Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes

Sometimes I believe the heart of God would grieve over the behavior of man. It was certainly so when Cain murdered his brother Abel, and in the years before Noah’s flood. It certainly doesn’t take much these days for men to be in turmoil over the least of differences.

When God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt and took them on their journey through the desert, one of Israel’s enemies followed them nearby and on occasion would attack the column of travelers at the rear. The slow and weak would be found there. The enemy was Amalek.

According to Scripture, Amalek was an enemy which was born of the household of Esau. If you remember in Sunday School, Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. The brothers had a very strained relationship as Jacob had tricked his brother, Esau, out of his birthright and his father Isaac’s blessing. See Genesis 27. Further, God changed the name of Jacob to Israel to be the nation promised to Abraham.

Amalek was born of a concubine named Timna and Esau’s son, Eliphaz. Genesis 36:12. Theologian John Gill believes the blood feud goes back to the time that Jacob tricked Esau. None the less, the Amalekites followed and attacked Israel, killing many.

Man, the depraved creature that he is, has always found a reason to hate his brother. God created all men equal in His sight, and if God sees man this way, maybe the man should learn to see each other through God’s eyes. After all, God sees the master the same as the servant. Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:” Job also touches on this theme in Job 34:18-19 “Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.” Also, remember John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…”

According the Scripture, all men and women are descendent from the first pair of humans, Adam and Eve. A surprising verse in Malachi 2:10 “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

The Apostle Paul went further in Acts 17:26 “And hath (God) made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;”

And one of my favorites is in Malachi 2:15a “And did not he (God) make one (pair of humans)? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed.” God had the power to make as many pairs as He desired, but He made the one pair, Adam and Eve. This first pair were created pure and holy, without blemish; a godly seed.

God knew that man would sin and would require redemption to live in Glory. Had God made more than one pair, which pair would have Jesus descended from to be the Savior? Since all men are descendants of the fiZrst pair, we all have the same blood, (Acts 17:26), and Jesus is also descendent from the first pair through Seth who replaced Abel.

The reason some of us have blue eyes and some brown eyes is because of the marvelous diversity of God’s creation. Every human since the birth of Cain, the first man born, carry the DNA of Adam and Eve. This incredible diversity we have in all men is because of that DNA. This biological string of information determines everything about you, from the tone of your skin to the color of your eyes. Regardless, God loves us all. He celebrates each and every one of us.

It is the depravity of man which looks for any differences upon which to stir up strife. Only God gives man the grace to subdue depravity and carnality to live in peace with our human brothers and sisters.

By the way, my dad, L. E. Holmes, has got this diversity thing covered. He has a condition known as “heterochromia iridis”, meaning his eyes are two different colors. In his case, blue and brown!

See you in church. ---Bro. Louis