According to all that God commanded him

“Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”

This is the second time in the Bible that God gave a command. The first command that God gave was to the man when God commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When God gives a command, He offers a choice and the certainty of the consequences of that choice. In the fist command God gave the man a choice, that is, he was able to obey God and choose all the benefit of God’s love or reject God and all the benefits of His love. Without God, everything becomes random and arbitrary and nothing is certain, except the fact that things are going to change. Today this is called Chaos theory and the only thing certain about Chaos is that nothing is predictable. If something is moving in one direction then it will, at some unknown time, start moving in another direction and we cannot be certain when it will change direction again. However, Noah was put in the same position and he chose to accept the certainty of God’s love and did everything that God commanded him. The certainty of Noah’s choice was access to everlasting life. His choice preserved the Messianic line and the option for people to choose everlasting life and the certainty of God’s everlasting love. This goes to show that choice is not about salvation by works but believing God and then being the fruit of accepting the truth of God’s word and then seeing God’s word come truel

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Dynamic equilibrium.

“But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.”

When God created the earth He made everything perfect. There was no death before sin entered the world, however death came after sin. In James 1: 15 we read: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth for death.” This death was now fully conceived after the sin that had taken control of the earth. Before sin came into the world all the animals were herbivores so nothing died, when a plant gives food it remains alive and the plant is pruned.

However, the earth was in perfect equilibrium as God had planned. When sin entered the world, the second law of thermodynamics became active and the earth became a chaotic system. Even though entropy was operating the earth still functioned very well but needed every part of the system to operate effectively. When God created the heavens and the earth, He made an implied contract (covenant) with the earth for He had made something for people to possess and enjoy. When sin entered the world, God made a second contract that was specifically stated in the serpent’s curse. This contract would not operate effectively without the dynamic equilibrium required for the people to continue until the time that the Promised One was born. In order for this to happen, God told Noah to put all the animals in the ark so that the foundation for a fully functioning ecology would be available after the people came out of the ark. God always plans things properly and leaves nothing to chance, unlike sinful humanity who chose a random and arbitrary world after God created an ordered and balanced world.

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Inside or outside?

“And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.”

This passage tells us that sin didn’t take God by surprise. Before man ever sinned God had already devised the plan that would overcome sin (compare Isaiah 65: 24). The design specifications for the ark were already prepared before God spoke to Noah about building it. The Lord knew the size of the ark and He also knew how long the ark would take to build. The Flood was coming and the date had been set so all that was needed for the ark to be complete on the right day. There would be plenty of room for everything that God intended to put on the ark. Some people might wonder how large elephants would fit but this wouldn’t be a problem if Noah only took baby animals, after all, there would be plenty of time after the Flood for them to grow and breed. The door was one important part of the structure, for Noah needed to go in and out but the door would keep everyone dry once the rain began. The Lord Jesus Christ said that He is the door door to the sheepfold (John 10: 7). Like the ark there is only one way and when the door is shut no one can go in or out. The question that everyone faces today is, “What side of the door am I?” If you are on the inside then you will be safe for ever but if you are on the outside then you may be caught outside and be separated from God forever.

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Gopher wood.

“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”

Even though the Lord had planned to destroy the earth, He still had a plan for the line that would eventually lead to the One Who would bruise the serpent’s head. This plan became apparent when God spoke to Noah. He asked him to build an ark of gopher wood. according to Easton Bible Dictionary the Septuagint has “squared beams” and the Vulgate has “planed wood”. However, Hebrew poetry is full of repetitions and, in he rest of the verse, God told Noah to pitch the ark within and without so perhaps “gopher” is a process of building boats that includes waterproofing within and without. We also read about the Ark of the Covenant so the word “ark” means some kind of box. Noah was asked to build a large waterproof box. It was waterproof from the outside but also waterproof from the inside. God had made His plans, He treated Noah like a friend and told him what was going to happen and then God set about bringing this plans to fruition without compromising His long term plans. God’s plans happen whether we like it or not. However, it is also part of God’s plan that we get what we choose. God may be slow to anger (Psalm 103: 8) because He is gracious but His will is inevitable and we will always get what we choose in the end. Thank God that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for sin and now we can have a second chance to choose to enjoy everlasting life by believing in Him (see John 3: 16).

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

God's friend.

