Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

What is the way of Cain (revisited)?

Rav Shaul warns us about the times we live in, in 2 Timothy 3: 1 – 5, saying: ‘But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. (2) For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, (4) treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of G-d; (5) holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.’From reading these verses no one can deny that we are in fact living in the last days.

Even so, we should be mindful of the way in which Rav Yochanan identified those who follow G-d, and those who do not, saying in 1 John 3:  10 – 16: ‘By this the children of G-d and the children of the devil are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness[1] is not of G-d, nor the one who does not love his brother. (11) For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; (12) not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. (13) Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. (14) We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. (15) Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (16) We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.’ Our world is flawed and in deep trouble because most of the people who say they believe in Messiah ben Joseph (the one they call C*h*r*i*s*t*), contradict everything He taught and did whilst He was on earth.  In addition, it is necessary to understand that the flaws of our world are not a part of its true essence. All the hatred, anger, destruction, murder, and rape were not part of the original creation, given that after creating everything, we read from Genesis 1: 31, ‘And G-d saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.’

As we look around us in the world today, we cannot say that everything is exceptionally good any longer. After the fall of man, HASHEM took away His light (אור) from mankind and dressed them in skin (ﬠור) also meaning darkness that leads to death.  This is why we read from Genesis 3: 17 –19, ‘Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. (18) Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; (19) by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken.’In their blinded state the first man born to eve, Cain, did not recognize the image of G-d the essence of his own being in his brother Abel. From the time that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, man’s behavior towards G-d and his fellow man deteriorated and waxed from bad to worse. It is in alienation from the higher self and other people that cause a feeling of rejection in us. The root of violence is found in the unbearable feeling of alienation and rejection. 

HASHEM chose Israel and gave them His Torah on the 6th of Sivan[2], implying both His promise to maintain the election and requirement to obey. HASHEM gave His Torah to Israel – a Set-apart priesthood, thereby betrothing Himself to Israel, as first fruits of the harvest of the nations, as witnessed in the first part of Jeremiah 2: 3, in this way: “Israel was Set-apart to HASHEM, the first of His harvest.” As I mentioned before, the initial outpouring of the Set-apart Spirit upon the disciples on the Feast of Pentecost, the exact date upon which HASHEM entered into a marriage covenant with ancient Israel, by giving them the Ten Commandments under the cover of Mount Sinai, was the beginning or germination of the Abrahamic seed which was to grow and become an expression of a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. HASHEM gave His Set-apart Spirit – the seed of the Father as a deposit of our inheritance of eternal life, as first fruits among His creatures (as per James 1: 18).

The message of Torah was one of perfection and compassion, and was a call to Israel to be the ones who are the healers and repairers of the divide between mankind and G-d. The Torah was to become the tool of social transformation and restoration.  It is in that context that mankind’s responsibility to his fellow man must be viewed. We see from Genesis 4: 26 that the children of Seth, started calling on the name of HASHEM. They like us who follow the way of G-d are known in the Scriptures as the children of G-d. The children of Cain became more evil with time and we see that one of his offspring also killed a man. Cain’s children built a city (Genesis 4: 16) and thereby laid the foundation for the kingdom of this world. Even though G-d separated the children of Cain and Seth, they eventually inter-married. We read accordingly from Genesis 6: 1 –4, ‘Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, (2) that the sons of G-d(the children of G-d who began to degenerate) saw that the daughters of men (the children of Cain) were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whoever they chose. (3) Then HASHEM said, “My Spirit shall not strive (work) with man forever (since mankind could not be won by G-d’s patience by which he tried to win them, He would no longer withhold His vengeance), because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (4) The Nephilim (giants) were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of G-d came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.’Because the children of Cain trained to fight to survive, they became well built and attractive. 

