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"From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands."

Acts:17:26

This little card arrived in my mailbox yesterday and inspired me to write this blog today. (Painting by Lorraine Williams and David Glasgow) Bible Society production_

The first man, Adam was created by God around 4004BC (Usher's Annals of the World) Usher even calculated a day and time: 1:00 am, Sunday, October 23 (Julian calendar)

Adam named all the animals and no animal seemed fit to be a partner to him. Therefore God did the first operation on earth, putting the man to sleep and taking one of his ribs, creating a woman from his bone DNA. Adam named the woman EVE because she would be the mother of all the living_ (Genesis 1:1-5)

Quickly Adam and Eve made an alliance with the evil one Lucifer: They disobeyed the order of God not to eat of one tree in the garden he created for them. (Gen 3:21.22)

Cain was born and grew up to be a man. His brother Abel was born after him_

Cain became a gardener and cultivated the ground to obtain his food. Abel was a shepherd_ A good man who had integrity and offered the cream of his flock - the best firstborn lamb to God who accepted him and his offering_

God did not accept Cain's offering of vegetables_ God warns him about his attitude and his pending downfall_ (Gen 1:6)  He took umbrage at his brother's success with God.

We can speculate about why Cain was angry with his honourable brother_ After all, he was the first born and already had a chip on his shoulder_ He was better than his younger brother, the second-born_ His face reflected his disposition of anger and umbrage over his brother Abel, who simply "did the right thing"

These brothers set the tone for many families to come, including Joseph and his older brothers, Jacob and Esau_ always at odds with each other and taking umbrage or even advantage of each other_

We call it sibling rivalry_ the beginning of trouble_that can quickly get out of hand_ 

Note that Jesus is called the lamb of God, the firstborn from the Dead_ also the firstborn of God in the unique birth of the Christ_ Themes recorded long ago when Abel was shown as the just and righteous one_ innocent and murdered in cold blood_.

Cain was called ANGRY_ he was an angry man who wanted to sort things out HIS way_ He planned the kill and duped his trusting brother Abel to come into the field, where death awaited_

Cain became the first murderer in the world_800>< years  before the commandments were written and laws were officially pronounced in the wilderness (Moses)

For his punishment God cursed the ground where he grew his crops_ Cain was also banished from the land he worked (probably near to where Eden had been cut off)

He would become a wanderer in the land because of his crime_

Cain cried out to God, complaining that his punishment was too harsh!

God was gracious to him and put a seal or mark on him so that he could not be killed by anyone for his crime.  A warning of being punished seven times more was also decreed by God over Cain. Even if they tried to kill him, they could not do so_ (Gen1:15,16) Then Cain left the Lord's presence (where God met man) and lived East of Eden.

Cain lived a long life and built a city for his son, Enoch_ The family had offspring for over 1,000 years.

Other high minded men arose and a real bad-ass called Lamech tried to copy God, threatening anyone who might come and punish him because he had killed a man he claimed attacked him_ Not only did he copy God's statement to Cain_ he said he would punish the person seventy-seven times! Therefore, he was bigger and better than God! (In his own estimate)

Today, the world is filled to the brim with ANGRY men who kill, maim and threaten others for their own ends_

Even our young people are angry over everything and anything_ burning buildings, shooting at innocents_ running people over- sending missiles into residential areas_

There seems to be no end to the anger of mankind_ women too can become angry and offended and commit crimes as a result_

Taking umbrage is a subtle form of anger_ Holding something against another person for one's own reasoning and ideology. Without having a conversation, we up and leave, take offence and even if we will never harm anyone, we do it subtly, through ghosting, ignoring the person, sending slanderous statements online where they hang out_ etc. Each one of us must answer to the God who created all peoples on earth that began 6,004 years ago_ Ended in 2349BC, beginning once again after the Great Flood of Noah - 2348BC

101 years later, mankind defies God once again, a repetition of the "Fall" in the Garden of Eden. They took umbrage of God's instructions and defied his directions_ They left the Eastern parts of the mountain of Ararat_ and headed into the Valley of Shinar.  At that time, we can easily work out how many people there might have been on earth_ 3 couples with offspring including thirteen sons of Joktan, the brother of Peleg_ (Gen 10:26-30) We have to assume they married thirteen women who were also born_ The generations are noted as being around 30 years of age when sons were born_ therefore approximately 6 generations had sprouted - Noah (601), Shem (100 at end of flood) Arphaxhad, (2 years after the flood ended) Salah (30) Eber, (34), Peleg, (34) Reu - We must assume the other tribes of Ham and Japheth had similar outcomes. Without contraceptives or hindrances, they would have had as many children as possible to build up their families and tribes to conquer the land (Editor) Also, people still lives 4 times longer than we expect today - 13 x 13 = 169 x 3 (original wives ) = 507x 7 (peoples groups) (Japheth) = 3549 x 4 (Ham -peoples group) = 2028 + Shem (5 peoples groups) = 2535 persons without counting the other brothers and sisters that got married and had children.  The population blossomed and bloomed with the best DNA's making their mark, no records of diseases etc. It makes sense to think about such few in number to today where we have around 8,000000000 (billion) and see where it began around 4270 years ago_ Generations overlapped each other for the first 500 years after the flood.  (Shem lives another 500 years after the flood, which made him 600 at the end of his life) (Gen 11:10)

The law of entropy (decay or state of disorder)  had kicked in good and well by then_ Man's life was now shortening to 120 years predicted by God before the flood. (Gen 6:4)

Since those days, wars have always ensued mankind's distribution across the world_ Read any history book to see what mankind has been up to since those days_

Even since Jesus arrived, peace has not reigned on the earth for any notable length of time_

Is it possible to curb the killing of one another and to reach a state of peace at any time?

The Birth of Jesus, 2023 years ago brought with it a message of peace and goodwill from God Almighty.

Jesus, like Abel, claims to be a shepherd, the Good Shepherd, "So that the blind can see, and those who see be made blind." ( John 9:39)

The Pharisees took umbrage at Jesus' healing a blind man in this passage_ They were very angry with the blind man who claimed to see and that it was Jesus who healed him.

Angry and violent as they threw him out of the synagogue. They "reviled" the man in no uncertain terms_ The man spoke up for Jesus and was severely threatened and punished.

Jesus said, "I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be "one flock" and "one shepherd" For this reason the Father loves me. (John 10:17)

God has given the solution for our sins of umbrage ending in anger_ Jesus has died for these sins and all sins brought to God for forgiveness - For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life_ (John 3:16)

God's wrath has been satisfied, and we should take note of God and follow the example of Jesus_ Forgive and reach out to hurting souls who have suffered under umbrage and hatred through no fault of their own.

Umbrage: Offence given or taken; resentful displeasure_ A little seed of tiny anger that can fester and grow rapidly or slowly and end up in a disastrous decision or not_ (Editor)