Suppose you were unfairly murdered. You never lived long enough to marry, bear children, grow a kingdom, and build a name for your family. You cried out from the ground but got forgotten …
Cain murders his righteous brother, forcing the Land—already cursed by Adam’s deed—to drink Abel’s life blood. Ten generations later, God gives the Land relief from human bloodshed by sending a Flood that doubles for a “born again” baptism.
Another ten generations after that, God covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel. He multiplies their seed, raises up a dynasty for royal seed, and grants Land to people destined to bless all the nations of the earth.
God protects the Land by establishing a covenant with His people, to guarantee sabbatical rest for the Land. God grants the Land to His people for a thousand generations.
The people are well aware of the potential for exile from the Land. Idolatry and bloodshed are forbidden. And if you work the Land on the seventh year set apart for sabbatical rest, you fail to proclaim God’s rightful ownership.
Israel fails on all accounts. Kicked out of the Land for four generations, it’s off to Babylon, ending the continuity of Judah’s kingly dynasty. Empires come and go, with heaven and earth as the sole witnesses.
Despite Roman oppression, hope renews in David’s final anointed Son. Not long after a conspiracy to kill this Messiah, destruction and desolation repeat. The result? Kicked out again and wandering for the past forty-eight generations.
“… so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah … whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:35-36 LSB).
But Messiah has raised up sons throughout His generations. All these faithful followers are heirs to rule with Him. When He returns, He will give Creation a thousand years of Sabbaticals, the missing years that the earth has failed to rest under the oversight of Adam, father of humankind.
So what do you think, was Abel forgotten? Can his memory be restored?
God will restore rest to the Land and a kingdom to the righteous, beginning with Abel and ending with every person who has given his life to God and replaced it with love for His Son.
© Jeffrey Enoch Feinberg. JEF says that God’s kingdom is breaking in, and His Holy Ones will be resurrected to rule with Him.
