I know that we are talking about Cain but please place your bookmark at Genesis 4:8 and go with me to Genesis 37:18 and let us take a look at Joseph for a moment and than we will come back to Cain, *smile*
And when they saw him afar off,
even before he came near unto them,
they conspired against him to slay him. Genesis 37:18
What Does It Mean To Conspire And To Slay Someone?
Conspire is when one or more people secretly and deceitfully work together (undercover) to abuse, mistreat, hoodwink, hurt, harm, steal, kill or destroy another person, their confidence, their self-esteem and sometimes their property or animals.
Slay is to kill something or somebody. Kill is to cause something living to die.
In Genesis 4:8 we learned about Cain's conspiracy against his brother Abel, how he led him into the field under false pretense, so that he could kill him. (deception perfected is what I call it)
Why Did Cain Conspire To Kill His Brother Abel?
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Genesis 4:1:5
Wroth means to be angry. In this text, Cain conspired to kill his brother Abel because of anger and jealousy. Abel presented an acceptable offering to the Lord and Cain presented an unacceptable offering.
Now the deep thing here is that the Lord gave Cain a second chance to present his offering over again but it was up to Cain; he had a choice to accept or reject this opportunity. Acting upon his anger and jealousy, Cain rejected the opportunity to correct his offering and he deceitfully mislead his brother into the field and killed him.
Are You An Angry And/Or Jealous Person?
Joseph's Brothers Were Come On Let's Take A Closer Look At Joseph's Story
In Genesis 37:18, Joseph’s brothers conspired to slay him but that verse doesn't tell us why they wanted to slay their brother, so let's go to the beginning of Genesis the 37th Chapter.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children,
because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers,
they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. Genesis 37:3-4
Do you see it? Oops there it is! Joseph's brothers hated him, they were jealous of Joseph and they envied the relationship that Joseph had with their father. Why? Israel displayed favoritism to Joseph, while neglecting his other sons. Jealousy is one of the biggest causes of abuse and mistreatment.
Are You Angry, Jealous, A Conspirer?
Do You Bully, Abuse And Mistreat People?
Pause and think about that because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If you answered yes to these questions, go on and praise the Lord because Hope Is On The Horizon! As you continue reading through this series on Bullying From A Biblical Perspective, when something stands out to you, when you "see you" not sister or brother so and so but when you "see you" please don't run away from what you see because it's confrontation time! Devil your request has been denied!
Acknowledge what you see to God
Confess what you see to God
Renounce what you see to God
Humble yourself, repent and ask God to forgive you
Ask forgiveness of those that you have mistreated
Forgive yourself, Release yourself and Love yourself
Stop doing what you were doing put off the old and put on the new...
I hear somebody saying, "Stacey how I do that, put off the old and put on the new?"
This is a process and it takes time, you must renew your mind and change the way that you think.
When your thinking changes, your speaking will change and your behavior will change *smile*
Romans 12:1-2, (Amplified)
I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
The purpose of sharing Cain and Joseph's story is to expose the works of the enemy. Like Cain and Joseph's brothers we all have a choice to accept God's word or to reject God's word. The moment we come out of agreement with God's word, we will give place to the devil. We will do or say something that is going to be out of God's will and we will hurt someone, we will mistreat someone and we may even kill someone, I pray that this message will expose the spirit of murder and that anger and jealousy were the culprits in both Cain and Joseph's story. I cast out the spirit of murder and I loose resurrection life and resurrection power in Jesus name!
We have all been angry, jealous and conspired against somebody in our lifetime. I know I did *smile* thank God for deliverance, I'm telling the truth today! How many times have you been hurt, angry and jealous of what somebody either did or said to you , about you or about your momma? Now you know that was an automatic fair one, right there *smile* Well how many times did you sit and think about what happened to you and how you was going to retaliate and get that person back?
This thing is real....the devil wants to kill you and if he can influence you and entice you to keep rehearsing the same negative things over and over again, when will you have time to renew your mind by reading, studying, meditating, applying and rehearsing God's word?
Ephesians 4:21- 32, If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Stayed Tuned For Part 2, in the meantime if you have any questions, comments or need help with anything shared today, please email me Stacey Lunsford: AriseNshine@aol.com, Hope Is On The Horizon!