Blood cries out

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)

Consider: What is the difference between justice and revenge?

Bible Reading: Genesis 4:10-13

Insight: Abel’s blood cries out to God for justice. It cannot be ignored and demands redress although interestingly it doesn’t demand avenging. God doesn’t say that Cain needs to be killed for his actions and he does need to be punished.

Just as the snake was cursed and marked as separate from the other animals, so Cain is to be separated from the land he has been working. God implies that because of Cain’s sin, the land that he was supposed to be serving has denied him. It is as if the whole world is connected and sin has caused the Earth to distort and reject those meant to care for it. Sin is not an isolated act that can be easily rectified, one sinful act can affect so many people. Indeed it is only through the shedding of Jesus blood, the blood that cries out for forgiveness, that the effect of sin can be repaired.

Instead of relying on the land to provide for him Cain will now be reduced to surviving on what can be found in the wilderness and this punishment is too much for him. In fact it is the burden of his defiance or waywardness that has become too much for him to carry. Carrying someone’s waywardness is an old testament way of talking about forgiveness. When you forgive someone you carry their waywardness, just as God carried the waywardness of the Israelites time and again, Jesus took our waywardness to the cross. Cain is vocalising the human condition, that our sins are too much for us to bear.

Tell Us: Abel’s blood cried out to God for justice, what is significant about this phrase?

Why do you think Cain was exiled rather than executed?

Prayer Ideas: Praise God that he gave us Jesus to restore the effect of our sins. Is there someone you need to forgive? Pray for them. Pray for others that are struggling under the weight of their own sin and shame, that they would listen and hear Jesus call to them.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.