Giving Up and Giving In
“If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be its desire, and yet you may rule over it.” Genesis 4:7
Sin – The first time we read the Hebrew word hatat (sin) is here in the story of Cain. Does that surprise you? It should. What about Adam and Eve? What about the naked snake and the Tree and all that? Wasn’t that sin?
Those aren’t the only questions implied in this passage. How would Cain know that what he did with his offering was on the borderline? In fact, how would Cain know anything about offerings and sin? What would it mean to Cain for God to say, “You may rule over it?” And what does it mean for God to say that doing well means his offering will be accepted? Doesn’t that sound like earning righteousness? Finally, there is that very unusual word, teshuqah (desire). Found only three times in Scripture, this word is critically important to understanding the nature of sin. Yes, there’s a lot to consider here. So, let’s get started.
The Hebrew verb hata literally means “to miss the mark.” It’s like shooting at a target but not hitting the bull’s eye. This word is the most frequent word for sin in the Bible, but it is used in Genesis only four times. It encompasses both the idea of missing the target and of failing to reach a goal. When it is used in religious contexts, it usually means a failure to do what is expected. That seems to be the case in this verse. God expects a certain behavior from Cain. But Cain does not produce that behavior. He fails to meet the goal.
That seems obvious, doesn’t it? But wait! God doesn’t say to Cain, “You have sinned.” He says that hatat lies at the door desiring you. Once again, we have a question. Does this mean that Cain has not yet sinned? Cain didn’t do what God expected. He brought an offering that was turned away. Isn’t that already sin? Apparently it isn’t. God does not tell Cain that he needs to confess and repent. God tells him that he needs to go do the right thing. Sin seeks the opportunity to take control, but it has not consummated that desire yet. All Cain needs to do is correct his behavior to avoid this unholy marriage.
There’s a very important lesson here. So often we feel as though the presence of the specter of sin is enough to defeat us. We reflect on a history of failures to do the right thing and we become paralyzed by the looming darkness. We think that it’s already too late to change. We feel sin clawing at our door, ravenous to devour us and we just can’t imagine a way to resist. So, we fail. We have been there so many times, one more failure seems inevitable. Our attempt to bring something to God backfires and we go away feeling that we just will never measure up.
But none of this is God’s point of view! Life for Cain, and for us, is filled with decision opportunities. Just like Cain, we think we’re on the right path, just doing things in the ordinary way. Then we are confronted by the Lord. We realize that we’re headed in the wrong direction. God says, “Just do what’s right.” We need to recognize that there is no sin in going the wrong way until God points out our error. Then things change. Now we can avoid sin by simply doing what is right. The monster outside the door can’t get in if we do the right thing. And doing the right thing doesn’t depend at all on how I feel at the moment. Sad, mad or glad, doing the right thing protects me from hatat.
How do I know what the right thing is? Ah, that’s another question. In Cain’s story, we can confidently assume that Cain knew – and that God knew that Cain knew. And when you really think about it, isn’t that true for us too? Doesn’t God confront you in precisely those areas of your life where you already know what the right thing to do is? What kind of God would He be if He expected you to do the right thing but knew that you didn’t know what it was?
Topical Index: sin, hata, right thing, missing the mark, Cain, Genesis 4:7
Skip: There is no “hatat” involved in this message. You hit the bullseye. And yes, I know what the right thing to do is. God commanded me in Eph. 5:17 to understand His will. Now I must do it.
Skip,
Sorry for the long post here but here but I have had numerous debates in the past with many people who believe the myth that “being under grace is a get out of jail free card”. I think the so called “Body Of Messiah” has taken things in the wrong direction. I apologize Skip if this comment steps on any ensuing messages that are forthcomiong on this topic.
Although we don’t want to be paralyzed by any means because of our failures I would still contend that David, unlike Cain, is a great example for us!
Skip’s message of Friday, November 14, 2008 sums it up very well: [ “Of course, those feelings of devastation and remorse (because of sin) are part of repentance. They belong to the forgiveness process. Until I am aware of my lack of holiness, I don’t really understand the nature of my sin. This nuance is crucial in understanding what happens with Cain. David is a believer, an active follower of the One True God. Because he believes, he is committed to a heart of obedience and that means that when his behaviors are revealed as sins, he is acutely aware of the personal disintegration that results. He feels sorrow, an inward burning, reproach, reproof, sickness and tears. But Cain doesn’t! ]
So the point is that t’shuvah is simply not a one time deal. Perhaps we can refer to the great t’shuvah as being our submission to YHVH and turning away from open rebellion and then the t’shuvah process as the ongoing corrections that come as we walk the path! We know that David is the picture of reality: he does righteous things and he sins, but he never presumes that his relationship with YHVH enables him to take his sins lightly! His objective is to be “kadosh” or separated for YHVH’s work. It works for David because of grace but David always balances his shortcomings by drawing closer to YHVH and not further away!
