JUSTICE VENGEANCE AND MERCY
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: GENESIS4:1-13
KEY VERSE
“And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground”.
Genesis4: 10
INTRODUCTION AND STUDY
The history of the world and human beings changed completely when Adam and Eve listened to the lies of Satan the serpent, disobeyed the command of God and ate the fruit that God had told them not to eat. Their sin brought a curse on the earth and so everything became bad instead of being good and beautiful.God also has done great things for usG
Instead of getting the blessing and superior knowledge they had expected their world crashed as sin entered the world and they began to suffer knowing that they would die one day.
Adam and Eve began to have children both male and female children but out story is about two of their sons, Cain the elder, and Abel the younger. Both had been taught about the commandments of God and how they should worship God by bringing sacrifices.
Abel brought the correct kind of sacrifice which was a lamb that he had killed. He offered this to God as a substitute for his life for he knew that he should have been killed by God because of his sins, but God accepted the slain animal in his stead. He was now a grown man and his profession was a shepherd.
Cain his brother however was a farmer and he brought some of his produce. God did not mind his offering of plants but he had been taught that he should have brought an animal killed instead of him as an offering, for blood would have to be shed in order for God to forgive sins. But he was disobedient and offered God what he thought God should be satisfied with.
God accepted Abel’s offering but did not accept Cain’s offering. Cain got angry and heated when God did not accept his sacrifice and accepted the sacrifice of his brother. He hated his brother Abel, resented that God had showed him favour.
God confronted Cain and told him that he had known what he should have done and since he refused to obey and was intent on following the direction of Satan and disobeyed God’s command, sin would take him over. He should do what was right or else. He should beware of sin’s threat to take him over and rule him.
But Cain decided to follow the way of evil and he invited his brother Abel to meet him in a field so that they could talk. The unsuspecting Abel agreed and when the brothers met, Cain took his axe and killed Abel. That was bad. God met Cain and asked him where his brother was and the wicked Cain replied, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper”.
God then made Cain know that the blood of his brother was crying to Him for justice and for revenge. Justice required that Cain should not get away with committing the murder of his brother. His blood should be avenged by God since he was dead and could not take revenge on his brother.
Since Cain did not want to repent of his gross sin and in fact was insolent in his reply to God, and was willing to follow the evil, murderous, and wicked way of Satan God cursedhim. He was afarmer by profession but the ground would not yield good crops. He would be a wanderer, homeless and a vagabond. He would feel guilty and shame for he had destroyed his brother, smashed up his relationship with his parents Adam and Eve, and all his other brothers and sisters.
But all the wicked Cain was worried about was that when other people saw him and knew what he had done they would kill him. He was not worried about his sin. He complained that God’s punishment was too heavy for him to bear.
Now when we consider what God had done we see that God had shown an incredible amount of mercy and kindness to him. Rightfully God should have killed him on the spot.
But God is merciful and gracious and does not always punish people immediately for the sins they do.When they were captured and taken into exile away from their countryWWe should remember that and thank God for His mercy. God cared so much forpeople that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ the Lord to become a man like us, live among us, died on the Cross and bear our sins, so that we did not have to die if we accepted Him and our Saviour, Redeemer, and Lord.Sometimes people who should know better
So let us nut hate, resent, be jealous of others good fortune, and do evil to others. We are our brothers and sisters keepers and we should do good to them and love them as we love ourselves. The Ten Commandments instructed us to do that.
So show your gratitude and thanks and offer our sacrifices to Him. Do not follow the “way of Cain”, the evil one, or his master Satan. That will get you no good, but only punishment, despair, fear, and a aweful life.