May 21, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.’ Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.”

(Genesis 4.1-2)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Questions arise in the story begun by the births of Cain and Abel that speak to interactions with the world. Yesterday I reflected on the witness of Adam’s love for Eve before all the world. No, the world was not watching them making love in the moment of intimacy. Rather, the world was given the opportunity to observe the character and nature of that love as reflecting how Adam and Eve love God as God so loved them. The question is “How did their love bear witness to God?” It did by producing the next generation of those who would choose God for their own lives and begin a generational blessing. That would lead us to the second question presented in Genesis 4. That question is “How would Cain and Abel continue that tradition?” Of course, the answer to that question is more dependent on how one understands the “genesis” of the question altogether. Theologians, Bible scholars, historians and unbelievers have their own understanding and reading of the “Genesis” experience as it relates to Adam and Eve, humanity, Israel and the world. The question is: Where did Cain’s wife come from?

It is a good question. It challenges what people think about the story of Creation which is Genesis 1-3. And while I do not wish to debate all the options that are presented by those challenges, I do want to affirm some lessons that they can teach us:

GOD HAS A PLAN- Let’s not think for a moment that God who knew it was not good for Adam to be alone created from him, Eve, so God would have recognized the same for Cain and Abel as the time came. What that plan was, we are not informed of in the Torah. It is obvious that there were wives for the men and husbands for the women. God was true to His understanding that it was not good for either man or woman to be alone. How God satisfied the reality of singularity and community was a part of God’s plan (until it was not). What I am hinting at is that as the consciousness of sin (living apart from the will of God) became more of a reality, so the type of community/unity options varied and were resourced. Today we see the reality of brokenness at a personal and social level. God has a plan for that, too.

GOD HAS A PURPOSE- The joining of man and woman, male and female, served the purpose of community in the eyes of God. While celebrating the “two becoming as one,” as an intimate and spiritual sense of worship and thanksgiving, the consequence of such union was also a part of God’s plan. I am waiting for someone to start singing “Birds do it, bees do it, even tiny fleas do it, let’s do it, let’s fall in love.” The reality of God’s creative plan is reproduction and the propagation of the species of plant and animal life. Yes, human beings are animals called mammals. So, God’s purpose was two-fold: flesh and spirit. As all created life must increase to survive from generation to generation, humanity is included. The witness of what God has done revealed to those whom He created for that purpose, Adam and Eve and their offspring, was to spread across the earth and make of the world a better place. That plan, physically and spiritually, is still the function of the Temple and the Church. Thus, evangelism and discipleship are the work ethics of both. Future generations are to be the continued witnesses to serve and subdue the world while shepherding and stewarding all of creation.

GOD HAS AN EXPECTATION- We know this truth to be now self-evident. God expected all creation would move in its appointed path. He ordered the sun, moon and stars. He drew land from the water, plants from the land, animals of all kinds to inhabit the land and humanity to pause in great gratitude and humility to focus on their relationship with God and remain centered on what their shared reality was. He spoke the Word, the Spirit obeyed at His command and the work of creation was put in motion and finished and then truly engaged in spirit and in truth. That Word was given to Adam and intended for him to give to Eve. It would also then be given to succeeding generations in all the fulness of the experience gained. This process was to keep the world on earth as harmonious as that which is in Heaven with God.

GOD HAS AN ANTICIPATION- God is also a realist. He knows the possibilities which exist because of freewill and independent choices. This is especially true of all sentient beings (angels and humans). While there is “a way, a truth and a life,” the straight and narrow sometimes becomes that broad and winding way Jesus spoke of which leads to perdition. God is not about limiting our experiences in the world or even in the universe as if they don’t exist. God is like a parent whose experience says “that is not such a good idea.” However, God may know better than any, experience becomes the best teacher. Sadly, there are those like Lucifer/Satan who refuse to learn regardless of the experience. His view of God was flawed. It remains so as do those who share it with him. God anticipated such things and made a way to be redeemed, reconciled and restored. We saw it in the Garden. We say it at Ararat. We saw it on Mt. Moriah. We saw it on Passover. We saw it at Sinai. We saw it on Mt. Zion. We saw it on Calvary. We see it in the baptistry. One day we will see it at Armageddon. Where the Lamb of God will reign forever. There is nothing God has not seen or known. He does not want to hide it from us. He would rather we trust in His abiding love and come together, the two beings as one: God and humanity.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.