Both the rebukings and our response to them are critical. As Skip points out YHVH will point out our failings … and …. if we have a desire to be obedient and are not openly rebellious then our response will be like David’s!
Even better for us, as Skip points out in his message on November 12, 2008 and many, many others … unlike Cain we have the play-book written down for us if we only bother to read it … immerse in it. Of course The Word contains the ways of righteousness. It is supposed to be our way and as such we know what the expectation of YHVH is for our own behavior.
And for those people who for whatever reason don’t get it … those that do not understand that our expected behavior is contained within The Word (Torah) … there still is no excuse.
Romans: 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.
So in the end we all know He is the perfectly Righteous and Holy YHVH Who lets us know exactly what He wants from us! 🙂
Shalom
Drew
I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks.
By the way, I am convinced that the Greek philosophical metaphysics that denies the goodness of the earth and projects goodness only into the afterlife (the Forms) is one of the significant reasons why Christianity has moved in the direction of the “get out of jail free” theology. Not acknowledging the handiwork and plan of the Creator for THIS WORLD allows us to focus all of our attention on getting to the next. So, of course, what we do here doesn’t really count. This is Greek through and through.
Great add on Skip! You are so correct and we should run from any type of gnostic thought processes or world outlooks. Creation is tov/good … period! We do not live in a doom and gloom world but one as Skip points out is full of opportunities and wondrous blessings. After all Yeshua is not King of a meaningless domain. His domain is wonderful and full of bounty. Let us pray that we keep to Skip’s mantra and use the bounty to distribute and not horde it! We must be repsonsible stewards and this entails operating in the liberty of the real prize … Yeshua!
Also we need to remember that Yeshua is coming back and the kingdom is here … not in space! His kingdom is on the Earth. If we make it to His glorious return …. we will not be going anywhere!
As usual Skip … you tie things up quite nicely! 🙂
Drew, you make some very good observations too! Thanks for your contributions to this blog site.
Great way to start the day!
“Life for Cain, and for us, is filled with decision opportunities. Just like Cain, we think we’re on the right path, just doing things in the ordinary way. Then we are confronted by the Lord. We realize that we’re headed in the wrong direction. God says, “Just do what’s right.” We need to recognize that there is no sin in going the wrong way until God points out our error.”
Something I have observed is that sometimes I’m on the right path but God wants me to switch to another path for another purpose. If I remain on the path I was on (which was the right path for a time) when I’m to switch to another path, the right path I was on becomes a wrong path. For example, if the Israelites remained after the cloud departed, their remaining in the once right place would be the wrong place and they would be in disobedience.
Robin, I like your explanation of the “right path” being the one that GOD wants me on. That path can change, and it DOES change according to His will for my life that will bring Him the most glory. I can only know the right path to walk in when I am continuing to listen to His daily word.
Here’s another thought: this may sound like psychobabble, but consider this: I can’t make a ‘mistake’ if I’ve never done it before. The mistake occurs when I repeat something that didn’t turn out well (according to God’s plan) and I do it again intentionally. THAT is the mistake! And that is the SIN if I knew it went against God’s word.
Your explanation of the right path put another way could be: “the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.”
Hi Cyndee … this is quite an interesting point. I am however having trouble digesting it .. 🙂
Would this be along the lines of say like when Yeshua told the parable of the priest and the levites bypassing the injured man … but the samaritan came along and helped him?
As the story goes there is conjecture that the priest and levite were attempting to remain “ritually pure” by not dealing with the beaten and presumably bloodied man. Of course in their minds and according to their following of Torah they were doing the “right thing”. And it is a right thing to remain pure. However they were doing a right thing at a time when they should have been doing a different … more appropriate “right thing” which was to love their neighbor.
Is this what you had in mind? I just wanted to make sure this was accurate because the right thing is not a wrong thing … it is just a person making a decision not do the best right thing at the right time.
But I think the idea has much merit because how often do we think we are doing everything like it should be done and things don’t turn out well? I would agree then that measuring the results and adjusting is as important as trying to apply the right behavior.
Never really thought of it like this but …. quite interesting …. thanks for the “thought food” 🙂
This is so good!! You have hit the nail on the head Skip for what you have explained above is where I was at in my addiction. I didn’t know the way out and thought there was no other way and was stuck in my actions. My mind was divided on one hand I wanted to do what was right and I found myself doing things I hated. Paul speaks of this quandry in Romans chapter 7. It was when in jail that revelation of this chapter was ulluminated in my heart, the begining of freedom from the opression of sin and disobedience.
A fellow traveler of the Way,
Jeffrey