Anger's Answer

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

ANGER'S ANSWER

Gen 4:8-12

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

NIV

Just as a side note, we have discovered that this request of Cain, "let's go out to the field," does not appear in the original text; rather, it says, "Cain talked to his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. Not that it is important to the truth in this narrative, just interesting. The fact still remains that the attitude of anger became action. Cain was so upset and angry,  first at God because his offering was not respected as Abel's was, then his anger turned toward his own flesh and blood, his brother. Although Cain did not have the teachings of Jesus, as we do, when he quoted one of the Ten Commandments, "Do not murder," but then went on to teach that anyone who is angry with his brother is subject to the same judgement as a murderer. After this horrible act by Cain, God asks a similar question that he asked Adam and Eve after hiding. "Where is your brother, Abel?" God knew exactly where Abel was, but he was giving Cain the opportunity to confess his sin and seek forgiveness. But just like Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent, Cain's answer was evasive, actually a lie, "I don't know". But then made matters worse with what appears to be a question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Why always some excuse, which caused him to be judged and to be under a curse, being driven from his home. His chosen field of endeavor, farming, was taken from him, as the ground would no longer yield its crops for Cain. It would have been far better for Cain, first, not to allow anger to master him, second, not to allow his anger to become action,  but even then, he could have repented, although he did not, so we do not know how God would have dealt with his repenting heart. We should note that we are never allowed to adopt an angry attitude or become angry because we think someone offended us. Just because we are believers and under the grace of God does not mean we are free to disregard the teachings of Jesus, that anger is under the same judgment as murder. If we follow Jesus, we would learn from him and be people who are gentle and humble of heart, which would preclude ever becoming angry, and instead listen to anger's answer.