Fratricide Series

“Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.’ And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.’

“Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the LORD said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.’” [1]

Christ the Lord has taught all who follow Him, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny” [MATTHEW 5:21-26].

Despite what the Master has taught concerning this speech that is identified as murderous and as sinful, I must wonder if we Christians have accepted the message. Jesus warned that speaking ill of a brother invites divine scrutiny—scrutiny that imperils the one who speaks against a fellow believer. Yet, far more often that I care to remember, parishioners who sat under the preaching of the Word felt comfortable in speaking ill of fellow believers, even slandering their brothers or sisters, and seeming to want to believe the worst concerning them. We import the attitudes of the world into our relationships among the brotherhood of believers; and our interactions with one another are as likely to reflect this dying world as they are to serve as a harbinger of heaven.

I do not say that we Christians are guilty of killing one another, but I do say that if our speech is any indication, we are capable of killing our brothers and our sisters. Our lack of compassion for our fellow believers may indicate a far more serious deficit in our lives than we know. When we have no concern for the welfare of those who share the Faith, when we can easily speak harshly against them, should we not be concerned?

Let me remind you of a startling picture of the vicious speech that destroys another by pointing to the words of one of the writers of the Proverbs.

“There are those whose teeth are swords,

whose fangs are knives,

to devour the poor from off the earth,

the needy from among mankind.”

[PROVERBS 30:14]

Agur’s words are graphic; any of us who have been on the receiving end of vile castigation will readily understand the veracity of what he has written. Slander, libel, defamation, vicious insults destroy the soul as surely as knives destroy the body. Tragically, such verbal assaults against the soul are not the sole purview of the lost; often it is professed saints of the Living God who fill their mouths with curses and vile vituperation; and the harm is even more apparent when the slander is against the innocent. Christians must never fall into the trap of destroying their fellow believers with the tongue, for to do so is fratricide of the vilest sort.

PREFACE TO THE STUDY — All sin is to be judged at the last. However, some sins are so heinous that God says they “cry out to heaven.” Such sins invite immediate judgement because they are so disturbing to the Living God. The sins of which I now speak are awful sins precisely because they attack central features of creation itself.