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“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” – Genesis 4:9
by Micky Galloway
This question was asked by Cain in response to God’s question, “Where is Abel thy brother?” God did not ask the whereabouts of Abel because he did not know. God knew that Cain had killed his brother. Cain replied, “I know not…” This was a lie for he knew that he had just killed his brother. Cain’s question, “Am I my brother’s keeper” was intended to deceive and reveals a cynical and hardened heart.
Indifference kept Cain from being his brother’s keeper. That he killed his brother is evidence that he just did not care for his brother. Love of the brethren is commanded by Jesus as a badge of discipleship among the disciples (John 13:34-35; cf. I John 4:19-21). After commanding that they love each other, Paul said to the Philippians, “(doing) nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Wouldn’t that go a long way in resolving problems among brethren? Think what could be accomplished if we would manifest the same care for one another (cf. I Corinthians 12:25-26). We would share as our brethren suffer physical need as they did in Acts 2:44-45. We would help those new in Christ to grow and mature as Jesus commanded the apostles in Matthew 28:19. We would encourage those who bear the responsibility of authority such as elders (I Thessalonians 5:12-13), preachers (Ephesians 6:19-20), and even civil authorities (I Timothy 2:1-2). Perhaps someone might even be heard to say of us, “I have no man likeminded who will care truly for your state” (Philippians 2:20). Cain just didn’t care.
Envy kept Cain from being his brother’s keeper. Centuries later, the sin of murder caused by Cain’s envy is held up as an awful warning to man. John said, “For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous” (I John 3:11-12). Envy is listed in Romans 1:29; Titus 3:3; I Timothy 6:4; I Peter 2:1 along with others with every stripe and color of ungodliness and immorality. We learn of Joseph’s brothers that they “moved with envy” and sold Joseph into Egypt (Acts 7:9). Envy aroused the bloody hand of hatred against Jesus. “For Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered (Jesus)” (Matthew 27:18). Envy will most certainly destroy us. It is described as “rottenness of the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). Envy is sinful. We must grow up and learn to put it aside! “Wherefore laying aside…all envies… as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 1:1-2).
Selfishness kept Cain from being his brother’s keeper. Selfishness is defined as one who is “concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure at the expense of consideration for others” (cf. II Timothy 3:2). One who is selfish is a stubborn and obstinate man who overvalues his own conclusions and determinations. Again, we are to count others better than ourselves, “not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). In short, Cain was a self-willed man, ill-willed, and domineering.
God expects us to be our brother’s keeper. We are to watch for one another, “Watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Elders “watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this (were) unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17). We are to provide for the physical necessities of each other. In Acts 2:45 we read, “they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.” In Acts 4:34-35, “as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.” When a brother is overcome in sin we are to restore him. Paul instructed the Galatians, “Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1; cf. James 5:19-20). We are also to pray for one another. James 5:16 says, “Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.” Paul called upon the Ephesians to pray for him, “that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19-20).
When the question is asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper,” let us read again what Cain did to his brother. Then, let us remember that the spirit of Cain will incite a murderous hand to be raised against a brother. Let us read again the warning of I John 3:11-18 and learn that the love we are to have for one another is a love that would cause us to “lay down our lives for the brethren.” Therefore, “let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.” Yes indeed, I am my brother’s keeper!
“Where Have You Come From And Where Are You Going?" – Genesis 16:8
by Chris Simmons
In Genesis chapter 16, we read of Abram and Sarai using their own understanding to provide for the son through whom the promises would come. After Sarai’s handmade Hagar bore a son to Abram, Sarai despised Hagar and treated her so harshly that Hagar fled from her. As Hagar was fleeing, an angel appeared to her and asked her two simple questions, “where have you come from and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8). We often ask this question when we meet new people but do we ever ask this of ourselves? Do we ever stop to consider where all of us have come from? And perhaps more importantly, do we spend enough of our time thinking about where we are going?
First, where did you come from? When Paul addressed the idolatrous citizens of Athens, he gladly taught them of the one true God. In doing so, he taught them that all mankind has something in common, we all came from God. We read in Acts 17:25-28, “He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'” In other words, God is the potter and we are the clay (cf., Isaiah 45:9; Romans 9:21), the creation of His hands. All of mankind owes our life to God who “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) and created him in His own image (Genesis 1:27).
Being created in the image of God, means that we were created with an eternal spirit from God. Each of us was born with this eternal spirit and began our lives pure and innocent in the sight of God (cf., Luke 18:15-17; Ezekiel 18:18-20). We all came from innocent beginnings but all of us, as we have matured, have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). Our sins separated us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). The grace of God has made it possible to be forgiven and reconciled (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:7; II Corinthians 5:18-19), but spiritually, can we ever forget where we came from? All Christians must remember that we all came from a lost condition and were at one time “without hope” (Ephesians 2:11-12).
Though we all have a common beginning, we will not all have the same destiny. We are not all going to the same place. Regarding the question, “where are you going?”, we must realize that we are all going somewhere, and that ultimately one of only two possibilities awaits each one of us. Jesus speaks this sobering truth in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” We are on one of two paths taking us to one of two destinations. We are either on the way to eternal life or on our way to eternal destruction. We will either spend eternity in a place of relief and eternal glory or a place of retribution and eternal destruction (II Thessalonians 1:5-10). We are either going to a place of glory, honor, immortality and eternal life, or we are going to a place of wrath, indignation and tribulation (Romans 2:4-10).
The difference in the two destinations is simple, are we doers of our own will or are we doers of the will of God? It’s not enough to know it; Jesus teaches us we must do it. “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). To do the will of God is to prepare while we have the opportunity. We must be ready in order to be assured of where we long to be. We are to be “dressed in readiness” (Luke 12:35). The one point that all have in common is that these two distinct destinies will begin after we all stand before the judgment seat of God and give account for all that we have done in this life (II Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-12).
God has revealed Himself to us so that we might accurately know the answer to these two questions, “where have you come from and where are you going?”