Everything I Know About the Bible I Learned From U2

Well…almost.

If you ever thought reading the bible straight through is boring…you don’t have to worry about that being a problem with Genesis. Other than the occasional ‘a’ begat ‘b’ and lived 1 million years and then begat ‘c’ and he lived a trillion years, it’s pretty good stuff.

The plot thickens after earth’s ‘first’ couple are expelled from the Garden and settle down and spend some quality time, ‘knowing’ each other. (By the way, the bible has some great euphemisms that I love to bring up along the way.) To “know” each other is to have sex. ( I cannot find a scripture anywhere saying Adam wrote a song called, I Want to Know You Up, but it is possible.)
So along came Cain and Abel. Cain was the farmer. Able was the shepherd. They bring an offering to God and God didn’t like Cain’s. Not sure why, but it isn’t up to God’s standards.

Cain becomes angry and kills his brother in a field. The first murder in the world and it is domestic.

What a powerful line God tells Cain, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

The first time I remember hearing this line was from U2. One Tree Hill uses a ‘version’ of it for a tribute to a lost (deceased) friend. (That song has a couple of other references to scripture.)

How did Cain kill Abel? It probably was pretty bad. It would have been up close and personal. God could have been symbolic in the use of blood…but it probably was bloody. Out in the field…he possibly starts pounding him with a rock or rocks until he slips away. Not to say that he couldn’t have just strangled him. Was this the first time either one had seen blood? How did Cain know how to kill him. Did he know what would happen? Did he know he would die? What did he tell his folks?

And why does God only curse him and not take his life? Is this the first appearance of grace?

~ by bart on January 8, 2008.