DEVOTIONAL

Questioning…the Heart of God

~by Elizabeth Harper

Throughout history, God has asked questions of mortal man. Why does He do that? I have often been intrigued with the idea that an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God would ask a man a question. If He really is all-knowing, then doesn’t He already know the answer? Of course He does. Then why ask?

I finally became so intrigued with this oddity of scripture that I decided to investigate why God asks questions of mortal man, hoping to find that it was more than just sarcasm.

One early scriptural example that came to mind was the famous question God poses to Cain, the son of Adam, just after he has killed his own brother, Abel.

          “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother, Abel?’

            ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’”  (Genesis 4:9)

 Does God really not know the whereabouts of Cain’s brother, Abel? Of course He knows. He even refers to Abel’s blood calling out to him from the ground. He knows the answer, so why ask the question? I believe it is because the question exposed the heart of Cain. Do you hear the hatred and resentment inherent in the short statement from Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Do you sense the bitterness toward God? And for what? Asking a question? Maybe, but I believe that it’s about Cain’s wounded pride. No, Cain is not distraught over his sin and the pain he has caused God. He is incensed because God has not allowed him to feel worthy.

Cain and his brother Abel had both offered sacrifices to God. The Bible tells us that, “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” (Genesis4:4-5) He, Cain, was not sad that he was unable to bring God pleasure with his sacrifice. He was angry. He was very angry. And by this anger we can know that bringing pleasure to his Father God was not Cain’s foremost desire. You see, it really isn’t Cain’s wrongdoing that began all the problems here. It was Cain’s good work, which wasn’t good enough.

At the heart of the matter was Cain’s attempt at personal righteousness. With the sacrifice he offered to God, Cain sought to be righteous in and of himself for what he had done, to earn God’s favor. His good work fell short in God’s sight as all of our good works do when offered upon their own merit.

In the design to be worthy in and of ourselves, we will always be rejected by God. This made Cain very angry. Cain had been serving himself with his sacrifice, not God. How about you? Have you been there? Have you looked at your motives?

For questions or comments, please contact the Women in the Church at WIC@ecpca.org.