Genesis 4:15

But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

This is an interesting passage from the Bible, but first let me rehash the events leading up to this passage.  Adam and Eve were deceived and ate of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  As a result, they are booted from the Garden of Eden.  They have two sons, Cain and Abel.  The sons present sacrifices to the Lord, Who favors Abel’s.  Cain is furious and kills Abel.

Talk about a high violent crime rate!

Anyway, the Lord tells Cain that he knows what he did and is punished by being sent from the Lord’s presence.  What’s more, Cain was a tiller of the earth.  His living becomes difficult.  Cain says that the punishment is more than he could bear and is afraid that as he is a wanderer, someone will kill him.

Now, the Lord didn’t say to him, “Silly Cain, there is no one out there.”  No, He said the above passage.  Read it again.  Unless I am very much mistaken that means that there are at least seven other people in the world!

In Genesis, the Bible retells the creating of man twice, once referring to Adam by name.  There is room for the notion that God created other people.  Of course we are all still descendants of Adam and Eve according to the Bible. From the line of Adam and Eve’s third son Seth, came Noah. The Great Flood destroys all the people of the world except Noah, his sons and their wives. So according to that, even though there may have been all kinds of other people running around, mankind sprung from Adam and Eve.

I don’t want to make some kind of vain argument, as Paul would write, but thought this was interesting.  Might answer that age-old question as to where Cain got his wife.

Genesis 2:18a  It is not good for man to be alone…

A few years back, an acquaintance of mine passed away that had led a rather solitary life.  He had virtually withdrawn from society.  Though he had well over a quarter of a million dollars in the bank, he lived in a run down house, overgrown with weeds and overrun by alley cats.  He lived an existence of spiritual and emotional poverty.

This is how the devil works.  He makes us feel alone and isolated, and then dances on our head.  I may be getting ahead of myself, but I can recall more than one incident when this occurred in the Bible:

King David was walking on the roof by himself when he spied the married Bathsheba bathing.  This nearly brought done his entire house and kingdom.

The propet Elijah thought he was alone and hid himself in a cave.

When Jesus was alone in the desert, the devil tried to sway Him from His destiny.

In the world, Howard Hughes was, at that time, the richest man in the world.  But in his later years he lived a miserable lonely existence.

General Joe Hooker was considered the best assault officer in the Union Army, but when he was by himself, he had a close encounter with death and became more isolated, afraid and indecisive, costing him a victory and his command.

Being in a healthy relationship with other people serves as a type of check and balance for us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  It helps us to stay healthy ourselves.  It is harder for sin to reach the darker recesses of our minds when we share our thoughts with Godly men and women.

There is safety in many counselors is an important axiom in practical living, so much so that it is said more once in the Bible.

What’s more, God has established a special bond between one man and one woman that are coupled in a Godly way. A man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two will become as one.

It is not good for man to be alone (nor to be without Godly fellowship).  This is God’s design for us.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God…

I am embarking on a walk thru of the Bible, which I would like to share from time to time.  The best place to start on such an endeavor is the beginning.

Before there was the world or the universe as we know it, there was something.  Scientific explanations of that have all always fallen woefully short of satisfactory to nearly everyone. That is to everyone except perhaps those who have elevated science and logic to the point of idolatry and blindly follow the blind.

For example, a recent headline proclaimed that the author of “Proof of Heaven” has been thoroughly debunked by science.  Now, I have never read the book and do not proclaim its truth.  However, to say that science can debunk anything in the spiritual is like me saying that since my three year old cannot speak Spanish, there is no such thing as Mexico.  The existence of Mexico has nothing to do with the linguistic abilities of my three year old.

Science can explain some of the universe and its creation by the Big Bang Theory (not the TV show).  The theory can help predict certain things.  That’s good.  That is exactly the aim of science.  However, where did the matter in the big bang come from?  What about before that?  Ultimately, there will be more questions than answers with science. Ultimately, there will always be answers beyond man’s understanding.

Hello?

When I first began a quest for truth I accepted that there was a God, much like I accepted that there was a Mexico.  Though I had never seen God and never been to Mexico. I had it from reliable sources that both existed.

Now, I can say that I have been to Mexico.  It’s there. Apparently, it has been there for a long time.  I can also say that I have encountered God.  Apparently, He has been there a long time.  In fact, I would say that in the beginning there was God.