"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 

In Genesis chapter 4, Cain murders his brother. After God inquired about Abel’s location, Cain responds with this question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” On the surface, the question is a way of avoiding God’s question and the responsibility for his act. Yet the question itself reveals so much more about Cain’s heart, our hearts, and God’s expectations.

Am I my brother’s keeper? This question hints at an important standard in Scripture. Do we have responsibility for one another? For Cain, he uses the question to deflect and say that he is not responsible for keeping tabs on his brother, for “keeping” him as Adam kept the garden. Yet this reveals the depth of his sin. Cain does have a responsibility to treat his brother well, which he violates. As Genesis is written by Moses for Israel’s instruction, they would be well aware of the law in which they are to support one another. In the new testament, as we are one body in Christ, we are parts of one another, so when one of us suffers, we all suffer. In a very real sense, we have an obligation to one another, to support and cause no harm. Cain’s question not only presents his misunderstanding of God’s expectations for our relationships, but he attempts by it to deny that he violated in the most extreme way God’s expectation for our relationships.

Questions

1.     When have you regarded you care or concern for yourself at the exclusion of others? Think about specifics and if God convicted your heart?

2.     In what ways have you sinned and denied your sin before God and others?

3.     What actions can you take to display your love for others?