The Intentions of the Heart

By Venessa Holtzhausen

Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

The Scriptures got a lot to say about the intentions of the heart. Heart in Hebrew is לב lêb pronounced lev. The meaning of this word, used as ‘heart’ in our bibles are: soul, heart (of man) mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, determination (of will). That is a mouthful, but noteworthy. The very seat of our emotions, thoughts and determination can be either our enemy, when controlled by our passions, desires and flesh or our best friend when controlled by the Holy Spirit.

This is the first instance in Scripture of pre-meditated murder. His thoughts got the better of him. He meditated on the negative and took no heed of God’s warning. He was so overwhelmed by his emotions of his brother’s offering accepted over and above his, that it controlled him and cost him the presence of YHWH. Murder is not just a sin against the victim, but also against his posterity, because a father or somebody that must still father children was taken out of this life. Thus, the sin of murder reaches much further than just the victim. We have to guard our hearts as well. To hate your brother is also considered as murder.

1 Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

The word Adam which means ‘man’, comes from the Hebrew letters aleph, dalet and mem. Aleph is an ox head in ancient Hebrew and refers to God YHWH. The Strong Leader. It’s numerical value is one, but consist of 3 parts. Those 3 letters put together is Adam, as already mentioned, but if you take the aleph away (representing God), you remain with ‘dam’, which is blood in Hebrew. Thus, if you take God out of your relationship with your brother, and He is LOVE, and you hate your brother, you stand in the blood of your brother.

Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall
say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

1 Jn 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Make sure to keep the thoughts of your heart pure towards your brothers/sisters in Christ. They are not perfect, and neither are you! For this reason, let’s keep a check on our thoughts, lest we being find guilty of murder.

1 Jn 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 Jn 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Amen!