But this is one part of the Scriptures where men try to add to what is written in Torah, despite G-d’s warning in Deuteronomy 4: 2 not to do so. Many believe that the Nephilim mentioned here, resulted from a union between fallen angels and men. Such people get this information from a book that Enoch was supposed to have written. In doing so they disregard what Messiah ben Joseph the one described in the Writings of the Nazarene as the visible image of the invisible G-d(in Colossians 1: 15), had to say about the matter. To find out what He said about angels and marital relations, we turn to Matthew 22: 29 – 30(and Luke 20: 34 – 36), where the Sadducees questioned him about the resurrection, as follows: ‘But Y’shua answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of G-d. (30) For in the resurrection (of first fruit believers)they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”’ Y’shua told these Sadducees here that after the first fruits are resurrected, they will be spirit beings like angels, who cannot have marital relations and cannot die any longer, as witnessed in Luke 20: 36. The question is: Do we believe Messiah ben Joseph or the author of a book which is not part of the Word of G-d? Even though the book of Enoch is mentioned in the Scriptures, we cannot be a hundred percent certain that the available version is the authentic book penned by Enoch. In addition, we always need to be mindful of Messiah ben Joseph’s words in John 5: 43 & 44, where He said: “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him. (44) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only G-d?’The mixed marriages between Cain’s children and those of Seth, who called upon the name of HASHEM, was the cause of the flood that G-d unleashed on the world to destroy all of mankind, except for Noah and his family.

Having said that, we still need to answer the question asked at the beginning to find out what is the way of Cain, which is also spoken about in Jude? The subject under discussion in Jude from verses 3 – 12 is about believers who at this time contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. We know that the faith once delivered to the saints is Nazarene Judaism of which Y’shua Messiah is the foundation stone mentioned in Isaiah 28: 16[3] and 1 Corinthians 3: 11[4]. Continuing in verse 4 of Jude, we read: ‘For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our G-d into licentiousness and deny (or contradict) our only Master, Y’shua Messiah.’ We see from 1 Peter 2: 6 – 8, that these ungodly people are the ones who stumble over the identity of the one who is the foundation stone of G-d’s congregation, as follows: ‘For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (7) This precious value, then is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” (8) and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE’; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.’ The message is clear, those who contradict Messiah ben Joseph by their actions and beliefs, are the ones who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation.

We read further about these people who crept into the congregation unnoticed, in Jude verses 7 – 11, as follows: ‘Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (The result of the fire is permanent – but because flesh and blood are physical it will only burn until it is reduced to ashes) (8) Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile majesties.’ (Even though these people who sow discontent among us, do not actually commit divination, or idolatry, HASHEM said to Saul, through Samuel, in 1 Samuel 15: 23, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.” They are therefore guilty of such sins.)We understand from verse 9 of Jude that only HASHEM can rebuke Satan, as follows: ‘But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “HASHEM rebuke you.”’ Still talking about those who crept in unnoticed to turn us away from the truth. Jude writes in verse (10), ‘But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.’ This is talking about such things as the mystery of our faith, which we read about in 1 Timothy 3: 9 & 16: that is, that G-d was manifest (revealed) in the flesh; or the fact that only Moses, or the ones who sit in his seat may proclaim the appointed times of G-d, as is recorded in Leviticus 23: 2 & 4 and confirmed by Messiah ben Joseph in Matthew 23: 1 - 3. Continuing from verse 11, we read: ‘Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain (full of hatred), and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.’We turn to the book of Genesis to discover what the way of Cain is, and where it started. Turning to Genesis 6: 5, we read: ‘Then HASHEM saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’

The thoughts of mankind are focused upon evil all day. Man failed to recognize each other as human beings created in the image of G-d. Torah teaches the truth that ALL mankind came from a single father and mother created in the image of G-d. The sin of non-recognition prevailed upon the earth. This is essentially known as racism or even worse anti-Semitism– where another human being’s right to live and work to provide for him and his family is denied. This distorted consciousness manifested in the words of Cain, when he said in Genesis 4: 9, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Notice that the question remains unanswered by G-d. This is a typical response by those who turn their backs on the homeless, the widow and the orphan. The Torah is clear; we are our brother’s keeper. The origins of cruelty lie in the sin of not recognizing in one another the image of G-d.HASHEM warned Cain to change his outlook in life, and not feel rejected, alienated, or disappointed or sin would overtake him. By harboring emotions of envy, anger and violence, Cain opened the door to sin. Sin is the inflated puffed-up presumption of the ego which takes over the functions of self.

