A Healthy Fear
Abel’s flocks spread across the fields
Grew fat without effort
Cain toiled as his father warned
Dependent on sun and rain.
God was pleased with the fat
But not the grain
God smiled on Abel
But not on brother Cain.
Without fear of any kind
Cain killed Abel
Because God’s smile was turned
Toward his brother.
God sent him to wander
The earth abroad
No fields, no grain,
Nothing he knew how to do.
From Cain his sons learned
Wandering and emptiness
Hatred and how to kill
Yet still God protected them.
Cities instead of fields
Tools of copper and bronze
Music to cover the pain
Of the mark of Cain.
God gave Adam another son
Seth carried on with Abel’s herds and flocks
Seth carried on with Cain’s fields and grain
Son after son followed Adam’s sin
God touched the heart of each child
Giving to each another chance
To redeem his people
Or at least himself.
Finally after Methuselah who would be
The longest lived of all Adam’s kin
Who taught Abraham about
The God of his father Enoch.
Enoch walked in habitual fellowship
With God against whom Adam, Cain,
And those who followed sinned.
Enoch lived in reverent fear and obedience.
Not afraid or terrified, not quaking
Sure he would follow the sins of his fathers
But in awe and respect, obedient and
Seeking to please, walked in fellowship.
Enoch was not barred from Eden,
Enoch was not sent to wander the earth,
Enoch taught his son to love and fear
Not in dread but in assurance of redemption.
Enoch walked with God
Enoch was not found among men
Because God took him away
To be home with him.
Where do you think
Noah learned what he needed to know
To please God despite the depravity
And wickedness.
To walk in the quiet of the garden
Naked and unhidden
Not perfect, but knowing
How to live in fear without being afraid.
