The Plague of Anger
Genesis 4:1-13
Anger is everywhere in this world. The press is constantly inciting anger. Politicians say not only should we be angry, but very angry. They say anger promotes the cause of justice. But does it? Do we well when we are angry? Anger is the means by which evil men and women use to control people and make them do things they would never normally think of doing like riot, loot and burn down their own neighborhoods. The Bible speaks much about the plague of anger. Let us look to its root, in the murder of Abel by Cain.
The first instance of anger in the Bible goes all the way back to the beginning of Genesis in the story of Cain and Abel. These were two of the children that Adam and Eve had. Cain was the older of the two which means he bore responsibility for the welfare of his younger brother. He was to be his brother’s keeper.
The text says that Both Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the LORD. Cain offered vegetables and fruit, but Abel brought the firstfruits of the flock, with the fat. Comparisons have been made of the quality of the two sacrifices. Abel’s more closely resembled the first sacrifice, which was when the LORD killed animals to provide clothing for Adam and Eve. So, was this the reason that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s rejected? One sees in the Old Testament that the odor of burning fat was a sweet savor unto the LORD. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel did indeed offer a better sacrifice, but one must notice the beginning of the phrase is “by faith.” It is the fact that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith, while Cain did not, made the difference. Hebrews also says “without faith it is impossible to please God. Cain’s problem was not that he offered the firstfruits of the field as compared to animal sacrifice. Rather it is because he lacked faith. Again, when we look to Hebrews 11, we also learn that faith is believing that the LORD will reward those who diligently seek him. Cain offered his sacrifice grudgingly, out of a sense of duty. He is much like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son. There was no joy in his service.
Cain could see that Abel’s attitude was different. His offering was made out of love fore the LORD. Whereas, Cain is noted for his fallen countenance, Abel was one to lift up his eyes to the LORD in joy. This reminds us that the Christian who serves out of duty is always jealous of the one who is happy in the LORD. He sneers contemptuously at the enthusiasm of his brother. He becomes overcome with anger as a result and attacks. The same is so with Cain.
The LORD who is the seeker in the Bible knew Cain was in trouble and tried to reason with him like the father tried to reason with the angry brother of the prodigal. The LORD is the one who sought for Cain’s parents in the Garden. People never seek the God of the Bible. It is the God of the Bible who seeks angry sinners. The LORD confronts Cain’s anger. “Why are you so angry?” The LORD knew of course. The question was for the benefit of Cain. The LORD could read Cain’s face. He then preaches the gospel to Cain. The beginning of the Gospel is to show us who we really are, and how much we are in the need of help. “If you do well, won’t you be accepted?” This is a call to repentance. It is hard to exactly translate the Hebrew when God says that “Sin croucheth at the door.” Some have suggested this means that there is an animal at the door that could be sacrificed as a sin offering. Next, the LORD told Cain he needed to master his anger rather than to have anger consume him. Cain had a chance to make things right.
But Cain chose not to believe what the LORD had said. It is always when one rejects the word of the LORD that disaster strikes. Adam and Eve had listened to the serpent and believed what he had said rather than the LORD. This resulted in the LORD cursing humankind. Although there was a promise of eventual redemption, death came into the world. An animal had to die to make skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. Now the first recorded human death came. The righteous would die at the hands of the wicked. All too often, the righteous are slain by evil men. This would happen to Jesus who would use His own death at wicked hands to redeem all who would believe on him. Abel’s blood speaks to posterity. The cry comes up perpetually from the ground. This points to the day that the Son promised in Genesis 3:15 would cry from the cross as his blood ebbed from His body. He too was rejected by His own people, another fratricide.
Even though Cain deserved to die for killing His brother, the LORD showed grace and spared Him. Even though he would be marked for life, he would not die. The LORD confronted Cain for what he had done, but the evil Cain responded with: “Am I my brother’s keeper.” The answer, of course, is yes. Like Adam and Eve, he tried to avoid responsibility for what he had done. He tried to hide it. But nothing is hid from the LORD. He heard the spilt blood cry from the ground. The LORD added to Cain’s curse and he was going to have to work even harder for the crops. Also, he would be driven out to be a wanderer. Cain did not repent even at this but complained that the punishment did not fit the crime. When he did go out, he proved his total lack of repentance He was cursed to wander, but instead he built the first city. The line of Cain would be known for its advancements in technology, but it would end in the destruction of the line of Cain in the flood. And violence and bloodshed filled the earth. But there is nothing more dangerous than angry men with advanced technology. Jubal made a lyre which provided music. That was good. But Lamech did even worse than Cain and slew a man in his wrath.
So the anger on man precedes violence. We noted that the world is angry right now. And there is violence everywhere, just like there was in the days of Noah. The human race is hell-bent on destruction. And if the days are not shortened by the grace of God, all would perish on the earth. The LORD calls out to the human race through his church. “Consider your ways and repent! Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved!”
Now we need to fix the gaze of the words of Scripture upon the church. Anger is a problem within the church as well. We see what is going on in the world and we are angry. We get so angry that we start to get the attitude of Jonah who was willing to fall off what he thought was the end of the earth, Tarshish, rather than preach to the Ninevites. He knew that they would repent if he but obeyed and preached the word of repentance to them. They were horribly evil people. Jonah thought it well to be very angry at them. The Assyrians were a lot different than the innocent Abel. And they did repent and God spared them. What was Jonah’s reaction. He was wroth. He sat outside the city waiting to see the end. But the end did not come. Jonah’s rage started to boil as well as his body in the unprotected hot sun. But God sheltered him with a gourd plant from the heat. Jonah received solace from a vegetable. But this did not cool him on the inside. Then the gourd withered, and Jonah started to scorch. This is when God was able to reach out and teach Jonah about grace. Jonah had responded to the LORD’s confronting him with his anger (“Doest thou well to be angry?”). “Of course!” replied Jonah. But God got the last word.
We can also remember how angry Jesus’ disciples got as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. The Samaritans had totally rejected Jesus’ preaching in a particular village, and the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to burn them up with fire. But Jesus rebuked them. This is not why Jesus came. He came to receive the anger of men that by repentance and faith they might have peace. We must remember that we are called to proclaim the Gospel of Peace. We have come with a message of reconciliation. We were all once Cain, but now we are Abel. The people today in this world are as evil as the Assyrians of Jonah’s day. They are mockers and oppressors of God’s people. But preach to them we must. Jesus did not promise us all would be roses. We will have trouble in this world. But this same Jesus promises us peace, not the peace the world temporarily offers between bursts of anger, but eternal peace. We must strive for this peace and not be driven by anger. God calls us as He did Cain to master our anger and not be mastered by anger. Even if anger does not kill others, it eats our insides like a cancer. The quality and length of our own lives are shortened in this life. Anger is as much suicide as it is murder. We don’t look at a sacrificial victim at the flaps of our tent door. Instead we remember that Christ died for us, that He died for us even though we were angry and at enmity against Him. The world is seeking for real peace. It is angry. It is jealous. It wants to lash out and kill. Let them see the peace of the LORD in us and desire Him who gives peace. In Christ, a true miracle has happened. The plague of anger is stopped at His cross. Instead of our anger begetting even more anger, anger has begotten peace. Christ stills the angry waves is a way that even the throwing of Jonah into the sea could not do. Now let peace beget even more peach through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
