"The Lord said to Cain,
'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.
Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.''
Genesis 4:6-7
These are the words God said to Cain shortly after Cain killed his brother, Abel. This was the first murder, and it was a cold, calculated act against an innocent person. Yet, though God holds Cain responsible for his choice, He does not turn on Cain or abandon him. He speaks to him, offers wise counsel, and even puts a mark of protection on him. God has shown this characteristic before, with Cain's parents, Adam and Eve. Though they suffered the natural consequences of their sin, God did not abandon them, either. He still spoke to them and cared for them by making clothes for them to wear. (Genesis 3:21)
Sin is Crouching At the Door
But there is something just as valuable to be learned from this passage, and it is an insight that is often overlooked. In fact, I've not heard it taught elsewhere, as it requires an understanding of the cultural significance of the phrase: "...sin is crouching at the door."
Moses recorded this tale from the oral traditions of the Hebrew people. At the time Moses lived, among the Mediterranean people groups, there existed a particularly interesting superstition. The pagan people of that region believed that evil spirits congregated at the doors of people's homes--at the threshold--and waited there to attack any who dared linger there. For this reason, Mediterranean peoples considered it bad luck to step on the threshold and, in fact, were very careful to step over it entirely. They moved quickly, so as not to draw the negative attention of any spirits who might be crouching in the shadows.
The description here of God's words to Adam reflect the ingrained fears of the people who would be reading and meditating on this story. God is meeting Cain at the lowest point of Cain's life, but He is also warning Cain of the dangers in the world--not just evil spirits, but Cain's own evil desires. Moses's description would have been particularly powerful to his hearers--a sound warning to beware of the forces in the world that seek to destroy us.
The Significance of the Mezuzah
However, the Bible is not a simple, flat text. One verse or passage cannot encompass all that God is or His entire plan for humankind. It is an unfolding tale of hope and redemptive grace in the face of fear and despair. This passage shows one side of the story. The other side comes much later--also meted out through Hebrew tradition.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress
them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when
you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
Genesis 6:4-9 (emphasis added)
That command to write this promise on their doorframes is something practicing Jews have taken seriously for a millennia. They attach a small, narrow box, called a mezuzah, to their doorframes, within which is a tiny scroll bearing the words: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." I've heard that it's tradition to kiss one's fingertips and then touch the mezuzah upon leaving for the day and upon returning. This small act of reverence indicates that God is central to all they do, both indoors and out.
God commanded His people to always remember that He is to be first and foremost in their hearts and minds--in their getting up and lying down, in their coming and going. So though the people around them have traditionally feared the threshold of their homes as a place of fear and curses, the Jewish people see it as a place of remembrance of the love and blessings of their Heavenly Father. This is just one more way the Jews have been "set apart" as God's people--to be a witness to those around them of God's goodness. (Deut. 14:2)
Another biblical example of how God has made the threshold a place of peace and protection is in Exodus, at the time of the first Passover. When the angel of death was passing over the land and putting all the firstborn sons to death, God instructed His people to butcher the sacrifice lamb, dip a hyssop branch in the blood, and wipe the blood on the doorposts. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over that home and did not harm anyone inside. (Exodus 12:1-30)
Another biblical example of how God has made the threshold a place of peace and protection is in Exodus, at the time of the first Passover. When the angel of death was passing over the land and putting all the firstborn sons to death, God instructed His people to butcher the sacrifice lamb, dip a hyssop branch in the blood, and wipe the blood on the doorposts. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over that home and did not harm anyone inside. (Exodus 12:1-30)
The Things that Make Us Tremble
What are the places in your life where you experience the most fear? What is hiding at your door, crouching in the darkness, waiting to leap out at you and destroy you? What are the rooms of your life you're afraid to enter and be fully present?
Your marriage?
Your relationships with your children?
Your sexual identity or desires?
Your trauma?
Your abuse?
Your addiction?
Your loneliness?
Your future?
Your finances?
Your grief?
Your health?
Your death?
What makes you tremble when you think of it? What do you avoid? What places do you move quickly through, refusing to linger?
God is Not Afraid of the Dark.
No matter how terrifying certain areas of your life are to you, they do not scare God. He has already conquered them on your behalf, and He wants you to invite Him into those places and learn to dwell in His presence in those places. He wants to help you conquer those scary places and show you, by walking through those "valleys of the shadow of death," that He is bigger and more powerful than the worst things the world throws at us.
"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.
Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.
Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
What was once a place of fear, God can make a place of blessing. When you place the blood of His sacrifice over the threshold of your life, His protection is also yours to claim. He can give you victory and turn the dark, scary places of your life into places of light and peace.
Remember:
"This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:
God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all."
I John 1:5
