Cain and Abel
July 6th, 2007 by Jim VIn the last post, Tom said that he is praying for a revival in the countryside. This past Sunday, we read the account of Cain and Abel in church, and while reading this account, it occurred to me that we need Christian people involved in agriculture and that we do need a revival among those in the countryside who raise our food. Cain raised crops, bringing “some of the first fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lordâ€. (Genesis 4:3) But after Cain killed Abel, he was driven from the ground and God told Cain “when you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.†(Genesis 4:12) The ground would no longer produce crops for Cain. My guess is that the same ground would have produced a bountiful crop for someone else. So it looks like sin can affect the productivity of the soil. Not to say that all difficulties that farmers encounter are due to sin, since trials can come for other reasons, but it seems that we would be better off with stewardship of the land in the hands of godly people. In our day in age there tends to be a bounty of food, but much of it is deficient in nutrients or of questionable value due to GMOs. These passages in Genesis make me think that the problems with our food supply, including our importation of contaminated food from China, are ultimately due to the godless nature of our society. In Exodus 23: 25, God says “Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water …†May God send revival to our land and bless our food and water.
Jim V
July 10th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
don’t be silly. they are two clearly separate things. this is just wistful thinking and conflating the two main parts of your world-view. mix them in your own life, fine. keep them apart in mine.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Jim,
I agree with you. In fact, ALL difficulties in raising food are due to sin. Part of the curse that the Lord brought on the earth after Adam’s sin was that thorns and thistles will now make life difficult.
Additionally, there is plenty of evidence that God’s judgement often centers on food. Just look at the 10 plagues He laid on Egypt. Crops were destroyed, animals killed. When God wants our attention, He often interferes with our sustanence…
A worldview that separates Christianity from food production is not a biblical worldview. The bible speaks to every facet of our lives. If we ignore that, we cannot consider ourselves protected in any way from God’s Justice.
Thanks for your post!
GFJ
July 11th, 2007 at 8:40 am
GFJ and Jim,
I agree with you both. Coming from a slightly different angle, a world view in food production that ignores God ceases to recieve God’s protection and blessings. And seeing that the only other alternative is from the powers of hell itself that’s what we get. As a society that turns from God and worships humanism, things will just get worse and worse as any and all blessings and protections cease. Without God’s protection and blessings, (that we as a society have rejected), we’re cooking our own goose!
Great thoughts gentlemen!
July 11th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
lb,
I am pointing out a historical example where the breaking of a moral law adversely affected the productivity of a farmer’s land. As GFJ pointed out, ultimately all of our problems producing food can be traced back to the sin and resulting fall of man. There are many other examples in the history of Israel where the breaking of moral laws resulted in a loss of the ability to produce food. The breaking of moral laws such as do not kill, do not murder, do not lie, do not covet, etc., results in consequences that we may not readily perceive or understand from a purely physical perspective.
We are all limited in our ability to change our course of life. For example, none of us can call down rain when our crops are withering due to lack of rain and none of us can avoid the breakdown of our bodies, which ultimately leads to physical death. There are laws, both physical and spiritual, that we cannot prevent from operating in our lives.
GFJ,
Your make an excellent point that ALL difficulties in raising food are due to sin. I can feel creation groaning now and God has my attention. In the last 10 days I have watched rain pass just to the north and south of us. Go 10 miles in any direction and they have had enough rain to keep pastures and crops growing. Meanwhile we are running out of pasture.
Tom,
I hope that his country will turn back to God so that we can experience his blessings and protection. As you pointed out, the alternative is very bad.
Jim V
July 12th, 2007 at 5:56 am
Keep up the great post! I really enjoy your discipleship.