Part One: The Reaching Begins · Week 3 of 13
Week 3 · The Door Held Open
This week God reaches by holding a door of mercy open inside his own judgment.
Genesis 4-9
This is the hard stretch. Out of the garden, the first thing that happens is a murder, and it is a brother. Then the trouble spreads until God looks at the whole earth and sees that every thought a man has is evil, all the time. And then the water comes.
You could read these chapters and come away thinking they are about God's anger. Read them again and watch his hands.
When Cain has just killed Abel and is afraid of what will happen to him, God puts a mark on him so that nobody will. When the flood comes, God tells one man how to survive it, and then, when the family is inside, it is God himself who closes the door. And when the water goes down, God puts a bow in the sky and says he will look at it and remember.
Three times in six chapters, judgment falls and God holds something open. A mark. A door. A promise in the sky.
This is not a God looking for a reason to destroy. This is a God who warns, and warns again, and then makes a way through for anyone who will take it. Watch for the door this week. It is in every scene.
Five days, about fifteen minutes each. Read, look, write what you see.
THE BOOKENDS
The two verses this whole story runs between.
Genesis 3:9 (KJV)
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
AND
Revelation 22:17 (KJV)
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
The first thing God asks, and the last thing he offers. Everything between is him coming.
1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Day 1 · COME · ~15 min
Where is thy brother?
Read: Genesis 4:1-16
Two brothers bring an offering. One is accepted, one is not, and God speaks to the angry one before he does anything. Then, after the worst has happened, God asks another question.
1. Verse 7. Before Cain does anything, God warns him and tells him what to do about it. Copy what God says, from "If thou doest well."
2. Verse 9. Last week God asked Adam "Where art thou?" What does he ask Cain here? Write both questions side by side. What do they have in common?
What did you see?
Go deeper: read this passage in the WSB Bible with commentary
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