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

The LOrd Jesus Christ told His disciples that they were His friends rather than His servants (See John 15: 13-15). He called them His friends because He told them all things that He had heard from His Father. We can see here that Noah was God’s friend as well because God told Noah what He was going to do. The world was suffering the extreme consequences of their extreme actions and God was just in giving the world what they had chosen. However, God had also made a promise about someone who would come and bruise the serpent’s head. This would never happen if all the people of the world were destroyed in the Flood because there would no longer be any of Eve’s descendants alive on the earth. So God spoke to Noah as His friend. However, the Lord Jesus Christ also said, “ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Noah was God’s friend because He did whatsoever the Lord commanded him to do. Noah was also one of the people who called upon the Name of the Lord.

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Corrupt before God.

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”

God gave the first people a choice and they chose so God gave them to fruit of their choice, that is, they chose to reject God’s love so they were given a random and arbitrary world with no certainty. In this kind of world people become self obsessed, like Cain. When people become self obsessed they corrupt themselves and then they corrupt the earth on which they live as well. Everyone was becoming more and more like Cain, they didn’t master the sin that lay outside the door to their lives but they let that sin inside and then they follow every evil desire of their heart. This means that one person’s right to do something will eventually conflict with another person’s right to do something and there will be violence ending in death. God was not responsible for this situation in any way. He, in grace, gave people the ability to choose so that they could more richly enjoy the gifts that flow from His love. However, God is always consistent and will give people whatever they choose. Adam and Eve chose the way that leads to death and the world became corrupt and the earth debased.

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These are the generations of Noah

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

This is the third section of the book of Genesis. We have Noah’s colophon. He was responsible for documenting his family line from Adam’s time to his own time. After this he was very busy building the ark. Noah took his tablet along with the one that God gave to Adam and Adam’s tablet onto the ark. We know that this happened even though Noah didn’t specifically say that he took the tablets on the ark. We have copies of them in the Bible so we can safely assume that they were preserved. From time to time in the Bible we find collections of document covering large periods of time. For example, 1, 2 Samuel and 1, 2 Kings. These books were all complied towards the end of the period they discuss, however the compilers took the records that were written as the events happened and collected them together for the benefit of later readers. This is also true of Moses when he wrote Genesis. This doesn’t mean that the words are not given by inspiration of God, it just means that God uses good methodology to bring us His message.

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Noah found grace.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

When Noah was born his father Lamech “called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” Important Bible people have names that coincide with their work for the Lord. Noah’s task was to save the line of the Promised One and through this everyone on earth would, one day, have the chance to choose to be saved from the absolute consequences of sin.

Leading up to this verse we have a very sad picture painted. The earth is becoming more and more sinful and God’s enemies seem to be getting stronger and stronger, so much so that we might wonder if these enemies have become too powerful for God and He must, inevitable, give up the whole battle.

But there is hope Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the first time that we come across the word “grace” in the Bible. Even though we find the concept in the first verse of the Bible. This introduction helps us to define grace and, specifically, God’s grace, for God is the source of all true grace.

The world deserved to die and suffer the full, everlasting consequences of sin but Noah found grace. That is, God was willing to offer the world something that is undeserved by offering comfort to those who are caught up in a situation where they can do nothing to help themselves but have to rely entirely on God. But God is gracious and He did something so that the helpless and hopeless could find help and hope. Isn’t God wonderful!

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Giants

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

Throughout the Bible, giants represent the forces that are opposed to God. These giants always seem to be large and imposing and they are always working towards evil for every imagination of a giant’s heart is only evil continually. However, even though these giants try to do whatever they want to do they cannot every escape the Lord and His authority. In Matthew 10: 28 we are told not to fear them which kill the body but fear him which is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell. Even though the Lord knew what was going to happen before everything began, He saw that evil was becoming worse on the face of the earth. Evil committed by giants is far worse than evil committed by other people and God called these giants to account. He started to set the scene so that these giants would have to face the final, irretrievable consequences of choosing to defy God and they would be destroyed in hell. God also destroyed all the animals because they were groaning and travailing because of man’s sin (Romans 8: 22)

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Limits.

“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”

The Lord’s laws are absolute and inevitable; we get what we choose. If we choose to disobey God and reject the benefits of His goodness then we will have an arbitrary and random life while if we submit to God’s will and enjoy His goodness then we will experience the benefits of belonging to the God Who owns the future.

