Jealousy and Anger Issues: Cain (Genesis 4)

 Jealousy and Anger Issues: Cain

Cain was the first human in history who committed a murder. He murdered his own brother.

And all this started from jealousy. He trusted and relied too much on himself.

And when this ‘self’ wasn’t really accepted by God while the seeming vanity of Abel was, he became offended. Why could he not decide his own way?


[Gen 4:4-5 NKJV] 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.


Cain was jealous and he became angry. Jealousy can create anger. Anger is a passion that often moves to action. And when this anger is rooted in jealousy, which is about another person, this anger will be poisonous and often be vented on that person if it is not controlled.

With this anger rooted in jealousy the person often forgets to think through what he is thinking or doing. Passion takes over and the consequences are dire, even for the person who is angry.

Sometimes we will find ourselves jealous. And perhaps this jealousy results in a wrong passion like anger. Part of the root in the case of Cain could already have been cured if he simply put more faith in God instead of his own achievements. This keeps our eyes on God instead of comparing ourselves with others.

But God gives more principles in how to handle this kind of anger or passion.

This is what He does:


[Gen 4:6-7 NKJV] 6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you should rule over it."


First God asks questions. This often forces someone to think if taken seriously. When we get angry, ask yourself: Why am I angry? Why did my behavior change? And is my current thought process good or evil? Is it well or not well? Dwell on the results of the rush of thoughts that may go through the mind in anger. Think of what God thinks of it.

If it is the wrong kind of anger it may hurt to admit, but it is for the better. It may hurt to admit that anger is based on jealousy, but if Cain had actually thought it through and admitted why he was angry he would not have killed Abel. Much evil could be prevented this way.

When we are angry, especially this unrighteous anger based on jealousy, it is as if sin is knocking on the door. It wants to push itself in. A rush in our mind tells us to open the door and to do everything we’re not supposed to do.
But while questioning ourselves and thinking it through we may look at the issue again with more rationale. We are to rule over this sin. We may have the sinful desire and passion and it may be very hard to resist at that moment, but we have to rule over it.

In this way God gave Cain an opportunity to go back. But did he really consider what God said and asked?

Unfortunately not. And the consequences were terrible.


[Gen 4:8-11 NKJV] 8 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. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where [is] Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. [Am] I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 "So now you [are] cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.


So let us put this in a structured way. When you get angry, especially when this is rooted in a wrong passion or reason, we can get these principles from Genesis 4:


  1. Ask yourself why you are angry. Be honest and take your time. Why are you angry? 

  2. Think of the consequences of the actions you desire to take or of the mindset you are keeping up.

  3. Rule over any sinful passions. Control it even when it is hard through the Holy Spirit. Do not open the door to this huge flood.


In all of this God can help us. He tried to help Cain by asking him questions and trying to make him think and resist sin. God still works this way through the Holy Spirit if we ask:


[Jhn 16:7-8 NKJV] 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blessing in the Curse: When God Curses (Genesis 3)

When God Curses In Genesis 3 the first curses of God are given. God hates sin and it is in His character and nature to punish it. His principle is against evil. But even in these first curses His love can still be seen. With the thorn comes the rose and God can be graceful in His stern justice. First the serpent is given a curse, who does not even get the time to give an answer for what he did unlike Adam and Eve: [Gen 3:14-15 NKJV] 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You [are] cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." Because you have done this . Done what? Deceived humanity and brought it to destruction. In God’s hate for what Satan did He shows His love for humanity. He actually cared about th...
Read more

Curses for the Genders (Genesis 3)

Curses for the Genders When humanity had sinned God cursed the man, woman and the serpent. We will here look at the curses given to the man and woman specifically since these reveal how people often work. They show how the relation between the two sexes often are. This is not the ideal, since it came from a curse. But it is what it is and God Himself had given these curses for a reason. In fact, in the curse for Adam He explicitly says it was for his own good. For the woman it is said: [Gen 3:16 NKJV] 16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire [shall be] for your husband, And he shall rule over you." For this article the last part is especially interesting. The wife would desire the husband. Closely related to this and what may explain which kind of desire this is, is that the husband would rule over the wife. Now this rule has often been abused. But when it is within God’s law it is a...
Read more

Loneliness and Marriage (Genesis 2)

 Loneliness and Marriage On the sixth day God created men. But this did not make it perfect and very good yet. Something was missing. [Gen 2:18 NKJV] 18 And the LORD God said, "[It is] not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Adam, the first man, was still alone. To put this loneliness into perspective Scripture gives this context: [Gen 2:19-20 NKJV] 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought [them] to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that [was] its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. The animals could not relate to Adam. They could not be His ‘helper’ or sustainer. No one was comparable to him. Not only are animals a different species, they were on a different level too. They did not have his intellige...
Read more