sacrifice, but instead, we read where God immediately comes and ask more questions. Now, I want to fast forward to the thought line again that we keep coming back to of what the first readers of the text would think. Murder's a capital punishment. There's no sacrifice in the law for murder.

unknown 14:03

No.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

The law only has sacrifices that have to do with someone who has a pure conscience or is trying to have a pure conscience with God, and it appeals to, you know, cleanliness and righteousness doing right by God and your brother. But if you have a willful sin of murder, it's your life or his. As a matter of fact, that comes in in Genesis chapter number nine in verse number six, whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. So after Genesis 6, that's not necessarily something that God has to usher in through the law. That's something that he said long before the law came about. It's your blood for his blood. So the readers of this text, the first time, when they see God's response to the first murder, now what do you think? God has every right to say, All right, it was your blood that or it was his blood you spilled, then I'm requiring yours. And instead he comes to him again with questions.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

And he asked him this question, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Don't you know when he was spilling his blood his brother's blood, and the ground soaks that up, and you're able to put dirt on top of that, and you're able to bury the body or whatever, he's out of sight. Nobody sees this. And God says, actually, the ground is grieving over what's happened. The ground is crying out to me. This place where man has been created from the dust of the earth. Now the gift of life that I gave is gone, and the body is back in the place where I created Adam from. I want to go to the question here. God's not needing information from Cain about Abel. Where is he? He's wanting Cain to be honest. What would have happened at any step of the way if he would have been honest at the altar? If he would have been honest in the field? Oh, I didn't think God you would come this far. We're a long ways away from the doorway. What would have happened if he would have been honest right here? Where is Abel thy brother? What do you think God would have done?

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Let me back up to chapter three. What if Adam would have done the same? What if Adam would have done the same thing? I know. It's a really hard thing to think about. It is a hard thing to think about. Because it would come obviously, it would completely change the storyline. But what would have God's response been to Adam if when he said, you know, where art thou? And who told you thou was negative? The questions he asked him. Yeah instead of making excuses, if he would have just, God, I'm so I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

I know. I know. But even in spite of not answering the questions, what does God do? And the readers of this text the first time know that it's a capital punishment with God. If you shed blood, your blood's going to be shed. You're going to pay with your own life. And God doesn't take this man's life. What a gift. Yes. He gave him a choice. Again, he is working at unbelievable rates with a guy that's not workable. I mean, he just refuses to work with God. Yes. Am I my brother's keeper? Well, let's read uh about the story, the rest of the storyline of the Old Testament. Is there a real problem between brothers being able to work together and watch over each other? Is there a real problem with jealousy between a younger brother being accepted and an older brother being rejected? These are patterns that play out in thousands of different ways throughout the rest of the Bible.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

All the way to today. Have trouble sometimes worrying about they're their own man. They can worry about their own self, not in the community of God. When you've been transformed by the blood of Jesus Christ and you are living a new life, we are our brother's keeper. Read the book of Acts. Those people were the life-giving source to each other. They pulled their resources together to make sure everybody were able to share in the goodness of God and invited more people in. And the widows, the fatherless, the ones that were the hurting the most in society, we'll be we'll take care of them. That's pretty convicting, huh?

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Very.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yeah. It is. Am I my brother's keeper? Yes, you are. Because your brother's alive and you have to value his life's blood. You have devalued that. Your thoughts?

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Similar to how God had to uh kill his creation to create uh skins for Adam and Eve to cover their sin. And we talked about in that episode of how that must have hurt God to have to take the life of his creation. Imagine the hurt of God that now one of his creation has taken the life of another. I know. And then we see why the penalty later in the law, we see why the penalty for for murder was so so harsh.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah. But absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

You know what a what a slap in the face to God if I'll take something that you created, and because of my own uh my own failures, my own sin, then I'm going to take take the life of your creation to try to cover that.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

What about this? Think about the very first verse in this chapter. What's Eve's reaction to that? What's Adam's reaction to that? She thinks this is going to be the answer to be the head crusher of the serpent. Yeah. Yeah. This will be the one. Imagine that disappointment. True. Yeah. I mean, the family is being completely ripped apart.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

Because now you've lost you've lost both. Yeah. You've lost both your one in death, but then the one that was going to be the head crusher obviously is not headed down that path.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Right. Right. And to wrestle with this idea that not only have you seen animals, which was a part of God's creation that was good, slain for your own sin in the garden, now you're seeing another human, something that's of a higher created order. Yes. And not just that, it's your son. And it's your other son that did it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

Just because of how we think, or maybe how I think. Don't you think this would be very faith-shaking to Adam and Eve? Oh man. You know how we are sometimes? You know, God, you gave this, you gave this life to me. And now it's being used for bad. It took the life of another. And isn't that how sometimes we lose trust and faith in God? Yeah. Situations like that.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Why didn't you control this?

