Are You Your Brethren's Keeper?
Genesis 4:1-15 reads,
4:1
The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s help." 4:2Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 4:3As time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. 4:4Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, 4:5but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. 4:6Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 4:7If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it." 4:8Cain said to Abel, his brother, "Let’s go into the field." It happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.4:9
Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?"He said, "I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?"
4:10
Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 4:11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth."4:13
Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 4:14Behold, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."4:15
Yahweh said to him, "Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him.Don't Yahweh's words in 4:9 imply, even as understood by Cain, that we are indeed our brethren's keepers? Shouldn't we be concerned for our brethren's welfare, seeing that we are indeed their keepers?
Don't Be Angry Without Just Cause
Wasn't Cain angry without just cause? Wasn't Cain angry because Yahweh had regard for his brother's offering but did not have regard for his own offering? Wasn't Cain envious at his brother's better fortune? Didn't Yahweh's words to Cain show that it is not appropriate for one to be envious of another's good or better fortune? Didn't Yahweh's words to Cain also show that envy and unjustified anger are a prelude to committing sin outwardly? And didn't he show that we must rule over sin, which desires to rule over us? Doesn't this mean that we are to overcome the power of sin?
Didn't Cain disregard Yahweh's advice that he rules over sin trying to rule over him? Didn't he succumb to sin and thereby murdered his brother?
Curses Are The Consequence Of Sin
Didn't Yahweh punish Cain greatly by cursing him on account of his sin? Doesn't this show that curses come over us on account of our sins? Doesn't this also imply that the manner to avoid curses coming over us is to avoid sinning?
Genesis 9:5-6 reads,
9:5
I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 9:6Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man will his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man.Doesn't Yahweh clearly show that human beings are to preserve the lives of their brethren - fellow human beings? Isn't it also the implication that we should do good to others, seeing that they are made in the Mighty One's image?
Canaan Sinned Sexually Against Noah
Genesis 9:20-27 reads,
9:20
Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 9:21He drank of the wine, and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. 9:22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 9:23Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. 9:24Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. 9:25He said,"Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants will he be to his brothers."
9:26
He said,"Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem;
Let Canaan be his servant.
9:27
God enlarge Japheth,Let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
Let Canaan be his servant."
Didn't Canaan receive a curse upon himself as a result of his sexual sin against his grandfather Noah? Doesn't sin bring about curses upon those who commit it? Is not the manner to avoid curses coming upon us the avoidance of sin? Wasn't Canaan punished with service to his brethren on account of his sin?
Yahweh Separated Abram From His Brethren
Genesis 12:1-6 reads,
12:1
Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. 12:2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 12:3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed."12:4
So Abram went, as Yahweh had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. 12:5Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls who they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came. 12:6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land.Doesn't Yahweh sometimes command people to depart from their brethren and dwell separately from them? Isn't this what he did with Abram? And doesn't Yahweh have a purpose for so commanding a person? Wasn't his reason for commanding Abram to separate from his relatives the commencement of the fulfilment of his will for Abram, a fulfilment that did not include Abram's brethren from whom he was separating? Shouldn't we therefore heed Yahweh's word to us to separate from our brethren, if and when he so commands us? Will not our heeding such a word of Yahweh allow him to fulfil his will for us, a fulfilment not involving the brethren from whom he has separated us?
Genesis 13 reads,
13:1
Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. 13:2Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 13:3He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 13:4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh. 13:5Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 13:6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. 13:7There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived then in the land. 13:8Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives. 13:9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left."13:10
Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. 13:11So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. 13:12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13:13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.13:14
Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 13:15for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. 13:16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered. 13:17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to you."13:18
Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.
Humans Need Sufficient Living Space In Order To Dwell In Peace
Isn't it the case that when human beings live together in congested conditions strife inevitably develops among them? Doesn't strife arise among them because the congested area is inadequate for their needs or aspirations? Doesn't this imply that human beings need sufficient space in order to live together in peace and harmony?
