"Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen.4:9, NIV).

When Yahweh confronted Cain about the murder of his brother Abel, asking where he was, Cain indignantly answered, "Am I my brother's keeper?" - that is to say, "Am I his guardian?" "Am I responsible for him?". Clearly he was [1]. Yahweh did not wait for an admission of guilt but condemned and pronounced sentence on the world's first criminal. He was cursed twice over:

• 1. "When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" (Gen 4:12a, NIV); and
• 2. "You will be a restless wanderer on the earth" (Gen.4:12b, NIV).

In the very first earthly court case and verdict we are given two clues by which we can identify someone who is guilty of Torah violation:

• 1. Fruitlessness; and
• 2. Restlessness.

In this season of Teshuvah or Repentance, it's important we identify sins so that we can face them and deal with them. Some, though, are well hidden and often invisible to the sinner himself. To others the symptoms of guilt may be obvious and easy to spot but to the one who may be in denial it may not be so easy. But these two keys are given by Yahweh to help us as we strive to work out our continuing salvation through making teshuvah (repentance): FRUITLESSNESS and RESTLESSNESS.

Cain had no success when he turned his hand to farming. The crops would fail. And because the ground resolutely refused to yield increase for him he was compelled to be a nomad or wanderer. For Cain, as a murderer, the curse was lifelong - there would be no respite for him. Under Old Covenant Torah he would have been executed and indeed under New Covenant Torah he would have had a death sentence hanging over him that would only have been commutable by genuine repentance. Cain was not executed, however, to give us a picture of what life is like for us when we refuse to make teshuvah (repent) for a sin that leads to death. Cain is a picture of one who is permanently cut off from Elohim (God) without a Redeemer (Saviour).

When we are habitually fruitless and restless it is a sign that there is unrepented sin to be dealt with. Restlessness in itself is not, in any case a healthy way to live. It often leads to obesity because we hide from our sins by overeating. Restlessness prevents oxygen getting to the brain which causes mental impairment, leading to forgetfulness, causes disturbed sleep cycles that raises the risk of hypertension and high blood pressure. Needless to say, these are all health hazzards we would rather do without given the choice [2].

That is not, of course, to say that all fruitlessness or restlessness are caused by unresolved by sin. There can be other causes too, but in the absense of these, it is well worth considering the very real possibility of unresolved sin. Whatever the cause, there is surely no detriment to dealing with it; and if it is spiritual in origin, tackling it is essential for our eternal health as well as at this critical time where we don't want sin to get in the way of our communion with Yahweh.

Endnotes

[1] A keynote of the Besorah (Gospel) is that we are to shamar or protect, guard or attend to the legitimate needs our brothers and sisters whether they are our blood kin or not. The same word shamar is used of keepers of military supplies (1 Sam.17:22), or wardrobes (2 Ki.10:22; 22:14; 2 Chr.34:22), keepers (guards) of city gates (2 Chr.31:14), keepers of forests (Neh.2:8) or (as Judas was) keepers (banker) of money bags (Jn.12:6). In short, a keeper is a steward or one who is given a sacred charge and responsibility. Cain not only failed to keep his but abused it in the worst possible way imaginable

[2] Wu-shu Roch, Top 5 Health Hazards Associated with Restlessness

Comments from Readers

[1] "Enlightening as always. Thank you and thank Yah!" (ADV, Canada, 10 September 2014)