When people choose to reject God’s love they become self centred and this leads to selfishness. After a while selfish people become debased because they course of their lives leads to less and less satisfaction with the fruit of selfishness. These people then look further and harder for things to satisfy their selfishness and the cycle continues to spiral deeper and deeper. God knew that this would happen and, in grace, decided to limit the time that man would have to live in this increasingly vicious spiral. That is why God said that a man’s days would be limited to an hundred and twenty years. After that time these people would be so debased that no one would be safe.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Call on the name of the LORD.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”

In Gen 4: 26 we read that men began to call on the name of the LORD. However, there were many men who did not call on the name of the LORD and both these groups, the group that came from Cain and the group that descended from Seth began to multiply on the earth. As they filled the earth the two groups made regular contact and the people who called on the name of the LORD began to intermarry with the people who did not call on the name of the LORD. This is the stage that is discussed in this passage. Because two people are joined together and become one person when they are married it is not proper for people who call on the name of the LORD to be involved in marriages the people who do not call on the name of the LORD because they become involved in spiritual compromise and then they stop calling on the name of the LORD.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

The story of redemption.

“And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

Noah finished Adam’s document by including the details of his death and then he added a list of the people who lived between Adam and Noah. The Old Testament is the history of redemption, looking forward, so the line that was involved in the story of redemption was documented but the other lines were not kept because they all perished in the Flood and didn’t take any part in this story. The story of redemption required an introduction so that we could understand why it was necessary and then some colour to give us a warning and to let us know about the early times before the story of redemption became the major focus. As we read this story of redemption it is important to remember that the story progresses steadily forward until we get the to the New Testament when the story of redemption looks back to the seminal event of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Adam's colophon.

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”

This passage marks the end of Adam’s document. Just as God gave the first part of this document and Moses used the original source in his research when he wrote the book of Genesis, Moses also had access to this original document and he included this source in the document. The last part of the colophon (Noah Webster: http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,colophon;cited 13 May 2010, defined colophon in the following way: “COLOPHON, n. The conclusion of a book, formerly containing the place or year, or both, of its publication.”) This colophon gives the place, the earth, and the time nine hundred and thirty years after God created him. Of course, Adam didn’t finish the last three sentences, one of his descendants completed this part so the document would be complete in every way.

We can confidently believe the written testimony of this man who was an eye witness to these events.

Modern scholars base their dating on Ptolemy’s canon rather than the Biblical time line even though they have discarded his cosmic system, where the sun rotates around the earth, and his calendar, the 365 day year Egyptian vague calendar. They also reject the truth of the Bible because they don’t believe in God and they are also anti-semitic and will not accept the truth of Romans 3: 1, 2 “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” These are the oracles of God, hence they are the accurate historical record of those days.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Appointed

“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel,whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.”

Even though evil continued to grow and prosper on the earth God, was still at work. He had made a promise (see Hebrews 6: 18) and that promise would be kept. The great liar saw that God preferred Abel’s sacrifice to Cain’s and he sought to destroy the promise by killing Abel and putting God in the impossible position of having to use Cain as the source of His promise. However, God already had a plan and another son was born called Seth. A quick look at the passage will tell us that Seth means “appointed”. Even though Eve had sinned she had faith that God would keep His promise to send someone who would be able to bruise the serpent’s head. She knew that this son would be the means by whom God would keep His promise so she named her son accordingly. God remained true to His faithful nature and the godly line continued with the birth of another son.

This truth is borne out by the fact that men began to call on the name of the LORD. They reestablished the relationship with God that had been torn apart by the sin in the garden. Even though one son continued in sin this son sought to maintain his contact with the God Who had made him and Who would one day effect reconciliation. This gives us another view of God’s grace; as we learn more about God’s grace by reading through the Bible we become more and more amazed at just how gracious God actually is.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Pushing the boundaries.

“And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.”

When we are young we always try to push the boundaries so that we can have some excitement. However, the generation before us also pushed the boundaries so that they were at the place we found them. Our children will also start at the boundaries that we thought were extreme and push them even further. As time goes by the boundaries get pushed so far that we eventually reach the place where there are no boundaries. This is when every man does what is right in his own eyes (compare Judges 17: 6; 18: 1; 21: 25).

This sad state of decline is illustrated in the passage before us today. First Lamech took two wives when God had designed each person to have one spouse of the opposite gender. When a person takes more than one spouse they cause damage to his or her own soul and this leads to a lack of sensitivity in relationships. The people involved in these relationships think about themselves and not their partners. Eventually, the family becomes a war zone with every person fighting to serve his or her own interests and nothing else.

