Gen. 4:7- "...sin is crouching at your doorstep, it desires to have you, but you must master it." I reread this a few times, and the word that stands out for me is "must" because I often allow myself to rationalize my sins. The Lord commands that we "MUST" master sin, not become comfortable with it, and I my Friends, have at times been at a point where I felt that it was ok to sometimes...sin. The wager of sin is death, and some how, there hasn't been a day that has gone by and I did not see the light of that day, so I have My Lord to give all thanks to for forgiving me for my foolishness.
Matt. 2:13- "..for Herrod will seek the young child (Jesus) to destroy him." So this message came in the form of a dream from God to Joseph...he was commanded to take his wife and "the child" to Egypt because Kind Herrod was on his way to get his murder on. I wonder the "what if" side of this story. We know what was supposed to happen, and that happened. But as we make a correlation to our lives, do we always cultivate the "what is supposed to happen" all the time? Do we listen to God's messages and always do as he asks? If not (which I would assume we would all agree on), then what important events that are supposed to be in our lives are we missing? Or can it be that we're just making things harder on ourselves by not obeying the word of God? It's great to remember that God is not as shady as I am, because you all would be missing out on a ton of stuff...heck, you'd probably be dead, but by the grace and glory of God do we still get to hug our children/family, go to work (well, some of us), wake up in a bed, eat breakfast, cleanse ourselves, watch tv, and many many luxuries that we discount as normal everyday living.
One question that I neglected to put in there is, what would have happened if Joseph decided to ignore God's command and not flee? Applying this to your life, what if you decided to ignore God's command and remain stagnant. Don't miss out on an opportunity to be loved by the Lord...never know who or what is around the corner awaiting. Remember, sin is at your doorstep...
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...what would have happened had Eve not taken from the tree????
ReplyDeleteNow, I need some help with Genesis 4. THE WHOLE CHAPTER, well most of it. I get the whole Cain and Able thing but why did the Lord look down on Cain's offering? Then help me out with verses 23 - 24.
I searched some stuff on the internet about Cain's offering and why it was looked down on by God. Here's what it said:
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of hints here, but no definitive statement of why God favored Abel’s offering, but did not favor Cains. Some would claim that Cain needed to bring a blood sacrifice, and his fault was bringing agricultural products. But there has been no command up to this time about what to sacrifice. Another suggestion is that Abel is said to have brought the firstborn, whereas that is not specified about Cain. But considering the normally sparse nature of Hebrew narrative, I’m not sure that is significant. I think the intent of the story is that each brought an offering from the results of their profession.
With regards to verse 23-24:
Lamech stands as the culmination of the line of Cain, the seventh person in the genealogy. He stands in contrast to the seventh generation in the line of Adam, Enoch. Lamech represents both the advance of civilization and the advance of sin.
Lamech also displays an escalation of violence. His poetic declaration to his wives features the threat of disproportionate retaliation and exaggerated vindictiveness. He will kill even a youth for merely harming him. He will carry out vengeance with unlimited violence which stands in contrast to the law of talion.
Read more at Suite101: Bible Study: Genesis - free Suite101 course http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/19167/2761/4#ixzz0sa4oZsbj
This is good stuff!!