I suspect that the television series Better Call Saul is so popular because it brings to our attention a deeply troubling reality every viewer senses in his or her own life experience. The characters’ choices of action in response to crises do so much more than reveal their inner character. Their choices shape their character and their future condition. As they face crossroad after crossroad of decisions they proceed towards a destination, while not of their liking, unquestionably the result of their choices which eliminated other possibilities.
The show does this so effectively because it doesn’t define its characters’ personalities and fatal flaws, which would allow us to treat the characters as fictional. Instead, it gently nudges us into a dawning awareness of essential human nature through the use of “precept upon precept” as we’re able to track their disasters back to the start when their bad choices set them up to fall.
The first law documented as being given to mankind is not a “Do Not” but a “Do”.
“God created man in his own image…and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion… And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress / groom it and to keep / guard it.” (Genesis 1:27-28. 2:15)
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And…Cain was a tiller of the ground.
You know that Adam and Eve told Cain endless stories of the fabulous way of life in Eden, no death, and how the LORD had promised to restore it through the Seed of the Woman. And Cain lived up to that expectation and way of life in recreating the Edenic vegan world.
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD…But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.”
In the meantime, back at the ranch, Eve had also born Cain’s brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering [reported in other instances as fire from heaven]. (Genesis 4:1-5)
Surely we recognize the repetition of the Luciferian attitude in Cain’s personal pride at his accomplishments and outrage at God’s rejection of his gift and choice of a mud person over his pristine presentation.
So he lashed out against, not just Abel for upstaging him, but fundamentally against God for putting him in his place. “Oh you want blood, do you? I’ll give you blood!”
“And the LORD said unto Cain…What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; [instead of a settled farmer] a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” (Genesis 4:9-12)
And once again, Cain doesn’t repent, he lashes out in that classic narcissistic reaction.
A primary pathology of the narcissistic personality is delusional grandiosity. This is most obviously displayed as arrogant entitlement, but exaggerated victimhood is another persistent feature to control others and sidestep accountability for their opportunistic and abusive behavior. The most pernicious aspect is victim blaming whereby the narcissist behaves abusively toward someone and then accuses that person of abusing them.
“And 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 slew him.” (Genesis 4:8)
The name “Cain” means “Spear”.
Now there’s a clue.
Ancient names were essentially a memorial to that individual’s notable characteristics or exploits. “Spear” would not have been written on his earthly birth certificate but in God’s book in heaven as his unique identifier after he kills righteous Abel.
If we accept his name as his memorial then Cain did not commit second degree murder grabbing a handy rock in the heat of anger. The report that he “rose up against Abel his brother and slew him” (Genesis 4:8) certainly includes a priori “couching” like a predatory beast.
God cursed the ground so Cain could not farm. We can see how the punishment exquisitely fit the crime in that instance.
But can we see how this is also chastening from a loving Father? Cain was no longer able to offer God a vegan sacrifice, he had no other option but to offer a blood sacrifice. God was guiding him into the way of salvation.
“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Hebrews 12:6)
Forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation with God and mankind were as available to Cain as they were to his parents and all the rest of mankind. Cain just chose not to repent and take responsibility for his own actions.
“And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth;
The statement that Cain would be a fugitive and a vagabond is better understood as an astute observation of the consequences of Cain’s decision not to seek forgiveness and restoration of relationship. It is important to recognize the difference.
- Punishment is judgment, imposed by a social law and is generally not under our control.
- Consequence is the inevitable effect of our own actions, and any future consequences are under our control, like carelessness, gluttony, or heedlessness in dangerous circumstances.
- Chastening is tribulation brought by the parent in hopes of the chastened one choosing to repent – rethink the pros and cons – and change the behaviors that cause us harm. When my daughter was a toddler her favorite activity was withdrawn when she misbehaved. This was not punishment but an opportunity for her to consider her options and choose the best decision for herself in future.
“and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” (Genesis 4:13-15)
The mark of Cain has been cause for speculation, such as being the origin of dark skin. The Bible gives us no reason to believe that this mark was inherited by Cain’s offspring, and in any case they all died in the flood. All we are actually told about the mark of Cain is that it protected him. God also put a mark of protection on men many years later.
“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite [those without a mark].” (Ezekiel 9:3-6)
It should come as no surprise that Anti-christ mimics this strategy, promising protection to those who take his mark.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,” (Revelation 13:15-18)
With God’s mark, Cain was, even if unwillingly, a witness of God’s mercy “in the midst of a perverse and crooked nation.” (Philippians 2:15)
“And Lamech said…I have slain a man…If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” (Genesis 4:23-24)
The fact is, all of us are as guilty as Cain and Esau and need God’s protection.
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. ” (Romans 2:1)
The word sin has become unpopular in current society, especially when applied to specific behaviors that are no longer illegal. But we acknowledge that there are behaviors that an individual engages in, or fails to undertake, at the unjust expense of others.
Self-serving behavior is so evidently a part of everyone’s naturally occurring behavior, even from birth, that is is a rational deduction rather than an act of faith to say that humans have a “sin nature”.
- There is none right-eous [always doing the right thing], no, not one:
- There is none that understandeth [always rational, we are often controlled by our emotions or physical desires despite awareness of negative consequences of actions],
- there is none that seeketh after God [wanting to be morally correct]…
- there is none that doeth good, no, not one…
- with their tongues they have used deceit…
- There is no fear of God before their eyes…
- For all have sinned. (Letter to the Romans 3:10-18, 23)
No matter how moral and socially conscientious we believe ourselves to be, we all have our breaking point, a thin line that triggers a response when it gets crossed. This may be as amoral as rationalizing driving faster than the posted speed limit because everyone else is, to as immoral as stealing and killing under certain circumstances.
[During Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans] Inside the Superdome, things were descending further into hell…People had broken up into factions by race, separating into small groups throughout the building that the National Guard struggled to control. A few of these groups wandered the concourse, stealing food and attacking anyone who stood up to them.
The tiny jail cell down in the bowels of the Dome, which they kept for game-day security, was filling up. A man had been caught sexually assaulting a young girl. Reports of other rapes were widespread…
Supplies were running low, and as the National Guard began to ration things like water and diapers the crowd grew incensed and accused them of hoarding goods for their own use…
That night a National Guardsman got jumped as he walked through a dark, flooded locker room. His assailant hit him with a metal rod taken from a cot…In response, guardsmen put up barbed wire at various areas around the building, protecting themselves from the general population. [Emphasis added.]
“what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain…who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother…Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (Jude 1:11-16, I John 3:12)
These key criteria “corrupt” and “of that wicked one” unquestionably diagnose Cain as being possessed and controlled by Satan.
This makes him the first demonically possessed Anti-Christ to God’s indwelt Chosen One in the Adamic Order of Melchizedek.
Once we establish this foundation, the Cainite Order of Anti-Christ is recognizable through the ancient Sumerian religion and thence through history.
Kingdom Come 