January 4 I Tuesday

Genesis 10-12

Matthew 4

“So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”   —Genesis 4:16

From the beginning, God fashioned mankind with the capacity to be creative. When we turn to Genesis 3, we find humanity rebelling against the Creator, as they sought to exercise control. Man reached for the forbidden fruit, fueled by the desire to be like God. Afterwards, sin entered creation and mankind innovated a solution to cover up their shame. Genesis 3:7 tells us, “They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” The Hebrew word for “made coverings” is the exact same Hebrew word used to describe God making things in the creation order in Genesis 1. Adam and Eve innovated in order to cover up their shame and hide from God. From this event, we see that man retained his creative capacity, but is now leveraging technology for purposes separated from God.  

      In Genesis 4, we continue to see how sin affected humanity’s capacity to create, which merged with their desire to control their circumstances. When Cain murdered his brother, Abel, God pronounced a curse over Cain: “Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground....When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth” (Genesis 4:11-12). Rather than repentance for his action, Cain complained to God that His curse was more than he could bear. What Cain was doing was leveraging his creativity and innovation to exercise control over his own destiny. We are told, “Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis 4:16). Cain built a city, collecting as many tools and resources as possible, to create a place of comfort and safety in order to insulate himself from God. Out of this city came innovations in food production, as different herd keepers started to manage animals around the city to be sold in the market, as well as the entertainment industry, as musical instruments started to permeate culture. Cain established a place where people could live without God.

      What we see after the fall of mankind is innovating, ruling and subduing in a way that takes them further away from a relationship with their Creator. In fact, by Genesis 11, with the Tower of Babel, mankind sought to replace God. All in all, what we see is that when innovation is unhinged from its Creator, it can turn into exploitation, as mankind starts to forge resources in a desire to subdue and dominate the world.

      Are we leveraging technology—as a tool to distract us or to comfort us—as we seek to exercise control over our own destiny?

Prayer: Creator God, I pray asking that I would not leverage technology as a tool to control my own destiny. Guide my use of technology in such a way so that it is in submission to You. Thank You, Lord.