Men in the Bible: Cain and the First Lie Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s…
Men in the Bible: The First Liar
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” – Genesis 4:9
Cain set another undesirable record by telling the first lie in the annals of history, as recorded in the Holy Bible.
Having lost control of himself, which gave room for all manners of negative emotions, disappointment, bitterness, anger, jealousy and sadness, his resolve became compromised, such that when violence came knocking to be added to the list, he could do nothing to stop it. Thus, resulting in him killing his innocent brother. Having lost it to this point, it was no surprise either that Cain was past recovery and would not stop at anything to save his face.
Therefore, when God asked him about his brother’s whereabouts, he did not think twice before boldly lying, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” With this, he uttered the first lie. With hindsight, one can see how silly this must have sounded even to his own hearing because he was actually talking to the omniscient God.
The interesting thing is that his parents, Adam and Eve, even in their mistake, did not lie to God when He called them out. They only confessed they were in hiding because they were naked and afraid of what God might do to them. But this was not the case with Cain, his lack of self-control had weakened whatever noble resolve he still had left in him, and only the base part was in active play at this point. That was why he had no gumption in committing a murder in the first place, killing his own brother to boot, and then lying about his whereabouts when asked.
This sequence of events happened just like God had warned him when the whole attitude issue started:
God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.” – Genesis 4:6-7 (The Message)
By not heeding this golden warning to nip the negativity in the bud, Cain allowed it to fester until he became the willing domain for all kinds of social vices.
Men in the Bible: Cain’s Emotional Flaws That Led to Fratricide
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. – Genesis 4:8
We are continuing our spotlight on Cain, the first murderer and fratricide in the Bible, by exploring the inner constitution of his mind, which led him to commit murder, something that no one before him had done.
He was an angry man
By allowing negative emotions to fester in his mind and not nipping them when they started, Cain inadvertently allowed his disappointment to boil into anger. By also not exercising control over his anger, it continued to surge to the point of consuming violence that could only be gratified by hurting someone.
It is noteworthy that God warned him about the consequences of allowing his negative emotion to fester.
God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.” – Genesis 4:6-7 (The Message)
This shows that God clearly warned Cain about the implications of not putting a grip on his emotions. But he did not heed the warning, either because he did not understand what God was saying, or he was past caring. He allowed the anger to get the better of him until it pushed him to kill his brother.
He was a sad man
Another attribute Cain can be described with was sadness. He was a sad man. He did not handle the rejection he suffered well. He became jealous of his brother whose offering was accepted, and jealousy does not elicit a positive response, it usually leads to sadness and wrong behaviors. That was what we eventually saw from Cain, who made an undesirable name for himself by being the first person to be documented for murder and fratricide.
It all started with a lack of emotional intelligence, exemplified in a lack of self-awareness as to know what was good for God, and this leading to feelings of disappointment, anger and sadness, which, when still left unchecked, drove him to murder.
Cain: The First Angry Man and His Poor Choice of Emotion
And the Lord…did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” – Genesis 4:4-6
We are continuing our exploration of the person and character of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve. Today, we will be considering his emotional constitution; he was an angry man. In fact, he was the first (hu)man in recorded history to be described as angry and sad, the synonym for a fallen countenance.
As we had read earlier, Cain got himself into this rather undesirable position because he was not deliberate in his relationship with and service to God. While his brother, Abel, went out of his way to pick the choicest among his produce as sacrifice to God, Cain did not observe such diligence. Rather, he probably chose the worst of the pack among his livestock for the sacrifice he was offering to God, which must have angered God so much that He in turn rejected both Cain and his sacrifice.
The mistake that Cain made then is easy to make nowadays when most of what we know about God is what we hear in religious gatherings, not from a disciplined study of His ways in His word. Cain probably assumed that since God was not there to see him, he could get away with just giving Him whatever he wanted. After all, it was of his own volition that he wanted to offer this sacrifice to God, not because God Himself asked for an offering.
He must have gotten wiser later when God rejected his hapless offering and dismissed him from His presence. This divine rebuttal made Cain very angry and sad, such that it showed in his expression and attitude. It is interesting to note that even his father, Adam, who was let down by his wife in the fruit-eating saga, did not become angry at her or divorce her on account of this. Or what offense was worse than the one Eve did, pressuring her husband into eating the forbidden fruit, and by so doing incurring the wrath of God?
But, Adam, even while he must have been disappointed at the turn of events and felt aggrieved by the punishment God meted out to him, he did not become angry as to cast away his wife or maltreat her for what she did. Instead, he maintained a mature disposition and even christened her a good name.
However, in the case of Cain, he reacted poorly to rejection and went down in the annals of history as the first man to be labeled as angry and sad; a poor choice of emotion indeed. Instead of asking himself some hard questions, why God would accept his brother’s offering and reject his own, he chose the easy route of anger and the path of least resistance of sadness.
Anyone can easily get angry and become sad when things are not working their way. But it takes a higher level of consciousness to choose peace over anger, joy over sadness, and a positive attitude in response to a negative development. Cain was just like most of us in this regard, and it cost him badly.
Men in the Bible: Abraham – A Laidback and Complacent Man And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his…
Men in the Bible: Abraham – A Laidback and Complacent Man
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran… Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. – Genesis 11:31-32, 12:1-5
The man we shall explore today is Abraham, the father of faith. Undoubtedly, Abraham was a prominent figure in ancient history and a dominant one still today through his descendants in the Middle East as well as his adopted descendants through faith. However, it is interesting that Abraham did not start out as the larger-than-life figure we know him to be today. On the contrary, he came across as a timid, laidback and complacent fellow.
