Hopelessness, Suffering, and Unjust Loss - Part 11
The premature death of Abel in Genesis 4 shows us what God provides when we experience unjust loss; in this case, the unjust loss of a child. Immediately, God provides for two things to happen: justice and restoration. We often miss them in our own experiences because we often do not connect the justice and restoration that God provides with the injustice and loss that happened before. We fail to see a clear connection, and because of this, we often may feel that justice and restoration are not granted. That is not true. That may be our perception, but it is wrong.
“If the righteous will be rewarded on the earth [with godly blessings], How much more [will] the wicked and the sinner [be repaid with punishment]!”—Proverbs 11:31 (AMP)
In the case of Abel, justice was immediately pronounced against the one responsible for his unjust death:
“Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go for a walk.’ And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him.
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is Abel?’
‘How should I know?’ he answered. ‘Am I supposed to look after my brother?’
Then the Lord said:
‘Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. And so, I’ll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again. If you try to farm the land, it won’t produce anything for you. From now on, you’ll be without a home, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.’”—Genesis 4:8-12 (CEV)
Cain was given such a clear understanding of the judgment pronounced against him that he didn’t think he could stand it.
“My punishment is more than I can bear.”—Genesis 4:13 (NIV)
This is always the case. No one escapes justice. The Righteous Judge of all the earth is no respecter of persons. And God is not mocked. What a man sows, that shall he also reap. Our problem is that justice is often rendered out of our sight. So, because we do not see justice clearly rendered as we did in Cain’s situation, we may often feel that it didn’t happen. That is not true.
Those who commit sins often deceive themselves into believing the same thing:
“When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.”—Ecclesiastes 8:11 (NLT)
Because they do not immediately feel the effects of the consequences of their sin, they believe that they escaped judgment. That is also not true. Judgment was pronounced immediately on Adam and Eve in the Garden. Some aspects of their judgment took effect immediately. Other aspects took time to fully realize. The sentence included death for their sin. It was inescapable. They surely died, just as God said. And not only that, but the judgment was rendered so decisively that it was passed down to every single person born to the family line of Adam and Eve, to the point where it is impossible for any of us to escape the sentence of death.
“And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment”—Hebrews 9:27 (AMP)
Justice is decided immediately, and is inescapable, but it may not be fully experienced until much later.
“from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.”—Luke 11:51 (NIV)
Along with justice, the other half of God’s response to unjust loss is restoration.
Abel’s premature death also gives us a picture of the restoration God provides for unjust loss; in this case, the unjust death of a child.
When Seth was born after the death of Abel, this was the declaration that his parents made over him:
“Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, ‘God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain.’”—Genesis 4:25 (CEV)
Seth’s name means “compensation, appointed or substituted”. So even the name by which he was called all of his life gave testimony to the fact that he was given by God as compensation for the great loss of Abel.
Abel never had the opportunity to have children, but when God granted restoration, through Seth, of what was unjustly taken from Abel, and from Adam and Eve as his parents, there were generations of children and many more blessings that came with this restoration granted by God. For example:
- When Seth’s son Enos was born, men began to call on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26).
- It was through Seth’s family line that Noah was born. The flood of Noah’s time brought an end to the family line of Cain, but Seth’s family line lived on after the flood because of Noah.
- In Luke chapter 3, Jesus’ family line (through his step-father Joseph) was traced all the way back to Seth, through King David, Boaz, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. So the restoration that God provided after the unjust death of Abel included kings, prophets and the Messiah Himself!
Abel’s was the first case of restoration after the unjust, premature death of a child, but restoration can take different forms. God customizes the restoration according to the individual situation. In Job’s case, he was given the same number of physical children to replace the ones whose lives had been taken prematurely. In the case of the unjust death of Jesus, His mother Mary was not given any more physical children to replace Jesus after He died, instead, Jesus’ unjust death resulted in the spiritual rebirth of millions of people.
In another form of restoration, when Stephen was stoned to death unjustly, Saul of Tarsus, who was present at his death, took Stephen’s place, not only performing signs, wonders and miracles as Stephen had done, but taking the good news of Jesus Christ to many, many people in his travels, as well as writing more books of the New Testament than anyone else in his role as the Apostle Paul.
In the heart of every parent who has lost a child prematurely is the desire to make sure that his or her life was not cut short in vain. There is a desire to see that it counts for something that will give that tragic loss some meaning.
God provides for abundant repayment for every unjust loss. But how can we make sure? How can we make sure that the pain and losses that we’ve suffered are not in vain? How can we make sure that we receive the full repayment in the justice of God?
