"If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they." (Ecclesiastes 5:8 KJV)
"This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:11-13 NLT)
From as far back as the beginning, there has been injustice and the perverting of justice. In the case with Cain and Able, God protected Cain by placing a mark upon him, that anyone who might try to kill him would be punished; even though Cain had brutally killed his brother, Able.
I don't mean to say that God was wrong, because God is always right! It was Cain that did wrong, he did what he did based upon anger, because his brother had done what was right, and it offended him because God accepted Abel's offering, which was the right offering! We sometimes don't see the matter in the wrong we might do, because it is what we might feel like doing. Like that old saying, "If it feels good, do it."
There is some very interesting logic in this story, because there are those who willingly put works before grace, as if there is more to what they do through their own actions, than what God has done in His act of forgiveness. That is really a thing which takes place in many cults; but it also takes place in the lives of many who say they follow Jesus! We can never work to gain our salvation; neither can we receive any salvation from our works. Salvation is a gift from God, given to those who believe in His act of forgiveness!
Oddly enough, God had forgiven Cain, even though He sent him out to be a vagabond, He did not take his life for the life that he had taken. Yet, Cain still complained about his punishment, because he had no real understanding of God's forgiveness!
Look at the way this works, because there is more to this than just injustice. Those that cause and make oppression, especially to those that are weak and poor, will have their punishment, no matter what! In other words, we should not be astounded or stunned by such injustice, because they will pay a price for what they do, one way or another.
If they repent and ask God for forgiveness, God will abundantly forgive, yet they will still have some consequences to the actions they did that were wrong. There is more to being saved than punishment we might receive in this life...
"Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. For God's gift and his call can never be withdrawn. Once you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. Now they are the rebels, and God's mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God's mercy. For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and ways!" (Romans 11:28-33 NLT)
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