Here's a brief diversion from Matthew 24: Two of the most common actions in today's world are violence and cursing.

Two of the most common actions we see on the news today are associated with the words curse and violence.

Have you ever wondered where those two words originated?

Well, the word curse comes from the Hebrew word 'âlâh, and yes, it sounds just like the name of the Islamic god, Allah.

It is NOT a name but a verb that describes, in this case, a state of being, and yes, 'âlâh is a state of being.

The word  'âlâh, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is described as “A verb meaning to curse, or to put under oath. It is used in many cases of persons bringing curses on themselves if they are guilty of doing wrong.” (As a side note, 1/3 of the angels who followed Satan in his rebellion brought curses upon themselves.)

Brown, Driver, and Briggs Hebrew Dictionaries add that the word 'âlâh can mean to be put under oath or to be put under a curse.

The King James concordance shows 42 instances of the word 'âlâh, six under Strong's number H422 and 36 under Strong's number H423. I can't tell what the differences are.

Some interpretation options are oath, swear, swearing, adjured, and curse. Webster's dictionary tells us that adjured means to plead, charge, press, entreat, and beseech.

In the KJV, the translators used the word oath instead of curse to represent 'âlâh. The Literal Translation of the Bible states that “an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear.”

The other word I mentioned was violence.

Violence, in my mind, is much more dramatic as it is a word that we see in the news daily, and it has its roots in Hebrew.

An online post from The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle conveys this,

“Language is a strange commodity. Sometimes there is within it a “play on words,” but at others there is no “play” but rather a mysterious, unexplained truth."

Let us take the example of Hamas, which, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York City research center, is “the largest, most influential political fundamentalist movement” in the Muslim world.

By one means or another, Hamas aims to convince the world of its deep desire to eliminate Israel and establish there instead the 23rd religious Muslim state.

Hamas is an Arabic acronym for “Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya,” which means “The Islamic Resistance Movement.” But “hamas” is also an Arabic word that means “zeal.”

Although Arabic and Hebrew are sister languages, the Hebrew meaning of “chamas” is “violence,” according to the Hebrew-English volume of Reuben Alcalay’s Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew dictionary. “Cruelty” and “injustice” are additional definitions, but not “zeal.”

Truth is thus stranger than fiction. For Israel and for Jews everywhere, "chamas indeed means violence, in its terrorist form."

I recently started listening to Pastor Mark Driscoll as he preached for almost an hour about how violence/Hamas has permeated our very existence since sin has come into our lives.

Want proof?

Genesis 6:11 NKJV:  “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Hamas.)”

Sin was then passed along genetically through human interaction, and this change happened the moment Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. We see the results of that sin when Cain kills Abel.

Genesis 4:8 NKJV  Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

His actions demonstrated that the offspring of Adam was filled with châmâs – (Hamas- violence).

The Strong's concordance details this in the KJV.

Genesis 6:11KJV+  The earthH776 also was corruptH7843 beforeH6440 God, H430 and the earthH776 was filledH4390 with violence. H2555

From the Strong's Concordance.

H2555חָמָסchâmâsFrom H2554; violence; by implication wrong; by metonymy unjust gain: - cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, X oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong.

H2554 חמס châmas.BDB Definition: 1)to wrong, do violence to, treat violently, do wrongly, 1a) (Qal) to treat violently,

The point of this “teaching” is to make us aware that Allah and violence are infiltrated into our mindsets to the point that we think nothing of its impact on our lives.

My son-in-law cannot accept the possibility that Islam, a violent ideology, can be the religion of the world shortly. Oh, it will not be voted in by reasonable people, but it will be forced down our throats by violent followers of Islam.

A video was recently posted about a confrontation on a subway in a European country. The Muslim said to a person, off camera, that we cannot see, “You are an Israeli journalist! My Quran tells me that I should hit you in the head.” In many cases, they do not restrain themselves, and you will not just be hit; you will be killed. 

If you don't think that is true, then I suggest that you pay attention to the Northern African nations, like Nigeria, where they slaughter people in the most heinous ways merely because they are Christians.

The Story, chapter 1. Genesis chapter four. Adam through Noah.

 

Genesis 4

The offering of Cain and Abel

The bottom line, Cain, in a jealous rage, kills his brother Abel.

God has not turned his back on the man in a rage as we all expect, and so once again, God shows up. We do not know what that looked like. I understand as we make assumptions, and one we do not make very often is that even here, it is Jesus talking with Cain. If God’s character remains the same, then his actions should be consistent as well.

As I understand it, the Jewish basis of prophecy lies in repeated patterns. For something to dominate their mind as prophetic, it must have been repeated in scripture.

