Without The Ten Commandments ...

T.A.Lewis said...

Hey Ray,

Since humans wouldn't know what is wrong without the Ten Commandments, why did God punish Cain for killing Abel?

I mean, apparently killing wasn't wrong until God zapped the Ten Commandments down on the slabs of rock. Right?


@T.A.Lewis

Wrong. You seem to have skipped over a couple of verses, Genesis 4:6-7.

God tells Cain that he has the capacity to know and the freedom to choose to "do what is right" or "do not do what is right".

If you recall, the Ten Commandments were spoken to the Children of Israel, not to the Gentiles. (cf. Exodus 20). The Ten Commandments were first spoken, and then later engraved on stone tablets for the Jews.

Even though the Gentiles were not given the Ten Commandments, God says that the Gentiles know them, because God's law is written in their hearts:

"Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right." Romans 2:14-15 (NLT)

The story of creation reveals that man was created in God's own image, in the likeness of God. One aspect of our "likeness" with God is our God-given conscience, which informs of us right and wrong. Obviously, man was not created omnipotent or omniscient. But, in the likeness of God, we find ourselves with some degree of capacity for free will, power, and knowledge.

HTH