BEMA Episode Link: 3: Master the Beast
Episode Length: 25:16
Published Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2016 01:00:00 -0700
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings talk about Cain and Abel and the idea of how fear and shame ruin the story.

Discussion Video for BEMA 3

The Beast that Crouches at the Door by Rabbi David Fohrman (Amazon)

The Beast that Crouches at the Door by Rabbi David Fohrman (Aleph Beta)

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Transcript for BEMA 3

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • Genesis 4
  • Cain and Abel
    • Cain is the first born, in Hebrew this would be known as the bekhor.
    • This can be read one of two ways.
      • Even names Cain in spite of Adam… “Look what I’ve done without my husband…I and the Lord.”
      • From Foreman
        • Cain means aquired
        • Aquired is not typically used when you do something on your own. Instead you use it when you get something that you couldn’t get on your own. That is, something that is likely given to you.
        • Marty thinks that Eve names him Cain because, “only because of God’s help have I been able to aquire” and not out of spite toward Adam.
        • Here is the thing about Hebrew names: A name isn’t just a name… your name was your essence and your destiny and it was something that you would live out.
          • One would live out his name in either a positive or negative sense.
    • We are not told why God looked upon Abel’s portion with favor and he doesn’t look at Cain’s offering with favor.
      • Problems with this story?
        • How does Cain know what to bring?
        • What kind of father would prefer a gift from one child over the other especially when they were not asked to bring gifts?
          • This story has to be about something else.
      • The word “desire” appears again
        • “Its desire is to have you but you must master it.”
        • Does Cain’s name give us insight into this story?
          • Cain’s whole legacy is about acquiring. Everything Cain has, he has acquired.
            • Spun in a bad way, if fear enters the equation, there may be worry that what I bring may not be enough.
              • If fear gets in the way and he sees little brother that is winning the admiration of dad, he begins to see brother as a threat and doesn’t feel accepted by God.
              • Fear ends up being the antithesis of trust and it paralyzes of from being able to trust the story and celebrate the provision of God.
              • Cain is afraid his production isn’t good enough… just like we learn from the story in Genesis 2 and 3.
      • Cain kills his brother and God curses him.
        • His curse resembles the curse of Adam.
        • God asks Cain why he is downcast. A question with obvious answers: His mother sinned and now humanity has fallen and hopeless and he’s angry because he hasn’t pleased God…
          • This tells us that God’s position on humanity has not changed but humanity’s position on themselves has.
          • We ended Episode 2 talking about their shame, how God meets them where they are at and gives them clothes.
      • Looking closely at the story so far we know:
        • The story never says God has not been separated from humanity
        • The story tells us that they have only been removed from the “Garden of Delight”
        • The story has not told us that the nature of humanity has changed at all.
        • The story has not told us that sin has entered humanity
        • The story HAS told us that humanity’s position on themselves has changed.
          • They now have shame
          • They now are downcast
          • They now have anger
        • God tells Cain not to let those things get in his way. God still believes that Cain can do everything he needs to do.
        • God tells Cain, just do what’s right. I don’t love Abel more because I liked his offering more.
        • Cain, you are not a beast. Sin is crouching at your door and you are intended to master it.
        • This story ends in tragedy.
        • This story defines God’s position on people when they make mistakes.
      • Reiterating the discussion on the different words/meanings for “where” in the last episode.
        • Where are my keys? I have no idea where they are…
        • Where are my keys? They were right here and now they are in the wrong place… Where did they go.
    • Rabbi David Foreman’s book, The Beast That Crouches At The Door goes into a lot of great detail about this story.

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