This series of blogs follows the Torah recitation cycle of the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the recitation of the first five books of the New Testament- the four Gospels and the Book of Acts. My hypothesis is the these five books are the New Testament parallel to the Torah, and were recited by the early Jewish-Christian communities.
The four set of readings are Genesis 4, Ezekiel 28:11-26; Psalm 2, and Matt. 2
Genesis 4 describes a horrible act- the first murder.
The Torah recitation is a fascinating inner biblical interpretation of the Messianic prophecy found in Genesis 3:15. God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” The crucial question is what is the meaning of the “seed of the woman?” Genesis 4:1 gives the answer to this question. When the woman gave birth to the son, she exclaims, “Behold, I have produced a man- the LORD.” Most translations would add, “with the help of the LORD.” Yet, the text makes it clear that it seeks the worshipper to interpret the song in Genesis 3:15, as a prophecy of a Divine Seed of the woman.
The question that that text seeks to answer is which of the two sons of Adam and Eve is a prototype of the “Seed of the woman?” Genesis 4:1-2 gives two examples- one is Cain; the other is Abel. Abel is described as a “keeper of sheep,” while Cain is described as a “server of the ground.” In many senses it seems like Cain is doing the right thing. He is doing what human beings ought to do, according to Genesis 2:15. Yet, there is a greater principle, which Cain does not understand. The next verse goes on to explain this. “In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of some of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the Firstfruits of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,” (4:3-4). The problem was not with the kind of offering which Cain and Abel brought- i.e. agricultural offering versus animal offering. Cain brought simply something that he just plucked from the ground and brought it to the Lord, whereas Abel took pains to bring the best of best- his Firstfruits. Throughout the Torah this is the demand God has of his people. He expects people to bring their best of best- their firstfruits, whether it be the firstfruits of the plant kingdom, or firstfruits of the animal kingdom. This is so, because, when God created, his creation was Firstfruits, Reshit, (Genesis 1:1)
The story does not end here. Cain is given opportunities to do the right thing. God tells him, “If you do tov, good, you will be accepted.” (4:7). Instead, Cain decides to do ra’a, evil. God lays the foundation in Genesis 1. Everything in the creation narrative is tov, good. This is the biblical word for right, holy, righteous, and all that is required for the good life. Cain, rebels against God and ends up killing his brother- the first murder in the Bible.
The steps toward the murder are very crucial to understand. The first thing that happens is that Cain becomes angry. Then his “face” falls. He goes into a state of sustained depression. God says to him, “Why have you brought yourself into this state of sustained depression?” God tells Cain, “If you do not do what is tov, good, then sin is crouching at your door.” Cain could well have snapped out of this depression by looking toward God and taking on his countenance. Instead, he gave into the clutches of sin, and committed the horrible act of murder.
It is interesting to note that the “adamah, the ground” cried out because of the blood of Abel. Abel, in the prophets becomes the paradigm of all the prophets who were rejected by the people of Israel. (4 Macc. 18:11; Matt. 23:35)
It is also interesting to note that since Cain let his “face” be controlled by sin (4:6), he eventually has to flee from the “face of the LORD.” He settles “east of Eden”- the same place to which Adam and Eve had to flee.
The Torah recitation ends with a prophetic anticipation. Abel is dead. However, another son is born to Adam and Eve. This is Seth. The text suggests that through this son the “seed of the woman” will come.
The Prophets worship text, Ezekiel 28:11-26 compares the King of Tyre to Cain. “Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection,full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering.” (28:12-13) The Garden of Eden is called the “mountain of the LORD.” (28:14). In prophetic thought, the Temple and Jerusalem was the Garden of Eden. Cain, it seems clear, was symbolic of the generation of the people who were driven out of the “Garden of Eden,” the land of Israel. In the same way the people of Tyre were also driven out of the Garden of the LORD. The Ezekiel text is an equal opportunity text- both the Jews and the non-Jews behaved like Cain.
The prophet goes on to declare, “Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall settle on their own soil that I gave to my servant Jacob. They shall live in safety in it, and shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall live in safety, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God.” (28:25-26). This underlines the prophetic hope that people of Israel, just like Adam and Eve, will return back to the Garden of Eden, Jerusalem.
Yet, this will not be an easy process.
Psalm 2 reminds the worshipper that the people in high places- the kings will always plot against the “Lord and his Messiah.” They will always seek to kill him, just like Cain killed Abel.
The Gospel passage, Matthew 2:13-23 is a stark reminder of the prophecy that the “seed of the serpent” is bent on destroying the “Seed of the Woman.” Therefore, “the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” (Matt. 2:13).
Joseph and Mary took the child, Yeshua to Egypt.
Jesus is portrayed here as the New Israel. Just as the people had to go out of the land to Egypt, so must Jesus go into Egypt. He must go into Exile, because the Cains of his own people, in the Garden of Eden were seeking to kill him. Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, which refers to Israel. Yet, there is a contrast here. In Hosea 11:1, the people of Israel behave more like Cain. They forsake the LORD. They desecrate the Garden of Eden- Jerusalem. They go whoring after other gods and goddesses. Jesus, in contrast, is the faithful Abel.
The massacre of children in Bethlehem echoes what Pharaoh did in Egypt. In Exodus 1-2, just Moses, the savior, is saved. It is ironic though, that that massacre took place in Egypt. This massacre took place in the “Garden of the LORD.”
After the death of Herod the Great- the prototype of Cain, and Pharaoh, the angel of the LORD appears to Joseph and asks him to take the Messiah Child back to the Garden of the LORD.
He goes there, only to be killed on the cross 33 years after that.
The four songs urge the worshipper to ask the question, “Is your life like that of Cain, or is it like that of Abel?