The second thing that happens is that people become self serving in their relationships with other people as well. This Lamech killed a man, following in Cain’s footsteps. We can assume that he had a similar motive to Cain and was motivated by anger. However, he pushed the boundaries for Cain was to be avenged sevenfold but this man decided that he had to be avenged seventy and sevenfold. He had such a high opinion of himself that he decided that he was seven times more important than Cain.

There is a sober lesson for us all when we think to push the boundaries for as we do that we are condemning our children or their children to a state of complete anarchy. If we look for a society that is based on greed by being greedy then we condemn our children or their children to financial hardship. The moment we choose the action we already choose the consequence.

There is reason for hope! (see Psalm 103: 10) The Lord Jesus Christ paid the consequences of our desire to push the boundaries and now we can be separated from the eternal consequences of our actions by the power of His blood. He paid the price but we can choose to have eternal life without doing anything at all, other than listening to the prompting of the Holy Ghost and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Actual history.

“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.”

When you read these early chapters of Genesis it is obvious that that the writers believed that they were writing the truth. They don’t write in a way that betrays the work of much later generations who tries to reconstruct history for religious or other political reasons. This means that we either have to accept that these pages contain actual history or we have to imagine that there were some unknown people writing at an unknown time, who were extremely brilliant but also extremely humble, who wrote with such technical skill that they were able to write without betraying their existence at all. The second option is often believed by people who don’t believe in God or in miracles, however, the kind of person they imagine must have been some kind of god performing some kind of miracle.

The major issue about this passage is we can see that it was written before the Flood rather than after it. If these history was written after the Flood the writer would not say that certain people were the “father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle...” If it was written after the Flood they writer would have had to say that even though that family line did those things they were all destroyed in the Flood and then a new group of people arose who were descended from Noah. However, this isn’t written there. The fact that these things were written before the Flood and preserved in the ark give added weight to their veracity. All other evidence of any other writing was destroyed in the Flood. People who try to teach otherwise are adding imagination to conjecture superimposed upon prejudice.

These documents were preserved by the godly line that survived the Flood and eventually came into Abraham’s possession and were taken in Egypt by his descendants. When Moses, inspired by God, wrote the book of Genesis he was like a modern scholar and took advantage of the original documents to research his work and then added to these documents the rest of his personal recollections starting in the book of Exodus.

(These statements are properly argued and referenced in the book that is mentioned below if you would like to have more information.)

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

The nature of a son.

“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.”

Cain was condemned to be a wanderer and a vagabond all the days of his life. God protected him from vendetta by placing a mark upon him but Cain built a city. This is exactly the opposite of being a vagabond, he had a home in his city while he was meant to dwell with no fixed address. He was not able to give up his dominant nature even after God had punished him. It is interesting to note that he called the city after his son. This is the first time “son” occurs in the Bible and we learn from this that a son has the same nature as his father. The son was a city dweller even though he was the son of a man condemned to be a vagabond. However, the word son become important later in the Bible when we read about another “Son”, the Son of God. This son also had the same nature as His Father God. Pure, holy, righteous but full of love and tender mercy. Today we can become sons of God and inherit His nature, in an eternal legal sense before God because He became our substitute and paid the full price of our salvation. Praise God that, even though we are sons of Adam by birth and nature, we can become sons of God as far as everlasting life is concerned.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

The Mark upon Cain.

“And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.”

Cain was concerned about the vendetta but God had decreed that he be punished for his sin. We live in a day when people are concerned about rehabilitation without worrying about retribution. Retribution is not the same as vengeance. Vengeance belongs to the Lord (see Rom 12: 19). Even though Romans was written to the church there are certain principles that belong to people of every age. The Lord sought to exact vengeance upon Cain, as His Divine justice required but God made sure that anyone else would be excluded from exacting vengeance. We can ask a reasonable question her: if there were only Adam, Eve and Cain at this time who would exact vengeance? However we can assume that Adam and Eve had other children and their gene pool was a rich and varied as it has ever been so there would be no inbreeding until the effects of sin had worked its way through the human population for thousands of years. The brothers and sisters that were not specifically mentioned in the text, but were certainly there would be seeking to exact the price of God. This may seem a very simple answer to question but we can also ask ourselves, did every person who lived during the time of King David have their name mentioned? The answer is no, but we do know that there were far more people living than were mentioned in David’s history. He did number the people and we do get an idea of the number of Israelites alive but they weren’t the only people living at the time. All the people living were not an essential part of the story of redemption so they remain anonymous, just as the vast majority of people remain anonymous today. To take this argument one step further, this is why the Lord Jesus Christ mad himself no reputation during the time of His incarnation. The vast majority of people alive at that time were of no reputation and He had come to seek and to save the lost (those of no reputation) (Matt 18: 11). This naturally leads to the “whosoever believeth” of John 3: 16.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Greater than I can bear

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.”

