Crying Out Loud!

I was sitting at a table today at lunch listening to a guy teach through Genesis 4. This chapter is where Cain and Abel bring an offering before God. He accepts Abel's and rejects Cain's. As a result Cain goes out into a field and kills his brother Abel. God comes to Cain in much the same way he does Adam and Eve. He comes asking a question. He asked Adam - "Where are you?" and he asks Cain - "Where is your brother?" God knew the answer to both questions but in his mercy he gave them an opportunity to reply instead of killing them instantly for sinning. This is not the point I wanted to make. What struck me was the verse that follows this exchange between God and Cain. Verse 10 says:

Genesis 4: 10 - The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

Think about that. God, who is in heaven with millions of angels crying out in praise and worship to him in voices that are so beautiful and perfect we cannot come close to comprehending, hears Abel's blood cry out. My guess is that it was an agonizing cry, a horrid sound that interrupted the incredible sounds that the heavenly beings were making.

As I sat at my table I wondered if that was the only time blood cried out. I did a quick search of the Scriptures and even though there are no other verses stating this my guess is that all blood that is shed cries out. God did not intend for us to die when he created man. But when Eve took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge she and Adam died. They died spiritually and physically. They ushered sin into the world and it only took one generation for sin to take on the form of murder.

I wonder if the sound of blood crying out, whether it is generated from aborted babies, street violence, marital violence, war, genocide, the Holocaust or any other form of murder, sounds like an out of tune instrument in a symphony. I wonder if there are millions of heavenly beings singing out to God and yet in the midst of all of this there is a constant sound of blood crying out, a sound that only God can hear. Crying out like a Stradivarius violin that is completely out of tune and played by an amateur. I wonder if the blood of his son cried out? I wonder if it cried out any louder than the blood of Abel? Although God was pleased with Abel's offering he was still a sinner in need of a savior. Christ, however, was the perfect, sinless, Son of God. His blood was not corrupt and yet it was spilled out on the ground. I wonder if this blood was crying out loud enough for the angels to momentarily stop and look down at what was taking place. The seed of woman spoken of by God in Genesis 3 had finally crushed the head of Satan.

The God of the Bible is not an angry, sadistic God who derives pleasure from making the human race suffer. The God of the Bible is a loving, merciful God who sent his son to give his life for our sins. His mercy and grace can be seen throughout the Old and New Testaments. His desire for man to repent and believe in the finished work of Christ can be seen throughout the Bible.

The blood of Abel cried out to God and he heard it. God's word, his plan of salvation, his desire to see man repent and be restored is crying out, can you hear it?