1Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD's help."[34] 2Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. 3In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the LORD. 4And Abel also presented [an offering][35] — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.[36] The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.[37] 6Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast?[38] 7If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."[39] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
to be honest, I never understood why God refused Cain's offering, was it because the act of cultivation was an act of advancement, technology, wisdom? whilst becoming a shepherd is more connected with being emotionally inclined? ah, who knows. but what strikes out to me is that in Steinbeck's novel East of Eden, he managed to teach me something new that I've always overlooked. you see, the King James version says this:
"it is when Jehovah has asked Cain why he is angry. Jehovah says, ‘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."
God said that Cain will conquer sin but in the American Standard Bible it says ‘Do thou rule over him.’ which means something completely different. it literally means that Cain must conquer sin.
however, the original words of Jehovah was neither one of these translated versions' words. and seriously, this is exactly why I'm so against religions because no matter what, the true words of God always get changed throughout history... totally destroying the significance of each message that He is trying to convey. the actual words that the Lord said was ‘Thou mayest rule over sin.’ jeez, and I thought that 1) I have to be a good person, 2) I will be a good person no matter what, when really in reality the message from God was that we are given a choice between being good or being evil. "timshel", the Hebrew word, means ‘Thou mayest’, probably the most important word of the entire passage. how could the Bible make such a change? I really do not know. but it is the freedom of choice that humans are given by God. each of us have the free will to choose our own moral destinies, yet we have been taught to be good no matter what.
don't you just feel so foolish? so deceived? it made me feel so invigorated with accomplishment for being 'good' for so long when this entire time God was not going to hate me for not being good. it makes me feel completely stupid for actually trying to be the nicest person I could be when it was entirely up to me whether or not I wanted to be. naturally, after living my entire childhood striving to be good, it's actually hard to start stealing whatever I like... but I must say, reading that definitely gave me more perspective about God, and it seems I embrace the message of God little by little. perhaps I may never like the institution of religion, but the purpose and the scriptures of God make me feel so warm inside from my soaring spirits.
great, and now I am getting goosebumps.
timshel, everyone.
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