"Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain..."
                                 Jude 1:11
The Way of Cain
















       How much of our world is going "the Way of Cain"?  


Ever wonder why it seems so easy for some people to kill other people, or
an ounce of shame? As Jude and John tell us, one reason may be because
a number of people follow the "ways of Cain". A lot of Biblical passages
give us hints towards identifying the parallels of these antediluvian ways -
the ways ultimately from Cain and Babylon. Let's now look at similar
ancient influences present in our modern culture.

The Bible gets very specific about the characteristics of people who adopt
this "way":


"Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain... These are spots in
your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves
without fear: clouds without water, carried about of winds, trees whose
fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging
waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars…
murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth
speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration
because of advantage… there should be mockers in the last time, who
should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate
themselves, sensual, having not the spirit.”

Jude 1:11-19 (KJV)


As we see, the people who adopt these ways of life are great partakers of
charity: they take a hand out with no shame or hesitation. Like clouds
without water, they have a lot to say. They claim to follow some "higher
ground", but provide little moral substance to back it up. Like dying trees,
their branches do not generate fruit. If they temporarily do something
positive it usually gets overshadowed by all the negatives in their ways of
life. Because of the things they do in a shameful way, inner guilt and
insecurity often transforms itself into outer acts of rage and unpredictable
behavior. They may wander, both mentally and physically, without focus.
They murmur, complain, and pursue ideals they think are right. They mock
others. For the most part, the people who follow these ways pursue
whatever makes them feel good.

These people also enjoy separating themselves from the rest of society, to
pursue their own individual lusts. They often will speak great, boasting
words in front of those around them. Many people will admire them
because of their actions, at least in the short run. It will not last, however,
because their own behaviors will eventually head them towards destruction;
even the destructive of others. Sound like a lot of people today?

Yes, the "Way of Cain" is out there! Those who followed the attitudes and
ways of life in the days of Noah often do not like to blame themselves for
their own failures, nor accept responsibility for their own actions. It's
always someone else's fault, or society as a whole. They try to get away
from inner guilt and responsibility by claiming themselves as a victim.

Another interesting written work on Cain states the following:


“Cain said to God, ‘Am I (expected to be) my brother’s keeper? (Genesis
4:9). You (God) are the keeper of all creatures, yet You call me to account
for him…’ Accordingly, Cain’s question is in fact a defiant assertion: ‘I
slew Abel – it was You who created in me the impulse to evil. But You are
the keeper of all things- yet You let me slay him. It is You who slew him.
Had You accepted my offering and You did his, I would not have been
jealous of him… I never in my life knew or saw anyone slain. How was I
to know that if I struck Able with a stone, he would die? Cain went on, ‘Is
my sin so great that it cannot be borne? (Genesis 4:13)… The whole
world, all of it, You bear, yet my sin You cannot bear?’… (the next verse
of the Bible states:) ‘Cain went out from the presence of the Lord
(Genesis 4:16) signifies that Cain left (the consciousness of) the Lord’s
presence by tossing off the words (‘My sin is greater than can be
forgiven”), as if by mouthing them he could blunt the Almighty’s
awareness of his sin… Or: Cain reversed his garment front to back and
went out thinking that he had deceived (literally, stolen the mind of) the
Holy One.”


How unbelievably irreverent and cocky Cain was to God! After he tried to
"outsmart" God in this war of words, he reversed his garment from front to
back, as a sign of his own mockery to “the status quo” of God's way of
life. He, and his pride, thought he outsmarted the Creator of the world!

God was not going to stand for it, however. He had to put Cain in his
place. One interesting interpretation of God's wrath on Cain's attitude
involved His confronting Cain head on:


“Why doth they brother’s blood cry from under the alter against thee?
Behold, is not his blood upon they flesh, a mark which shall not be
eradicated until the end of time? Thou wicked Cain, thou art Perdition
and thy deeds shall follow thee for from thee shall flow murder and
bloodshed, wars and contentions, until the earth shall hide her face from
the wickedness and pollution of mankind.
Depart from before my face, for thine existence is a pollution to the
sanctity of this spot. Nevertheless, no man shall slay thee, for thou shalt
live to see the full measure flowing from thine iniquity, until the final
destruction of the darkness of this world.”

The Book of the Generations of Adam,
5:8


Contention is defined as a "verbal strife, dispute, argument, controversy, or
a statement or point that one argues for as true or valid". Perdition is
"complete and irreparable loss, ruin, or loss of the soul"; as well "the cause
of ruin or destruction" (Webster's). As we know, many descendants of
Cain had no problem with violence and murder. They loved to complain
and be in controversy. Cain was "marked" by God - with what we are not
sure, but we are sure many of his descendants became associated with
these same attributes.

The blood of Abel was on his hands, and the stigma of what he did would
probably be passed on to these descendants to the end of time.

Beyond some physical etching, this "mark of Cain" could also have been
associated with his advanced knowledge of the world around him. Possibly,
it could have even been psychic knowledge - a way for him to further
manipulate others! Cain may have been able to use all of these talents to
protect him from the wrath of angry people - upset for his murder of Abel
(Genesis 4:14-16):


“… the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the
children of light.”

John 16:8 (KJV)


“… know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?”

James 4:4 (KJV)


Although Cain's descendants, or anyone else who began to follow the
"Ways of Cain", could have the aspirations to manipulate the world around
them, their acts often had negative side-effects: these people easily became
unpredictable, uncertain about themselves, and/or wrathful:


“They have two heads (figuratively), wherefore they can never arrive at a
decision; they are always at loggerheads with themselves. It may happen
that they are pious (or moral) now, only to be inclined to do evil the next
moment.”

The Legends of the Jews: Volume I,
p. 114


We recall, in Cain, Seed of the Serpent, Cain could have been a direct,
literal descendant of the devil (via the serpent). With that in context, the
following verses of the Bible make much more sense:


“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince and the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all
had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others.”

Ephesians 2:2-3 (KJV)


“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was mainifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin; for his (God’s) seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and
the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that
ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as
Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore
slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s
righteous.”

I John 3:8-12 (KJV)


Not only may those with the seed of Cain (and, ultimately, the serpent)
possess these tendencies, but anyone who whole-heartedly decides to adopt
these ways! As a result, many of these people did whatever they want -
often unsavory things - without the rationality and conscience that would
usually "put the brakes" on other people:


"... but he who sins, and who thus blushes and is overwhelmed with
shame, is near akin to him (God)… for those persons who pride
themselves on their errors as if they had not done wrong, are afflicted
with a disease which is difficult to cure…”

Philo,
Questions and Answers on Genesis,
I:8, I:5, I:65


As we'll see in Politically Correct Babylon this "disease" can extend even
further into our society. Sometimes, it might be easy to spot someone who
adopts the "Ways of Cain"; in other cases, it may be hard. Their true colors
will always show through in time, however. As the Bible says:


“... by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Matthew 7:20 (KJV)


Copyright 2010, Brett T. All Rights Reserved