Genesis 4:1-16 "Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain..."

“Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.’ 2Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ 10And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.’ 13Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.’ 15Then the Lord said to him, ‘Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.’ And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. 16Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis 4:1-16).
 

Question:

 I have a decision to make and part of it may include how my actions will affect my “brother.” Am I my brother's keeper?
 

Comment:

As God had predicted in the preceding chapter, adapting to the dualistic human experience that Adam and Eve had symbolically chosen by eating the forbidden fruit is a great challenge. The spiritual dimension represented by the Garden is safe and secure; since there is only the Presence of God, there are no choices to be made. Many lessons will have to be learned; the first and most important is that “choices have consequences.” In this familiar story God is present, not as an energy of punishment, but as a loving teacher helping Cain to recognize that the choice he made to strike out against his brother will have painful and negative consequences in his life.   Up to this point in the story, no one has died. Cain had no way of knowing what “death” even was—or that it would permanently remove Abel from his life experience. The Lord of his being is there to emphasize the lesson. It is not God who punishes him—he is "cursed from the ground"—he has created negative consequences as a result of his angry reaction. When Cain expresses his fear that the consequences will be too painful to endure, the Lord reassures him that he is still a part of divine energy, that he is still loved and protected by his innate spiritual Truth.   So is Cain his "brother's keeper"? The question is never specifically answered, but the answer seems clear from the context. We are all each other's keeper, because we are all One in the Christ energy that we share. In this dualistic experience we have chosen, we will consistently be faced with choices between love and fear. In striking down Abel, Cain chose out of fear—fear that his brother was more beloved of God than he was. Fearful choices have painful consequences—not only for Abel, but for Cain. Loving choices have loving consequences for all concerned. This doesn't make us doormats; we can make loving choices to protect ourselves and affirm our true essence. So long as we know that the choice is made from love—even if others don't see the love in the immediate moment—we can be confident that love creates love.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed