Chain of Errors

12.12.2023

Today’s meditation was on Genesis 4:1-16.

Adam knew Eve, his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain, and said: I have acquired a man from the Lord.
And she bore again, his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,
but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
So the Lord said to Cain: Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.
And Cain talked with Abel, his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain: Where is Abel, your brother? He said: I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?
And He said: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground;
so now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.
And Cain said to the Lord: My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.
And the Lord said to him: Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

And although the Bible does not specify why God did not accept Cain's offering, what I saw in the meditation below may serve as a good example of how our sin develops when we lack awareness.

I was among the fields with Jesus, observing this story from the sidelines.
After their arrival on earth, Cain and Abel chose their occupations in life. After some time, they came to worship God, bringing their offerings.

Why did the Lord not “regard” Cain and his gifts? Abel gave the very best, the result of his labour. But nothing is said about Cain…

We moved to another field and observed how Cain worked. It was evident that he achieved excellent results, was pleased with them, and took great pride in his work. This is the very beginning of the chain of sins, the very first erroneous judgment, born of selfishness – forgetting the Creator and claiming the credit for himself. In such an engrossed and self-satisfied state, he forgot Who is the source of his success. And in this same state, he prepared his offering.
Next followed the continuation of sin, the creation of expectations completely detached from reality. Cain carried his offering with great pride, expecting that his splendid results would be accepted.

Then we looked at Abel. He gathered the best he had for his offering. He did not keep the finest results of his labour for himself but planned to give them to God. Perhaps there is only one reason for such behaviour: a complete awareness of Who is the source of the result and a lack of pride in the outcome. He simply made no mistakes in relation to the Creator.

Then we moved to Cain's reaction after making his offering. Anger! Of course, the expectations and fabrications from his mind did not align with reality. There was still a chance to turn to self-control and analyse the situation. The Lord was making such an effort to reach him! He showed that Cain would be accepted if he acted rightly and understood the essence of the matter. He pointed out the cause and what needed to be done, all while not restricting his freedom of choice.

But no, the tail continues to wag the dog. This is the next stage of sin, when reason and self-control are switched off, and feelings and emotions take over.

Cain killed Abel. A new stage of sin, obvious and clear, as the result cannot be hidden.
I observed all this, a dreadful feeling of hopelessness, when the choice can no longer be corrected. And Jesus stood by, watching, and did not intervene.

But even after the murder, sin does not let Cain go! He still does not realise what is happening when the Lord asks him where Abel is. It can be said that this is complete blindness. Not even the murder, but such a state – this is the pinnacle of sin, when Cain is already far from a sober perception of reality and does not even realise the consequences.

What does the Lord do to bring Cain to his senses? He takes away his favourite toy! The very cause of sin, his pride and success – the fertility of the ground. And on top of that, He makes him a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. Only now, when that upon which sin relied no longer exists, do Cain's eyes open and sobriety returns. He realises that he will bear punishment for the entire chain of errors up to the murder and blindness. But the Lord, seeing the clarity, shows mercy, and not only protects him from death but also allows him to settle in a new place, cancelling his wandering.

We left the fields, and with that, the meditation came to an end.