Genesis 4:6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 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. 8 And 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 slew him. 9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
In this passage of scripture the Lord bids us reason from cause to effect. Many people erroneously believe that God placed a curse on Cain. Nothing could be further from the truth, for all God did was to delineate in graphic terms the natural results of Cain's wrong-doing. The Bible clearly states that the wages of sin is death. This doesn't mean that God does something to the sinner to cause his or her death. It means that sin carries with it an inherent curse which inevitably results in negative circumstances and death. We should be very careful in our exegesis of the scriptures that we do not ascribe the natural results of wrong-doing to deliberate acts of our Creator.
Wherever sin is committed and cherished, there follows with unerring certainty the curse that is an inherent characteristic of sin's nature. If a person smokes several packs of cigarettes a day, they will suffer from lung cancer sooner or later. God does not do something to them for them to get cancer, but He does state what the natural results will be, very similar to what the Surgeon General does. As far as we know, the Surgeon general never gave anyone cancer by writing on a pack of cigarettes the possibility of death! In a much greater sense is the natural result of sin which follows the laws of cause and effect. This is what the Bible clearly states, and the counsels thus given cannot be disregarded with impunity. Let's read:
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Numbers 35:33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
This means that when Cain would plant a certain acre of land, the earth where he planted would not be as productive as it ought to be. However, if in desperation Cain were to sell the same acre of land to a person who lives according to the laws of God, the same land would now produce abundantly. This sacred truth is stated over and over again in the scriptures, but is largely overlooked by many Christians and is disregarded by most in the scientific community. When this truth is understood as it ought to be, very great light will be shed on the apparently random and unexplainable convulsions of nature.
However the opposite is also true, for when we walk in obedience to the principles of righteousness, animate and inanimate nature responds favorably to God's blessing, and the production of the earth consequently increases dramatically. Let's read:
Leviticus 25:18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
That's why the Lord entreats us to do right, for it is always for our good if we do. When genuine efforts are made by the grace of God to follow His eternal principles of righteousness, then there is a direct reaction of the earth, and God Himself personally gets more involved in the fertility of the soil. Let's read:
Deuteronomy 11:11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
We sincerely hope and pray that due consideration will be given to the truths discussed this morning, and it is our desire that everyone align themselves with the Eternal God and His principles of righteousness, for then a new day will dawn in our every day experiences. We therefore end with a pertinent verse of scripture which contains a promise for all people.
Deuteronomy 4:40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever. God bless!