SPEAKER_03 21:30

Why didn't you control it? You gave it to me. And it's your it's your gift that caused this problem.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

There also would be guilt, I would think, for Adam and Eve as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Somehow we were responsible.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Because of their Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Because of their sin. But somehow we never, most of the time, we never have that self realization that really it's our choices that cause that. It's so we're so quick. To blame that. Put it on God. On God. I am at least. Yeah.

unknown 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

Well, Lord, if you would have fixed and outside of just this, Lord, if you would have fixed that problem, we wouldn't be here.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Well, look at the spiral when man gets to make decisions. How quick we went from perfect place to now where we're at here in just a short amount of time.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yeah. When you're in this passage in the Bible, it feels it feels like such a driving force of a gut punch. Like, how do you fix this? Like, how in the world do you fix this?

SPEAKER_03 22:39

I'm I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and say this, but I I've had this thought, why did God give man free will? Because this is a result. I'm not blaming God. No, I know you know what I'm saying. I think this is a result of giving man free will. And it's and it's another one kind of what I was just saying. It's like, well, because God gave us free will, this is what happened. Well, what God, what if you just didn't give us free will? Well, then you know, then worship would be meaningless. It would be meaningless. Yeah. And we wouldn't know what love was. We would not. We would just be robots.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah, and God didn't want that. No. No. No. But think about how precious it is for a redeemed person to give their will to work within the in the framework of God's will.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

When your will and God's will align together.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

And the feeling of of in worship to God and being in his presence and to feel the love and the peace that comes along with that is something that would never be felt if we were just creatures made to only, you know, without a free will. Yeah. It's a it's an overwhelming experience and feeling.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah. Listen to this song right here. Psalm 133. Think about how precious this song is when you think about the divide here in Genesis chapter number four. Look, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity when they're unified. It's like the ointment upon the head that ran down to the beard of uh ran down upon the head, even Aaron's beard and went down to the skirts of his garment. It's like oil that comes anointing oil to the high priest. It's like that moment where you are separated for God's purpose, and you're gonna be uh you're gonna be allowed to walk into the presence of God because you've been anointed. This is God's high priest, Aaron, the first one. It's like that moment when God poured that. Like that's what brothers in unity are like. It's like it's like those little droplets of water that form on the highest mountain in Israel, the dew of Hermon, the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, those little gifts of water that just appear, like it didn't rain overnight, did it? No, this was just God's gift of water. It's like water just appears and life just continues to grow.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

It's perfection.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Yeah. There, for there, where unity is between brothers, that's where God commands his blessing, even life forevermore. Like everlasting life comes in places like this. When brothers get together together according to God's purpose, it isn't just brothers, but think about man and wife coming together for one common purpose. God commands a blessing on that. Same thing with the brothers. If they can ever get together, like right here in Genesis chapter number four, it's the biggest divide we've ever seen and experienced. And that's going to be something that continues to happen. But what happens if people are redeemed by Christ and you're together unified? Think about places like Ephesians, where they're Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles. If you could ever get those two together, read read the book of Ephesians and see what kind of language Paul uses. He uses Eden language, like God is the most abundant giving God there is. Now unto him that's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. It all happens when people are united in Christ. Brothers come together in unity. We see the worst of it right here when they're divided. And divided over worship is the worst thing to be divided over.

unknown 26:45

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Your thoughts?

SPEAKER_03 26:48

Isn't being divided over worship? Something that still happens today.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

Yeah. A lot. Yeah, and it's only God who knows the thoughts and the intents of our hearts. He knows whether we're truly surrendered, and what a challenge I feel in my own heart in this moment when I bow before a holy God to say, all right, God, here's all of me. I'm going to give you everything. Man, if we hold things back from God, what that hinders is unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 27:17

And also how important it is when we humble ourselves and surrender ourselves, like you're just saying, we don't hold anything back. And then we look across the aisle and let's assume the man down the altar did the same thing, but how quick we are to say I gave all of myself to God, but he's holding back.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Yeah, that's something that God needs to judge. Yeah. Yeah. But if he accepts both and you're together in purpose, man, what can happen?

SPEAKER_02 27:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yes. I think this is something we can chew on, we can meditate on for a few days. It's very powerful.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Um this narrow road I've been traveling, and it gives me a purpose for my life. Jesus is my judgment is the reason that I'm still living. When I die is gonna be my doctor, you can see that.