Genesis 4:9 “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Even after Cain became a murderer, God did not abandon him to his path of rebellion and self-destruction. Again, He drew near to speak to Cain, and again He opened with a question: “Where is Abel thy brother?” God doesn’t ask to get information, but to give an opportunity to confess his sin, repent and find salvation. What questions is He asking you today?
Perhaps in an effort to ease his conscience Cain adopted Satan’s lie that the dead are not really dead. That would be about the only way to construe his response, “I know not,” as anything but an outright lie of his own. If Cain believed that Abel wasn’t really dead, that could account for his ignorance and confusion as to his brother’s whereabouts.
The rest of Cain’s defiant response, however, reveals that any confusion he had was due to his deliberate choice, not simple gullibility, as he indirectly attempts to cast blame on God with the question “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The intimation is, if Abel was so righteous, then why didn’t You save him? You’re his keeper, not me!
Cain was the first to kill a human being, and the first to experience what it is to look on a dead body. Did he feel the horror and guilt of having taken life? No doubt he did, but he must have stifled those impressions with extreme self-justification to the point that he could lie to God’s face with blasphemous contempt and apparently without a shred of regret. Such is the nature of unabashed rebellion against God. Don’t ever set foot on that path.
Comments
Post a Comment