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14 -- Do you hate your brother?
GENESIS 4:8-17
8 And Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And it happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I a keeper of my brother?” 10 So He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth. 11 And now, cursed are you from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the earth, it shall no longer give you its strength. You shall be a wanderer and fugitive on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than what can be borne. 14 Truly, you have expelled me today from the face of the earth, and from your face I will be hidden, and I will be wandering and a fugitive on the earth. And it will be that whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 So the LORD said to him “Therefore, if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance shall be taken on him.” And the LORD set a mark for Cain, so that anyone who found him would not kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the whereabouts of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, so she conceived and bore Enoch. And he was building a city. So he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
How often do we find in one and the same family a brother hating his brother, because he thinks that God has given his brother more gifts than to him, becoming more intelligent, more beautiful or stronger! And Christ teaches us that hatred between individuals or nations leads to nothing but killing. So the story of Cain and Abel is being repeated in our days in numerous ways.
The evil, which lies hidden in man, drives him to destroy, with no pity, the image of God in his fellow man. People torture each other using thousands of methods, destroying huge crowds, so that killing has become a thrill, about which newspapers report with big letters. But the abuse of souls in society has become sometimes even bitterer than the killing of bodies. Satan is a murderer from the beginning, and he has many followers. Are you one of his torturing spirits in your family and your neighborhood?
God sought out the murderer, but in His mercy He did not destroy him, rather He again addressed him, to lead him to repentance. After his father had fallen, he had hid himself with a troubled conscience, ashamed from God. Cain, however, rudely and stubbornly lied, because the spirit of the disobedient revolutionary had ripened in him. Thus he refused all responsibility and love for others. So Cain became completely selfish and did not care for his brother, but cared only for himself. Are you following his example?
God, as an eternal and righteous judge, took revenge for the innocent blood that was shed. For every ill-treated soul speaks before God. How powerful is the cry of tortured souls that rise from planet earth to the living God! Woe to the nations and families and individuals from the righteous judgment! For God takes revenge for every innocent soul, no matter how small it is.
Every non-repentant murderer is cursed, troubled and without God's blessing, in spite of being diligent in his profession. Usually he hardens his heart in his stubbornness and does not believe that God loves him and will forgive him. So he refuses grace, opposing and blaspheming the Merciful One, fleeing from Him. And now, pay attention! What did Cain do during his flight to forget the great troubles in his heart? He built a city! Truly, cities benumb man so that he no longer feels God or his conscience any more. But a wounded conscience can never be silenced, and the ill-treated souls always demand justice and equity from God.
Don't you have to be reconciled to your brother and to love every person you know?
MEMORIZE: Where is your brother? (Genesis 4:9)
PRAYER: Oh Father, I am a murderer in my selfishness, and I love myself more than the others. Forgive me, because my heart is cold. Pardon my hatred, craftiness and negligence. Purify my mind, and give me a new spirit to become filled with love and care for the others, and to serve them with all those spiritually revived in Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan.