JUDE, IN HIS SHORT LETTER, WARNS OF FALSE TEACHERS INFILTRATING THE CHURCH. HE USES SEVERAL BIBLICAL EXAMPLES, ONE OF WHICH INVOLVES CAIN, TO DESCRIBE THESE DECEIVERS.
"WOE TO THEM! FOR THEY HAVE WALKED IN THE WAY OF CAIN . . ." (JUDE 1:11).
CAIN'S WAY, WHICH IS HOW HE LIVED HIS LIFE, WAS UNSURPRISINGLY THE SAME WAY HIS PARENTS ADAM AND EVE HAD CHOSEN TO LIVE!
* GOD'S TEST *
GOD TESTED ADAM AND EVE BY COMMANDING THEM NOT TO EAT FROM A PARTICULAR TREE IN EDEN, AS DOING SO WOULD CAUSE THEIR DEATH (GENESIS 2:16 -17, 3:2 - 3). THEY, HOWEVER, DECIDED TO DISMISS THIS WARNING. THEY CHOSE, INSTEAD, TO BELIEVE THE FORBIDDEN TREE WAS NOT ONLY GOOD FOR FOOD BUT ALSO CAME WITH THE BENEFIT OF INSTANT WISDOM! THE EATING OF THE FRUIT, AS WAS FORETOLD, ULTIMATELY CAUSED THEIR DEATHS.
* CAIN'S WAY *
CAIN KNEW WHAT GOD EXPECTED IN A SACRIFICE, BUT CHOSE TO REJECT IT. HE LACKED FAITH (DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD, HEBREWS 11:4), JUST LIKE HIS PARENTS. HIS REJECTED DEMAND THAT HIS OFFERING BE ACCEPTED "AS IS," AS HE HAD DETERMINED, SO ENRAGED HIM (GENESIS 4:5) THAT IT LED TO THE MURDER OF ABEL (VERSES 8-10).
CAIN'S WAY, THEN, IS TO DECIDE FOR ONESELF WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG, OR GOOD AND EVIL. THOSE JUDE WARNED ABOUT SPREADING DECEPTIVE TEACHINGS, WHICH THEY CLAIMED WERE THE TRUTH. THEY WERE, HOWEVER, NOTHING MORE THAN THE VAIN CREATIONS BY THOSE WHO, LIKE CAIN, DECIDED TO LIVE BY THEIR OWN RULES.
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