Here are some new observations about the human condition and things which create the bassi for human law. The point of the posts so far has been to observe some initial principles and realities which develop into the complex world of law that we have to navigate today.
Law embodies a wide range of issues just in terms of legality, without reflecting on the broader impact of ‘laws’, such as the laws of nature. We have Contract Law, Family Law, Common Law, Natural Law, International Law, Civil Law, Federal Law, Maritime Law, and more. So this investigation of the ‘basis’ of all that human law should help us all to understand how the various laws impact us.
These posts are drawn from the text of the Holy Bible, particularly the early chapters of the first book, Genesis. This post picks up the review at Genesis 4, where we find the first family coming into problems.
Subverted Lives
The historical events recorded in Genesis 4 point out that human lives do not remain free, but become subverted and engage in illegal and immoral actions. We have already seen, in Genesis 3, that humans are perfectly able to rebel against the rightful supreme authority of God. That ability attests to the free will which all people have been given by their creator. God has free will, and so man, made in the image of God, has also been given the privilege of using free will.
In Genesis 4 we have the account of one brother who takes a dislike toward his sibling. Both men made offerings to God and one offering was accepted, the other not. Abel offered animal sacrifice, while Cain offered garden produce. God was pleased with the animal sacrifice, since it reflected the future sacrifice of Christ. Cain did not learn from the experience, but allowed his personal feelings to rule his actions. By doing so his life was subverted. It came under the power of a force called ‘sin’.
Warning Ignored
Cain was warned by God that his heart attitude was dangerous. There was an evil force seeking opportunity to subvert Cain’s life. That force was meant to be resisted, but if given in to would rule Cain’s life.
Cain ignored the warning, seethed in anger and eventually murdered his brother. This event reveals that humans cannot be trusted to do the right thing, or even to heed appropriate warnings. People do wrong things. People act out of self interest, to the point of criminal action against others.
Cain gave in to the temptation of ‘sin’ which promised him some form of pacification of his inner feelings. Sin did not make things better in Cain’s case, just as it had not made things better for Adam and Eve. Sin is a lying force which promises gratification, but brings destruction.
The Apostle Paul, writing some 4,000 years later, prompted his audience to realise that sin did not provide any benefit. It did not deserve to be listened to. People owe sin nothing, because sin always breaks its promise of gain.
“What fruit did you have at that time in the things whereof you are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.” Romans 6:21
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” Romans 8:12
Slavery
Sin seeks to rule us. Jesus Christ stated it plainly and so too did the Apostle Paul. If we give in to sin that sin will own us and make us its slave.
“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34
“Don’t you know, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” Romans 6:16
This reality explains why there are people who seem committed to evil, such as serial offenders. It also explains how people who have the trust of others can choose to hurt people for selfish gain.
Humans have the capacity to give in to sin and become enslaved to it.
Note that this principle is true of those who do not commit heinous crimes. Anyone who has given in to lying, lust, pride, theft, greed, gluttony, resentment or the like, is equally a slave to those things. They may not murder someone, or commit a sensational crime, but they are slaves nonetheless.
Blood Crimes
After Cain killed his brother God interrogated him, as sovereigns have the right to do to their subjects. Cain chose to lie to God. This reveals how his life was increasingly subverted by sin, using one form of sin to cover another.
God knew exactly what had happened, but when challenging Cain, God used an interesting reference point – the blood of the dead brother.
“And God said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.” Genesis 4:10
Abel’s blood cried out for justice and maybe vengeance for the crime committed against him. So we see that killing another person has a unique quality about it. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit there was no blood. When Abel killed animals there was no cry from the blood, but God accepted the offering. But when Cain killed Abel, Abel’s blood cried out for God’s attention.
Blood crimes are serious. When murder takes place there is not only a moral crime, but there is a polluting of the very ground, since the blood cries from the ground.
“And they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.” Psalm 106:38
Unique Punishment
Because of Cain’s sin of murder God put a unique punishment on him. When Adam sinned the ground was cursed – which accounts for the degenerative decay which attends all living things. But when Cain sinned God decreed that he would be cursed from the earth (Genesis 4:11). He was also assigned a new status, that of fugitive and vagabond. This included the fact that he would lose his connection with God.
It is interesting to note that God did not prescribe capital punishment, in the death sentence, upon Cain, even though he had murdered someone.
Cain was very distressed about the punishment placed on him.
“And Cain said to the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from your face will I be hid; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it will come to pass, that every one that finds me will slay me.” Genesis 4:13,14
Human Vengeance
Cain was concerned that he would be victimised by other people because of his crime and God’s curse. Here we see the reality of human retaliation. Much has been done through the centuries by people stirred by their own passion of vengeance or their own sense for what should be meted out to criminals.
The wild, blood-thirsty posse of the wild west and the cold-hearted avenger who bides their time for retaliation are known to us. Cain wanted protection from any person who may think it their right to kill him.
God did not allow for the notion of people taking justice into their own hands. God did not say to Cain, “Well it serves you right!” God gave Cain a special identification mark, to warn people not to kill him. Anyone who took justice into their own hands and killed Cain would receive a punishment seven times greater.
“And the LORD said to him, Therefore whosoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” Genesis 4:15
Coming Up
Genesis 4 gives us insights into God’s dealings with individuals who commit crimes. The next key chapter to investigate is Genesis 6, in which we see God responding to a world full of people who have lost the plot. Immorality, rebellion and self-interest became so rampant that just about everyone had rejected their created purpose and any relationship with God.
We shall investigate the legal lessons to gain from that situation in the next post.
Tags: blood, Genesis, human law, law, murder, punishment, slavery to sin
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