Relatives Should Dwell Together In Peace And Harmony
Didn't Abram speak to Lot that there should be no strife between their two households, seeing that they were relatives? Didn't Abram understand that relatives should dwell together in peace and harmony, without strife? Didn't Abram also understand that where there is a conflict between the aspiration of relatives living together, and the aspiration of relatives dwelling in peace and harmony, the latter aspiration prevails? In other words, didn't Abram understand that the principle of relatives dwelling in peace and harmony supersedes the principle of relatives dwelling together? Doesn't this mean that when relatives cannot dwell together peaceably they should separate from one another and dwell apart in peace and harmony?
Abram Sacrificed Good Property For The Sake Of Peace Among Relatives
Didn't Abram give his relative Lot the opportunity of choosing first which land he wanted for himself? Didn't Abram give Lot the opportunity of selecting for himself the best land, with Abram taking what was left over? Didn't Abram in this conduct reveal that he was not a selfish man but a selfless one, sacrificing property for the sake of peace and harmony among relatives? Shouldn't we emulate Abram's example, sacrificing gain for the sake of peace and harmony among relatives?
Yahweh Revealed To Abram His Future Inheritance After His Separation From Lot
Didn't Yahweh reveal to Abram his future inheritance after he had separated from Lot? Didn't Yahweh wait for that separation to take place prior to revealing to Abram his future inheritance? Doesn't this indicate that Abram's inheritance was different from Lot's inheritance? Doesn't this indicate that Yahweh brought about the separation in order to execute for Abram and Lot what he separately willed for each of them? Doesn't this imply that when Yahweh separates us from our relatives it is for the purpose of fulfilling his respective wills for those relatives and for us?
Genesis 14:12-16 reads,
14:12
They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.14:13
One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram. 14:14When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. 14:15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 14:16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.Didn't Abram's conduct show that he was indeed his brother's keeper? Didn't he go after Lot to rescue him when the latter was captured in war? Didn't he succeed in rescuing Lot and returning to the latter his goods and people? Doesn't Abram show us that being our brethren's keepers entails taking whatever course of action that is necessary for their welfare?
Jacob Did Not Act As Esau's Keeper
Genesis 25:27-34 reads,
25:27
The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 25:28Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. 25:29Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 25:30Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.25:31
Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright."25:32
Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"25:33
Jacob said, "Swear to me first."He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. 25:34Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
Did Jacob do right in not freely giving his brother food when his brother was famished? Shouldn't he have acted as his brother's keeper, doing whatever was in his power to preserve his brother's life? Wouldn't he have done better by freely giving his brother the needed food, without trading the food for his brother's birthright?
Jacob Deceptively Acquired His Brother's Blessing
Genesis 27:1-45 reads,
27:1
It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?"He said to him, "Here I am."
27:2
He said, "See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. 27:3Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. 27:4Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.27:5
Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 27:6Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 27:7‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ 27:8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. 27:9Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good kids of the goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. 27:10You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."27:11
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 27:12What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing."27:13
His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me."27:14
He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 27:15Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. 27:16She put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 27:17She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.27:18
He came to his father, and said, "My father?"He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"
27:19
Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."27:20
Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?"He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success."
27:21
Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."27:22
Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 27:23He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 27:24He said, "Are you really my son Esau?"He said, "I am."
27:25
He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you."He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. 27:26His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son." 27:27He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,
"Behold, the smell of my son
Is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
27:28
God give you of the dew of the sky,of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29
Let peoples serve you,Nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
Blessed be everyone who blesses you."
27:30
It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 27:31He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me."27:32
Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?"He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."
27:33
Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed."27:34
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father."27:35
He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."27:36
He said, "Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?"27:37
Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?"27:38
Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.27:39
Isaac his father answered him,"Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling,
and of the dew of the sky from above.
27:40
By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother.It will happen, when you will break loose,
That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."
