Crying Out to God - 2
He leads me …
In the Bible there are several instances where there were passionate cries out to God, such as the blood of Abel in Genesis, the sin of Sodom, and the persecution of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt.
Those who are part of the Roman Catholic Church summarise several of these examples in the Old Testament in what they refer to as the sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance. They are all linked to what is called the seven deadly sins of - pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and being a sloth.
Being a sloth is effectively a person who primarily exhibits laziness, idleness and lifelessness in their lives.
The sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance are listed as –
· Willful murder, referred to as “the blood of Abel” in Genesis 4.
And [the Lord] said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. (NKJV)
· Sodomy, as told in Genesis 18 and 19.
And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21 NKJV)
· The cry of the Israelites in Egypt, in Exodus 3
And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” (Exodus 3:7 NKJV)
· Oppression of the poor as warned against in Exodus 22.
“If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” (Exodus 22:23-24 NKJV)
· Defrauding workers of their wages, which is well explained in Deuteronomy 24 and in James 5.
“Never oppress a poor hired man, whether a fellow Israelite or a foreigner living in your town. Pay him his wage each day before sunset, for since he is poor he needs it right away; otherwise he may cry out to the Lord against you and it would be counted as a sin against you.” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15 NLT)
“Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” (James 5:4 NKJV)
Some sources list only four of these sins, because the cry of the Israelites in Egypt is a historical event, while the others are still being committed today.[1]
While we see that in most cases the Lord responds to the cries of suffering people, there is Abel’s blood that cries out to the Lord too. Commentators suggest that the cry from Sodom and Gomorrah could either be from those that were sexually violated, or from the act itself.
To try and clarify how Abel’s blood cried out, one commentator says the word for cry (Hebrew tsa’aq) is used to describe the most desperate, extreme need for vengeance and this is what makes it cry out.
This Genesis account of Cain’s murder of Abel, predicts increasing violence to come, and with time the Bible tells us that the whole earth becomes “corrupt” and “filled with violence” (Gen 6:11).
Jewish and Christian commentators down through history have seen that the Cain and Abel story points to the blood of later generations still desperately crying out to God to be accounted for.
Some people maintain that human actions have not played a part in the various disasters that we see happening in the world today. The account of Cain and Abel, which highlights the earthly effects that are a result of human sin, seems to indicate otherwise.[2]
The actions in Sodom and Gomorrah are no less significant. Although sexual violation between men (sodomy) is the sin that comes to mind when we think of those cities, there were other sins taking place as well. Ezekiel 16:49-50 lists some of them -
Your sister Sodom’s sins were pride, laziness, and too much food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She insolently worshiped many idols as I watched. Therefore I crushed her. (TLB)
Through the prophet Amos, the Lord addresses Israel for doing similar things to the poor, needy and helpless, and says, “In that day the singing in the temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!” (Amos 8:3 NLT). We see that there are serious consequences for people who take advantage of those weaker than themselves.
Misery and rejection are what everyone who was poor, needy and helpless experienced at the hands of those who abused them. But have we learnt from these mistakes, and progressed since then? It does not appear to be the case. It is not just in the Bible that we see examples of victimised foreigners, widows, orphans, murder victims and the sexually abused. We see it all around us today too. As the one time British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
The challenge for us today comes from the apostle Paul who says in Philippians, “Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:14-15 NKJV)
As we look around us at those people who are suffering and are disadvantaged, will our conscience motivate us to do something as we remember the words of Jesus, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40 NLT).”
Remember Psalm 108:13 which reads, ‘With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes’. (NLT). And when God leads – ‘all things are possible.’ Matthew 19:26
[1] What sins ‘cry out for vengeance’? by the Editor, The Compass News, Inc.; https://www.thecompassnews.org/2010/09/what-sins-cry-out-for-vengeance/
[2] The Cry of Abel’s Blood by David Carr, Bible Odyessy; https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/cry-of-abels-blood
