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Tablet Sixteen
Chapter 4
"And
Adam knew
Eve his wife; and she
conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the
Lord." (Genesis 4:1)
<1>Man became attached to the family life and
its pleasure of having sons and daughters.
God gave man children to make him understand how
God feels about humans.
God has the same feeling about humans as a parent has about his
children. <2>Also, usually children have the same feeling
about their parents, as man has about
God
(unappreciative).
"And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel
was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."
(Genesis 4:2)
<3>As man multiplied, the division of labor
started.
"And in process of time it came to pass, that
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."
(Genesis 4:3)
<4>Now the process of worshipping
God became one of
offering gross things, because humans thought that
God needed things. However, the ideation and feeling created is
what is important in this type of worshipping.
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of
his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel
and to his offering:" (Genesis 4:4)
<5>Firstling flock was a great offering by a
sheep keeper, and he gave the best for his Lord. Abel was not
attached to the external wealth but he sought
God's
Grace, and offered it
without any attachment to the results of his offering. <6>Therefore,
God respected the
offering.
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."
(Genesis 4:5)
<7>Cain was attached to the result of his
action.
God wanted to show Cain
that he wasn't presenting the offering with a pure heart and without
expectation. That is why
God did not respect his
offering. Instead of being patient and understanding that the
perfect
God
has a reason for doing that, <8>Cain became very angry and
his countenance fell. God
was trying to make a point and give him a lesson.
<9>That is exactly what happens to those who
are not completely surrendered to
God and are not willing to understand and follow His Laws. They
become wroth, their countenance falls, and they become lost, because
they are attached to their lower natures and judge
God from that state of
consciousness, instead of being patient and learn.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth?
and why is thy countenance fallen?" (Genesis 4:6)
<10>Those are really the questions that every
person (Cain in this case) should ask him or herself, i.e., "Why
am I attached to the result of my actions? Why am I angry about
everything? Why am I lost?"
"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and
thou shalt rule over him." (Genesis 4:7)
<11>Here it is shown that it was not the
offering which was rejected, but the way it was offered, "If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" <12>The sentence,
"and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at the door"
means, "Your desire to receive some result of your action and your
attachment to gain for something you do for the Lord is completely
apparent from you."
<13>Desire to gain something for any service
makes it a business, not service. <14>Giving something for
gain is business.
<15>Service
means to give without expecting anything in return. This kind of
service
brings His Grace.
<16>"And unto thee shall be his desire, and
thou shalt rule over him" means, "Therefore this desire will rule
over you, your actions will become fruitless, and you will lose the
respect for your actions."
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