27:41
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."27:42
The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 27:43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. 27:44Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away; 27:45until your brother’s anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
Deceptively Acquiring What Belongs To Another Is Wrong
Did Jacob do right in deceiving his father and procuring from him the blessing his father had meant for Esau? Isn't it wrong to procure by deception what belongs to another?
Why was Isaac deceived?
Wasn't it because he was blind and therefore could not verify conclusively whether what he encountered was actually what he thought it was? Doesn't this show that those who are blind can indeed be deceived by others in a manner unlikely for those not blind?
The Penalty For Practising Deception Is A Curse
Didn't Jacob realise that what he had purposed to do wasn't right? Didn't he realise that if his father had found out that he was deceiving his father he would have received a curse and not a blessing? Doesn't this show that the penalty for obtaining by deception what belongs to another is indeed a curse?
Esau Was Wrong To Hate Jacob Despite Jacob's Misdeeds Against Him
Didn't Esau harbour hatred in his heart on account of Jacob's misdeeds against him? Did not the hatred become a resolution to murder Jacob after the death of their father?
Seeing that murder is against Yahweh's word, isn't it clear that Esau's heart was not right in his purpose to murder his brother, despite his brother's misdeeds against him? Doesn't this show that even when our brethren sin against us, it is still not proper for us to harbour hatred against them or bear murder in our hearts? Doesn't this mean that we are to remain righteous before Yahweh, not bearing sin in our hearts, even when our brethren sin against us? Doesn't this mean that we are not to take vengeance in our own hands, but leave the matter to Yahweh to deal with as he sees fit and at his own time?
An Uncle And A Nephew Are Brethren
Genesis 29:13-15 reads,
29:13
It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. 29:14Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month. 29:15Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"Weren't Laban and Jacob brethren, seeing that they were close relatives?
Genesis 30:14-21 reads,
30:14
Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes."30:15
She said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?"Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes."
30:16
Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes."He lay with her that night. 30:17God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. 30:18Leah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." She named him Issachar. 30:19Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 30:20Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons." She named him Zebulun. 30:21Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.
Did Rachel do right in monopolising her husband rather than fairly sharing him with her sister and fellow wife? Aren't brethren supposed to be keepers of one another? Wasn't Rachel supposed to so be Leah's keeper by ensuring that Leah's needs were fulfilled when it was in her power to do so? Wasn't the manner Rachel to do this ensuring that their husband also lay with Leah, rather than ignoring Leah yet she was also Jacob's wife? Isn't it clear that Rachel did not do right in monopolising their husband?
Yahweh Instructed Jacob To Separate From Laban When Strife Was Developing Between Them
Genesis 31:1-3 reads,
31:1
He heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. From that which was our father’s, has he gotten all this wealth." 31:2Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. 31:3Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you."Didn't Yahweh instruct Jacob to separate from one group of relatives and return to another group of relatives? Didn't Yahweh instruct Jacob to separate himself from Laban's household at the time when Laban's household had ceased from regarding him well but harboured envy and hatred against him? Wasn't this a prelude to further trouble between Laban's household and Jacob if Jacob had continued to dwell with them? Wasn't it therefore more important, for the sake of peace and harmony among brethren, for Jacob to separate from Laban's household?
Yahweh Paid Jacob Deceptions For His Deception
Genesis 31:4-7 reads,
31:4
Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, 31:5and said to them, "I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 31:6You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. 31:7Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.Wasn't Jacob also deceived in his dealings with his brother Laban? Did Yahweh allow this in recompense for his deception in obtaining from his father the blessing his father had meant for his brother Esau?
Jacob Was Paid Exploitations For His Exploitation
Genesis 31:36-42 reads,
31:36
Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? 31:37Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two. 31:38These twenty years have I been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. 31:39That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore the loss of it. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 31:40Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. 31:41These twenty years have I been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 31:42Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."Didn't Jacob experience, over 20 years, what it was like to be on the receiving end of a deception? Doesn't it appear that Yahweh paid him with deception against him seeing that he acted deceptively against his brother Esau?
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