From the passage above, Abraham joined his father, Terah, on a long journey as they relocated from Ur to Canaan. However, due to the distance of the journey, they decided to camp halfway at Haran. Unfortunately, Terah, the originator of the expedition, did not make it beyond this point, as he died in Haran at age 205.
Having thus lost his father, who was the one keen on getting the family to Canaan, a land reputed to be flowing with milk and honey, it appeared Abraham was not interested in continuing the journey from there. He was very well content with staying permanently in Haran. Even though he knew the original intent of his father, Abraham appeared unperturbed by the idea of staying put where they camped. He was ready to settle down halfway to their intended destination and make the most of life in Haran. After all, he had his wife, Sarai, and Lot, his young nephew, to consider.
But then God came in.
God must have seen Abraham’s intention to settle halfway rather than go the long haul to Canaan. He must have read the fear behind Abraham’s decision to settle for less. He must have listened to the logic Abraham put forth in explaining his decision and justifying his position to his wife and family. But God would have none of that. So, He decided to make an overture to Abraham.
God knew that for someone fully determined to settle as Abraham was, He needed to entice him with something to get him to continue the journey which his father started. So, God came to Abraham with an offer. He said:
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”- Genesis 12:2-3
With this inducement, God was able to get Abraham to rally his family and gather all they had so they could proceed on the journey to Canaan. From this point, Abraham went on to become a great person, just as God had promised him. However, if not for God’s intervention when he decided to settle for less by nesting in Haran, he might not have fulfilled his potential or become the great person that we know him to be today.
The lesson here is that it is okay to entertain fear and feelings of inferiority from time to time, particularly if the prospect you are contending with is as daunting as Abraham’s, who was not looking forward to the prospect of walking about 1000 kilometers on rough and rocky terrains traveling through deserts and wilderness, with the dangers of beasts and men of the underworld always there.
However, by dangling the promise of blessings, greatness and prominence before him, God was able to get Abraham to look beyond his anxieties and see the picture of all he might be if he embarked on the journey. Thankfully, he did.
Men in the Bible: the First Mighty Man Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore…
Men in the Bible: the First Mighty Man
Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). – Genesis 10:8-12
The man in the Bible that we shall spotlight today is Nimrod, the mighty one. Nimrod had the honor of being the first man to be described as ‘mighty’ in the Bible and, by extension, in recorded history. He was not just mighty on earth, even God acknowledged his might, to the point that his name became proverbial, and a popular saying originated to his credit thus, “Like Nimrod, whom the Lord saw as a great hunter” (Genesis 10:9, CEB).
Now, there is something particularly intriguing about Nimrod and his greatness. We had earlier read how his grandfather, Ham, was cursed by Noah, his own father, for making fun of his nudity. You can read that account here. Ham was not just cursed, but his entire lineage was cursed as well. They were condemned by a parental decree to become generational vassals to the other races that emerged from the other sons of Noah, Shem and Japheth. Therefore, it can be said that Nimrod began life from a rather disadvantaged background. He came from a cursed lineage and had the burden of a generational curse hanging on his neck.
However, Nimrod proved to us that irrespective of the disadvantages one might have in life; anyone can go ahead to become great and make a name for themselves. Through noble choices, sound decisions, a dint of hard work, and physical exertion, Nimord proved to us that anyone can attain greatness in life, become a global icon, and command the recognition of God.
Little is known about anyone else in Nimrod’s time, but coming from an accursed race, he did well to discard the yoke of hex upon himself and went on to build monumental kingdoms greater than anyone had ever done before him or even during his time. some of the kingdoms credited to him were Babel, Erech, Accad, Calneh, Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen.
By breaking through the barriers of his cursed lineage, Nimrod proceeded to also break into uncharted grounds and unfamiliar territories, to build great cities and a name for himself. A name that even God recognized. We can all learn from that.
To know more about the principles that worked for Nimrod, please watch this YouTube clip.
Another lesson we can learn from God is His disposition to a balancing act. He is not a God of extremes. Even though some who profess to follow Him go to extremes in His name or make extreme claims on His behalf, extreme is not a label that one can pin on God. He balances the acts.
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments
Another lesson we can learn from the personality of God is that sentiments do not move Him. Therefore, He cannot be deceived into making a wrong judgment or call, as humans tend to do.
Understanding God: He is A Creator
He is a Creator. This is not to be interpreted loosely, particularly in the light of our contemporary use of the word. God is the ultimate Creator, as He created all things, even the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28).
Understanding God: God of the Beginning
There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God. He is not just the beginning but is the origin of all things.
Women in the Bible: A Paragon of Beauty
What made Sarah’s beauty so compelling that kings and nations took notice? Explore the deeper layers of grace, favour, and mystery surrounding one of Scripture’s most unforgettable women — and discover why her story still provokes wonder today.
Men in the Bible: A Man of Ambition and Adventure
Terah may not have reached Canaan, but his courage to start a life-changing journey laid the foundation for Abraham’s destiny. Discover how ambition and bold steps mark a life of significance.
Men in the Bible: An Impetuous and Impudent Man
A revealing glimpse into a man whose choices exposed deeper issues of character, showing how hastiness and entitlement can quietly shape a destiny, and why his story still speaks to us today.
Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight
Sometimes what looks like a smart choice can hide the seed of a mistake. This reflection from Scripture invites us to think again about how foresight — or the lack of it — shapes a man’s story.
Men in the Bible: The First Man to Tithe
Before laws, temples, or traditions, one man honoured God with his substance. Abraham’s tithe was not commanded, demanded, or enforced. It flowed from reverence.
Fathers in the Bible: A Destiny-Shaping Father
What makes a man a truly aware father? Discover how one man’s prophetic foresight shaped his son’s destiny and changed generations forever.
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