So do we find Jesus throughout the Old Testament?

At virtually every turn, He (Jesus) is there and is referred to on many occasions as the angel of the Lord, but why is that important? God made it very plain to Moses that man (in his broken state, could not look upon God), so if God could be looked upon in the future, why is it He can be seen by these fallen men?

We are looking for consistency.

Before the fall, humanity was the direct image of God, practically His shadow. A shadow can demonstrate the form but not the precise detail of the person, and I see no reason why Adam and Eve could not have continued to walk in a personal relationship with God.

At this point, some will tell you that they are hopelessly embroiled in sin, but you are ignoring that God himself slaughtered enough animals to make an instructed sacrifice, including the reasons why. The logic behind this is about to be covered, so keep reading. There is no reason to believe that this was not Jesus with them at this point, either. In other words, since Jesus was God, He may well have been here in the garden as well.

There are always repercussions for taking liberties

If I jump several thousand years ahead, to the point where Jesus has given his life for us, we come to the realization that the payment of death, demanded for the sin that we all inherited, is done away with.

My belief in Jesus Christ’s full payment on my behalf and acceptance of his sacrifice makes me free from the bondage of that death.

However, there are always repercussions for taking liberties, and that is what we see with Cain.

How does God handle this murder?

He shows Cain an amazing amount of mercy. Even before Cain murders his brother, God seeing his internal struggle with jealousy, has a talk with him.

Genesis 4:3-7 TLV  “So it happened after some time that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Adonai,  (4)  while Abel—he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Now Adonai looked favorably upon Abel and his offering,  (5)  but upon Cain and his offering He did not look favorably. Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.  (6)  Then Adonai said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  (7)  If you do well, it will lift. But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

There is much that happens in the background of these first four chapters, and they are not spelled out in scripture. Contrast this with God’s background activity in the life of Esther and Mordechai, and you will see what I mean. You could not ask these questions of your own sons if you had not made it clear what was expected of them. Since Adam had been deemed to have dominance over the earth, he was still the relaying body of information to his sons. Come on now, use some logic. God showed Adam how to make a sacrifice for sins, and Adam showed his sons.

Cain murders his brother Abel

^{Genesis 4:8-10 TLV  “Cain spoke to Abel, his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.  (9)  Then Adonai said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” “I don’t know,” he said. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  (10)  Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.”}

Still, we anticipate God striking the man dead, but he does not. Abel is dead, and God approaches Cain once again, and like Adam, God asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” It is not a question of God not knowing. He knows exactly where Abel is. Perhaps he wants us to come clean, and that is more than likely what we are seeing come from the Apostle John when he writes:

If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil. (1 John 1:9 BBE)

However, Cain would not do that.

As I said before, there are repercussions for your actions.

The curse of Cain

^{Genesis 4:11-13 TLV  “So now, cursed are you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  (12)  As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crops to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”  (13)  Cain said to Adonai, “My iniquity is too great to bear!”}

This is where it gets a little weird, but again, there are no straightforward answers as to why Cain has an understanding that people would kill him unless he is aware that this level of activity is all ready going on out there. A filter that almost all of us apply is that we are looking at a tight chronological timeline that starts after sin in the garden. The problem with that thinking is that time began outside the garden and sin.

Once again, God shows mercy and love for those made in his image, and so He marks Cain in an effort to divert (these unexplainable, according to tradition) people from killing him.

While you might think that Cain’s lineage is over, however, through a couple of them, like Jubal, we have metal work, instruments of music, and Jabal, the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. While that may seem innocent enough, it is also the foundation for an evil, violent world that has no relationship with God.

The closest thing God has to his original creation is Adam and Eve, not that it matters now, for everything is broken, but there is a distinct difference, for it seems they are the only ones left that understand what it means to commune with God.

The birth of Seth

^{“Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and she named him Seth, “For God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel—since Cain killed him.” To Seth, also was born a son. He named him Enosh. Then people began to call on Adonai’s Name.” (Genesis 4:25-26 TLV)}

Two things that jump out here, Adam and Eve have had another son, he becomes the lineage that brings about Jesus, and after Seth has his own son Enosh, men begin to call upon the LORD. You would think that at least three people might have been doing that already. This has huge implications because we have so much activity going on in the background, and apparently, none of these people have been acknowledging God.

If you look the name Enosh up, you might not think it unusual:

'ĕnôsh The same as H582; Enosh, a son of Seth: - Enos. However, pursue it further and it defines Enosh with a little more detail: properly a mortal (and thus differing from the more dignified 'âdâm ruddy, that is, a human being)

So Enosh marks a transition from God’s original creation, ADAM, to what is now defined as a mere mortal. This is another huge clue as to what is going on in the background.