Cain and Abel one perspective

Genesis 4 1 Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

There are many perspectives on the story of Cain and Abel. Many sermons have been preached on Cain's offering vs. Abel's offering. So, when I read this passage about a week ago I was surprised that a different perspective jumped off the pages of my Bible at me.

First off notice, in verse 3, Cain is the first to bring a offering to the Lord, then Abel. I also want to point out that at this point in scripture (reading front to back or chronologically) we are not told to the reason the Lord rejects Cain's offering. Except for this one point, we are told that Cain brings SOME of his crop, but Abel brings the BEST of this flock. This is were most teaching on this stops and jumps strait to Cain's murder of Abel. If we stop at this point though we have missed the rest of what the Lord wants to show us, the Lord also reveal to us a warning that is so pointed and relevant to today.

From the end of verse 5 - 7 we see what the Lord wants to deal with Cain's reaction to His rejection of the offering. Look at what the Lord tells him, "if you do what is right you will be accepted." Oh man, you mean it is possible that the sin was not just in what Cain brought as the offering but more so in his reaction to the Lord's rejection of that offering. I know this flies in the face of much church doctrine on this topic but bear with me for a moment. Cain's sin was not just the offering he brought but that he got mad at the Lord for rejecting it. After all he was a farmer and he brought a offering from what the Lord gave him to do. (Hang in there I am not focusing on why the Lord rejected Cain's offering in this post, in order to prove a different point.)

Has that happened to you brothers and sisters? Did an offering you brought before the Lord get rejected? You know He is a sovereign Lord and He has the right to reject anything He wants, and just because we think a offering should be accepted doesn't mean it has to be. I recently went through a period in my life where I knew that I knew I was doing the Lord's work. Work that He ask me to do and the way He asked me to do it. But as time passed the Lord rejected that work. The reason he rejected it is not the issue at this point and a topic for another time. He has the right to reject or accept anything He chooses He is the Lord, King of Kings. If He should decide he does not want to accept something who are we to tell Him that He has to?

Cain bigger problem was that he got offended by the rejection of his offering, sound familiar? Truth is rejection hurts and we don't like it, especially if think it was the best gift we had to offer. He still had a chance to be accepted by the lord if he would react correctly. How then are we to react when the Lord rejects our offerings to Him? How are we to react when the church or ministry rejects our offering, or help work prayer or even revelation knowledge? What would have been the correct response for Cain? What was the right thing for him to do and then be accepted by the Lord?

Might I propose that the right thing to do is also the hardest for us most of the time. Worship the Lord even if He rejects your offering. Later in Deuteronomy we read that the Lord does not really even want our burnt offerings any more but our hearts. So even the Abel type offering gets rejected by the Lord at some point. The offering the Lord really wants is you. All that you are.

Observing wounded Christians I see, this is what has happened to them. They got rejected by someone or for some reason by the Church body and now they are not doing the right thing. Dear friends if this is you, like God told Cain "sin will come your way and you must subdue it." I know this is a hard message and if you are currently in the position Cain found himself this message is not one you want to accept, but I urge you to come back to the Lord worship Him because He is Lord. Not because He accepted or rejected your gift but because He is the King who reigns on High.

- Lord I pray that if these words reach one, who like Cain, is angry with you because you exercised your sovereignty. Then send your Holy Spirit ahead of the words and prepare their heart to accept your love and fall at your feet and worship you. You rejected the offering not Cain himself. And though you sometimes reject our offering to you, you love us and are calling us back to you. Heal the wounds cause by rejection, strengthen us in your love, that we may come back to you and do what is right.

Amen.

Breakers

Psalm 42:7
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

As I meditated on this verse, having heard it many times before, I asked the Lord, "what does this mean?" "Whats the difference between a wave and a breaker?"


Suddenly the Lord answered me in a picture story. First he showed me that the difference in a breaker versus just a wave, was that the breakers are the waves that peak and curl over, and sometimes a "tube" is visible as it is rolling over and rushing toward the shore.

Having lived in Hawaii for six and a half years, I have very fond memories of afternoons spent watching the awesome surf on the north shore of Oahu. On days when the surf is 15 ft plus, as the waves break over the reefs, you can feel the vibrations rumble you to the core as you watch from the safety of higher ground. It is of course a surfers paradise. The whole coast littered with amazing surfing spots, known to all the big time surfers around the world. In the winter months especially, it is awesome surfing conditions for the big wave surfers. Well known big wave riders from all around the world wait for a call, sometimes less than 24hrs notice, about a location having optimum conditions for catching a monster wave. Big wave surfers are indeed surfers, but not all surfers are big wave riders. Big wave riders are a class all their own. Brave? Yes. Daring? Yes. Crazy? Probably. High risk, high reward. Big wave riders have left mere recreational surfing in search of something more. The deep, we might say. They probably still enjoy playing around on the 7 footers, don't get me wrong, but they longed for more, the deep cried out to the deep within them, and called them to a place of higher risk, higher reward.

Being called to the "deep" for these surfers required training beyond what a recreational surfer might endure. It is absolutely necessary for their safety if they are going to attempt to ride a 30 foot wave. The waves they are after are absolutely "breakers" in every sense of the word. Imagine a thirty foot (or taller) wall of water staring you down, making you feel like an ant. When these waves tip over the amount of force coming down is enough to plunge you down deep into the water, and roll you over and over, onto reefs and rocks that chew you up and spit you out. You have to condition yourself to be able to endure these harsh conditions if you are going to be out in water like this.

In Hawaii, they train by diving down to the bottom of the ocean in ten feet or so water, and run across the seafloor as long as they can carrying a huge rock. In addition they build endurance by swimming in the ocean waves, for lengths of time, and swimming underwater as far as you can, to simulate wipe out conditions. They have to train their bodies, and endure the pressing and crushing that comes with this territory. The learned ones know how to paddle out into the water and evaluate the surf. To take note where the good spots are, where to paddle in to a wave set, and where to back off and get out before they get crushed. They look out for each other, and sometimes risk their own life to help out a buddy.

Beginning sometime after we left Hawaii, I was having these recurring dreams about me surfing these big waves, and how crazy it seemed that I didn't wipe out, and how exciting it was to look down the face of the wave I was riding. I didn't really know why I was having these dreams, because I never once surfed while I lived there, only elementary boogie boarding, and never in waves that were more than 4-6 feet! I really thought I was having these dreams because I missed Hawaii. But now I think the Lord was calling to the deep in me, to be drawn to the deep of Him. He was going to teach me to be a "big wave surfer" so to speak, and equip me to endure the place of high risk, (or high cost), high reward. He led me to a "brotherhood" of ones that were more learned than I to train with, who would watch out for my soul as well. Just like real life big wave surfers do.

Do you hear the Lord calling and drawing you to the deep of Him? You should respond. But know that it will mean endurance training, a crushing and a pressing like you haven't experienced before, and submitting to authorities who are more learned who have been charged by the Lord to look after your soul. It is high cost to leave "recreational" Christianity, but what you will receive is high reward, from the Lord himself.



Blessings be unto you from Christ the Lord,

Emily