They Were Mean To Me Series

Genesis 4: 1 – 15

They were mean to me

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 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 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.” 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. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

Today we read about the first murder. It involved a man killing his brother. Fratricide (from the Latin words frater "brother" and cida "killer," or cidum "a killing," both from caedere "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's brother. In today’s descriptions the victim need not be the perpetrator's biological brother. In a military context, fratricide refers to a service member killing a comrade.

I love history and not coincidentally I came across a military massacre on the History Channel that was committed against Americans by NAZI SS troops during the battle of the Bulge which occurred around this time over 70 years ago right before Christmas time.

You cannot keep horrible things that you do under wraps. In 1944 the German army did a surprise offensive action against the American forces. The SS forces were led by a Hitler radical by the name of Joachim Peiper. Hitler had instructed him and his military commander Sepp Dietrich to break the Allied front in Belgium.. They were to move speedily because supplies were in short amount. They were to take no prisoners.

Peiper’s unit captured about 120 of US Soldiers from the 285th field artillery unit observation battalion. Peiper’s soldiers kept these men in an open field. A few transport trucks arrived at the field and the US soldiers at first thought that they were going to get on the trucks for transport to a prison camp. Instead the trucks backed up and when the rear tarp was opened the NAZI’s preceded to machine gun down the US soldiers. Some escaped to later testify about this massacre. A week later the frozen bodies of the slain were identified with a total of 85 innocent prisoners gunned down by the NAZI’s

Ultimately Peiper and those German soldiers who managed to stay alive through the war were captured and put on trial. Many received the death sentence including Peiper for their participation in this atrocity.

The reason I share this story with you is because of our study today. What caught my attention in the TV documentary was the fact that I witnessed the killer Peiper complain to US military reporters that the US army personnel were ‘mean’ to him. A few times he didn’t get a meal and proper treatment of an officer. Man what nerve. Today we are going to look at another whiner. His name is Cain. He will kill his brother and after being found out he also will complain that he was not treated properly. Amazing!