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Rav Yaa’cov explained this in James 1: 14 & 15, as follows: ‘But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (15) Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.’ In slaying his brother Abel, Cain destroyed generations of his descendants. A murderer not only kills his victim, but something in the lives of the victim’s survivors as well. Imagine if the six million Jews were not killed during the holocaust, how many of their children and grandchildren would be alive today? Or if Cain did not kill Abel, how many people would be alive today? At this point many would say that the world would have been too small for us all. But if we truly know our planet, we know that there is still a lot of uninhabited space around for many more people. In addition, scientists tell us that our planet is continually getting bigger, which is confirmed in the Tanach in Isaiah 44: 24, where we read: ‘Thus says HaShem, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, HaShem, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone.”’ G-d said to Cain, that Abel’s blood is crying out to Him from the ground. We might not hear the cries of innocent blood of future generations that are destroyed due to mankind’s neglect for his brother. We read fittingly from Psalm 94: 3 – 9, ‘How long shall the wicked, O HASHEM, how long shall the wicked exult? (4) They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; all who do wickedness vaunt themselves. (5) They crush Thy people, O HASHEM, and afflict Thy heritage. (6) They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the orphans. (7) And they have said, “HASHEM does not see, nor does the G-d of Jacob pay heed. (8) Pay heed, you senseless among the people; and when will you understand, stupid ones? (9)He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?”’

HASHEM asked Cain,“What have you done?” When confronted with his sin Cain justified his violent behavior towards Abel with an insolent answer. We can try and justify our lack of compassion and love towards our neighbor with false excuses, but in the end, we will be held accountable for our actions in this life. Survivors of the Holocaust not only remember the murderous Nazis, but also the cold indifference of their neighbors who looked on and did nothing as they were being led away to the camps and death. Those who stand by idly and watch the innocent die due to the cruelty and injustices of mankind are also accountable for their silence. Torah contrasts the command to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ with the prohibition ‘not to stand idly by while another is in need’, as witnessed in Leviticus 19: 16 – 18, as follows: ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor, I am HASHEM. (17) You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. (18) You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am HASHEM.’We read accordingly from Genesis 9: 5 & 6, ‘And surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. (6) Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of G-d He made man.’ As Israel we have a commandment to attain to the qualities of goodness and kindness. We should rid ourselves of jealousy, hatred, falsehood, conceit, and prejudice, and strive to acquire the virtues of humility, kindness, truth, and love. But how can we achieve this? By recognizing that each human being, made in the image of G-d, have the potential to become the very sons or daughters of G-d.

Even so, what is the cause of conflict? Rav Yaa’cov gives us the answer in James 4: 1 -3, in this way: ‘What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? (2) You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.(3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.’Rav Yaa’cov continues to give us the antidote for such wrongful behavior in verses 4 – 7, as follows: ‘You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward G-d? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of G-d. (5) Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?” (6) But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “G-D IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE (the teachable).”(7) Submit therefore to G-d. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (8)Draw near to G-d and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.’ We commit sin with our hands and serve HASHEM with our hearts; HASHEM is not interested in lukewarm followers who are double minded. No, He wants us to follow Him whole heartedly.

Rav Yochanan wrote about this in 1 John 2: 9 – 11, in this way: ‘The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. (10) The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (11) But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.’He continues in 1 John 4: 20 – 21, saying: ‘If someone says, “I love G-d,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love G-d whom he has not seen.”’If a fellow human being needs help, it is part of your test in life, a message to you, to see if and how you will help him. The Talmud asks, ‘Why was Adam created alone? So that every person should say, “the entire world was created just for me.”’ This is recognition that everything- including the needs of every other human being – was specifically created for you.Think carefully about it!

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[1]Righteousness – Meaning obedience to Torah as witnessed in the second part of Psalm 119: 172, in this way: ‘For all Thy commandments are righteousness.’

[2]Torah was given on the 6th day of Sivan (the 6th day of the third month) as witnessed in Exodus 19: 1, 10 & 11, as follows: ‘In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day(i.e., the third day) they came into the wilderness of Sinai. (10)HASHEM also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; (11) and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day (after the 3rd of Sivan, i.e., the 6th of Sivan)HASHEM will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”’

[3] Isaiah 28: 16, ‘Therefore thus says HASHEM G-d, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.’

[4]1 Corinthians 3: 11, ‘For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Y’shua Messiah.’