I am my Brother's Keeper

I am my brother’s keeper

Coming into the passage, God has created the world by speaking it into being showing his power and authority. God created all things, but the creation with the most importance is the creation of human kind in the people Adam and Eve.

Humanity is the only created thing that bears the Image of God in Latin the Imago Dei. So bearing the image of God gives humanity a unique place in creation, because humanity not only has God’s image but also His authority.

Something we need to understand is that authority in God’s economy insinuates STEWARDSHIP. Those who are in authority are not supposed to exploit those under them, but are supposed to look after them. Authority figures are servants RESPONSIBLE for their people.

Responsability is going to be our KEY concept for us this morning so keep this in mind.

Back to the story at hand, Mankind “God’s representatives on earth” defy the God they represent by taking the first opportunity to become gods themselves. Their punishment for their treason is that they are banished from the perfect creation set before them in the garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve the first two people, the physical Image of God in creation, now the ones forever associated with Sin. They are in effect, Mankind itself.

Even in the very first story in Scripture we see the two natures, the nature of Man, self seeking

Why was Cain’s sacrifice insufficient?

Genesis 4:9

God’s question “Where is your brother Abel?” echoes the inquiry put to Adam in the garden, “Where are you?” (3:9). Both acts of disobedience are thus tied together, indicating that Cain’s murderous act had its antecedents in the sin of his father. Unlike his father, who admitted his crime (though reluctantly), Cain adds to his condemnation by lying. He attempts to elude the question and absolve himself of responsibility by his question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain intends it as a rhetorical question requiring a negative reply, but the response from God discloses otherwise. Adam was appointed “keeper” (šōmēr) of the garden (2:15), but here the issue involves responsibility for another human being. The definitive reply to Cain’s question is found in the later Noahic covenant when the Lord formally sanctions retributive justice against murderers (9:5–6).

The Mosaic law would have given an affirmative answer to Cain’s question. His crime would have been recognized as a particularly heinous violation of community solidarity, which was highly esteemed among the Hebrews. Community presupposed mutual responsibility that was foundational to covenant commitment (e.g., Lev 19:18; Gal 5:14). Even death did not obviate family obligations to a deceased family member (e.g., Num 35:19, 21; Deut 25:5–10). Community responsibility took priority over individual preferences or rights. Kinship terms such as “brother” characterized those who entered into a mutual covenant agreement. “Brother” is used of fellow Israelites (e.g., Deut 1:16; 15:12) who are protected from exploitation of any kind (e.g., Lev 25:35–43; Deut 23:19); aliens who live within the community are treated as “native-born” (Lev 19:33–34). Human morality assumes an unstated covenant between persons that is grounded in the intrinsic imago Dei (9:5–6).282 The Christian community followed the same pattern of solidarity as in Israel, including corporate guilt (e.g., 1 Cor 11:30; Gal 6:1–2). While individuality was not denied, individualism in the sense of an autonomous person having privilege in opposition to or at the expense of the familial group was not practiced. The church was spoken of and addressed as a collective body or a gathered people in union (e.g., 1 Pet 2:9–10). In describing the relationship of the individual to the whole, it was common to draw on metaphors of the body (e.g., Rom 12:3–8; Eph 4:12) where the particular entity is circumscribed by its contribution to the whole.

Cain abrogates this sacred obligation of kinship loyalty by the appalling crime of fratricide. Because Cain commits this “family scandal,” he loses the protection of the family bond and thus fears for his life.283 Fratricide was so repugnant to Reuben that he opposed his brothers and intervened in behalf of Joseph (37:21). This explains why special treatment was required of Israel toward groups whose family origins were connected with their own, such as Lot’s descendants (Moabites and Ammonites, Deut 2:9) and Esau’s offspring (Edomites, Deut 23:7). The violence promulgated by Cain and championed by Lamech reaches its peak in the days of Noah when God exercises vengeance by the unprecedented destruction of all human society (6:7).