Cheleb: The Finest

Here we see a judgment that fits the crime. God recognized Cain’s self-absorbed behavior, what we might call a pity-party in the modern vernacular. “You want to be in a pity-party?” He says, “So be it. Your life will be pitiful.”

At this point, a man of good conscience should be on his face pleading for forgiveness and escape from the pronouncement. But not Cain.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me” (Gen. 4:13).

Cain the Selfish can still only think of himself and is, in essence, calling God “mean.” Cain seems ignorant of all the Lord has tried to do on his behalf. The Most High desired intimate worship, warned Cain when he was out of step, and even now—though Cain deserves death—is attempting to discipline him into repentance. But Cain is deaf and blind, depraved to these truths. Are we so different?

Cain understood the depths of his crime, though he still did not admit having perpetrated it. At no point did the merciful God say He was going to hide his face from him. Yet Cain knew that is what he deserved. At no point did God say that anyone else was going to be allowed to kill him, yet Cain’s depression and self-centeredness was fast becoming paranoia! Truly, as God had lovingly warned Cain, sin was no longer crouching, but had deceived and taken him.

You or I might have said, “Enough!” and thrown Cain out. This is not what God did. Rather, He affirms his love and provision for Cain:

So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him (Gen. 4:15).

Despite modern detractors, that the God of the Old Testament is wrathful and mean, God does not respond to Cain spitefully or wrathfully. He responds with a grace gift.

What can we learn from Cain and Abel? Our God is a God of compassion and mercy, desiring fellowship, and will go to great lengths to restore that fellowship, even among unrighteous sinners. We learn that our second best, in any endeavor, does not bring satisfaction. We cannot bring God our leftovers and expect that we will find satisfaction. He is pleased only by our faith-response, because our efforts never amounted to anything anyway. There are also plain lessons showing that self-centeredness leads to sin and destruction. And above all, we have this promise of God: though sin’s desire is for us, with the help of the sacrifice made for us, Yeshua our Savior, we can master it!

 

PR 

 

Notes

¹ Romans 3:28

² Exodus 34:19

³ ref. Leviticus 23:10

⁴ Exodus 29:13 , 29:22, Lev 1:8, 1:12, 1:16, 3:3, 3:4, etc.

⁵ The Call of Torah, Bereshit, ArtScroll Tanakh Series, p. 65, brackets mine.

⁶ Psalm 51:17

All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted. © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from The New King James Version. © 1979, 1980, 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Tags: cheleb, finest

Category: Biblical Studies, Spring 2000