Finally Cain realised the truth of his situation. He had allowed his anger to control his thoughts, then he acted out his anger and pretended that he hadn’t done anything when God confronted him. Finally he realised that there were consequences and that he would not be able to avoid them for the rest of his life. This is a sad situation to find yourself in, you chose certain consequences and then you find that you are experiencing them and cannot escape. However, Cain’s situation is much better than that of many people. They have chosen certain consequences but they are not willing to accept that they have made a choice and try to blame other people or be like Cain and avoid the issue altogether. If we suffer consequences then we need to admit that we have made a mistake or a bad choice and then seek to resolve the issue.

Throughout this entire section of human history there is evidence of God’s hand offered in grace but rejected and the people involved don’t ever experience the grace that is offered.

We can always own our choices and repent of them then we can begin to deal with the unsavoury consequences but we will always be bound to our suffering if we don’t make the effort. Sometimes we just have to confess to God but at other times we need to go to the person we have hurt and confess our sin to them as well (see Matt 5: 23, 24).

Cain lived in a day when the burden of vengeance was still on the family of the dead person so he was concerned that one of his relatives might kill him.

We must be careful that we don’t wait until it is too late to resolve our issues. The great pain of hell is being separated from God and knowing that we can’t do anything about it. We should make the effort to resolve our problems with God before we find ourselves being punished more than we can bear but being unable to do anything about it.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

A fugitive and a vagabond.

“And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”

Cain was extremely angry when his brother’s sacrifice was accepted and his wasn’t. After all, Cain was the most important son while Abel was just there to do the things that Cain didn’t want to do. However, God didn’t agree with Cain’s opinion of himself. This situation can be likened to the situation the Lord Jesus Christ discussed in Luke 18: 10-14; Cain was like the Pharisee while Abel was like the publican. Cain had come in his own pride and expected God to be impressed with his goodness. Abel came in humility and the Lord accepted the humble man. Cain was so proud that he couldn’t accept God’s verdict so he killed his brother and then lied about it. When God questioned him about his activity he tried to avoid the issue but God knew.

Then Cain was faced with the consequences that he had chosen the moment he put his plan into action. We are reminded again of Gal 6: 7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” This is God’s unavoidable law which no man can change. He was the first murderer and he was cursed for this crime against his brother. He would never again be able to farm the land because the earth was cursed so he became a wanderer and fugitive. A vagabond is quite different to a nomad. A nomad had animals and moves around to feed them or he moves to find new food as his food runs out. A vagabond is someone who has no fixed address and had to do whatever he can to survive.

It is interesting to note that the first time a crime is committed God acts with special justice to warn all others who would sin in that way in the future. Achan was the first to disobey the Lord in the Promised Land and he was specially punished. Ananias and Sapphira were to first ones to sin in the church and they were punished as a warning. However, everyone else will receive the same eternal punishment, unless they confess their sin, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

God knows.

“And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”

God warned Cain about the consequences of his attitude to his brother. Cain ignored God and assumed that he could commit his crime without anyone knowing about it. After all, there were no witnesses to the crime so who would know what had happened? Well, God knows everything. Adam and Eve tried to hide after they sinned but God knew what had happened. He gave them the chance to acknowledge their sin but they chose the blame game. In this case Cain committed the crime but he tried to avoid the question that God asked him by trying to avoid responsibility. However, God knew exactly what had happened and He brought Cain face to face with his sin.

It is good for us to remember that the moment we choose to think about doing something we are opening the door to doing it. When we choose an activity we also choose the consequences, even if we don’t think about the consequence. When Cain chose to kill his brother, he chose everything that followed from that.

Sometimes we feel that people get away with crimes because they are never forced to pay the penalty. However, God sees the crime and unless a person confesses their sin, repents of their sin and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ they will spend eternity in hell. There is nothing more final than that. Every person who spends eternity in hell has made that choice when the choose to ignore God’s wonderful Grace as it was displayed at Calvary.

If you would like to find out more about God's grace at the beginning you might like to visit http://www.lulu.com/content/799024 and buy a copy of my book “The Scarlet Thread”.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)