The First Conflict in the History of Mankind
The Conflict of Man against Man
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What Hast Thou Done?
  Remember that the very first generation of mankind was under the sway and rule of sin. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. In verse 10 of Genesis Chapter 4, the eyes of the Lord were revealed to Cain when God said to Cain, What hast thou done? How many times has this condemnation echoed through the bloodied sands of the history of mankind? Even in our day and age, man has become an abomination to God slaying His children in the womb. This will bring the wrath of God upon ALL mankind. I want you to be aware of a very important verse that God has given for the days of evil in which we live. Turn to the book of Isaiah to understand what God is saying to US TODAY about our evil world. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. (Isaiah 57:1) When the righteous is taken out of the world because of evil the children of Adam, the men of this world, the ones who walk in the way of Cain do not take it to heart. In fact, they’re glad to see the righteous go. This was the heart of Cain. He slew his brother, and had no remorse, his heart was hard as flint. He had gone beyond the point of redemption. A merciful man in Abel was taken away and none considered the righteous taken away from the evil to come.
  The murderous scene from Cain and Abel has not changed throughout time. Abel was murdered because of the conflict between God’s way and man’s way. Antipas was murdered (as documented in Revelation 2:13) because of religion . . . . the conflict between God’s way and man’s way . . . the way of Cain . . . . religion. Abel’s faith and the faith of Antipas were stronger than life; thus, the anger of Satan was stirred up against both of these men of faith. Antipas was slain among the religious men of Cain who walked in the ways of Cain. Their religion was in the dwelling place of Satan, and they bowed to the works of their own hands and would not allow a man of faith to live, and as Cain slew Abel, they slew Antipas. We could ask them, What hast thou done?
  The Lord taketh the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Very soon, the cup of the Gentiles will be full, and overflowing. The world is beginning to see this evil to come. Evil is personified in the days in which we live. All the governments of our world have given themselves over to their father the devil, and the way of Cain. We have said many times, and we will continue to repeat (and the word of God reminds us) that the devil was and is a murderer and a liar from the beginning. (John 8:44) We, the children of God who remain, are waiting to hear the words, Come up hither, from the Lord. This poor earth has endured the sins of the sons of men long enough. The hammer of God’s judgment is ready to fall on ALL of mankind, consequently, we ask ALL the same question that God asked Cain, What hast thou done?
  This question is asked seven (7) times in the Bible. Seven times this question is asked in every kind of circumstance. However, every time it is asked, there is a conflict of evil against righteousness. In each case that this question is asked, it is sin that is at the root in disobedience.
1. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10)
2. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. (Genesis 20:9)
3. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword? (Genesis 31:26)
4. And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether. (Numbers 23:11)
5. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and [that] thou camest not within the days appointed, and [that] the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; (1st Samuel 13:11)
6. Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why [is] it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? (2nd Samuel 3:24)
7. Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? (John 18:35)
  In the first mention of this phrase in Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10) we have brother against brother.
  In the second mention in Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him,What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done, we have the conflict of a man of faith with the world. Abraham disguised his relationship with Sarai his wife because he feared Abimelech, and this lie potentially caused a great sin to be committed by Abimelech. When God revealed this sin to Abimelech in a dream, Abimelech (to make things right) went to Abraham and asked this question, What has thou done? Abraham confessed, and Abimelech sent Abraham away with herds of cattle and great wealth.
  The third time that we have this question is in Genesis 31:26, And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword? Jacob had found refuge with Laban, his mother’s brother, however, Laban put Jacob in bondage and used his own daughters in order to gain the advantage to acquire herds and wealth through Jacob’s labor for Laban’s own benefit. The result was that Jacob left and took Laban’s daughters with him, and when Laban caught up to Jacob without any thought of his own wrong actions, he asked Jacob, What hast thou done? Here we have another conflict among brethren that led to heart ache, sorrow and pain.
  In Numbers 23:11 we have the fourth mention (And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether. Numbers 23:11) we see the mystery of God working through the enemies of His people Israel. Balak, king of the Midianites, hired Balaam to curse the people of God. However, the Lord turned the words of Balaam from a curse to blessings. In anger and in disgust, Balak asked his confederate, the false prophet Balaam, What hast thou done? Here we have the Almighty God of righteousness turning the evil of the devil against himself. And Balak can only say to Balaam when he heard the result, What hast thou done unto me.
  And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and [that] thou camest not within the days appointed, and [that] the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;(1st Samuel 13:11) (CLICK HERE to read about the progressive theme in the chapters labeled with the number 13.) This is the fifth mention of our study phrase. When Saul, the first king of Israel, disobeyed God, Samuel (God’s prophet) said to Saul, What hast thou done? In this verse we see again that the sinner refused to accept responsibility for his own actions. Although Saul had been elevated to king, he still had a moral responsibility to God and to Samuel because Saul had been instructed by God to wait for Samuel. He disobeyed and took it upon himself to offer a sacrifice to God. And because of this disobedient act, the kingdom was rent out of the hands of Saul, and eventually given to David, a man after God’s own heart.
  In 2nd Samuel 3:24, we have the sixth mention, Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why [is] it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? It is the second conflict within the kingdom of David. Joab had gone to king David, and said What hast thou done? The background history to this question is the division of David’s kingdom. Abner, who was once a confederate with David and a leader of David’s men had turned away from David to help the enemies of David. Joab was assigned Abner’s place as military leader under David, and Joab being a very forceful person, even to the point of being arrogant against his king, overrode David’s order to maintain peace with Abner. David was attempting to make everything right in the kingdom by giving Abner a pass on his crime against the kingdom. Joab saw the danger of allowing Abner to go free and thus, we have the question to David, What hast thou done? Here we have conflict within the kingdom because of sin.
  The last mention is in John 18:35, Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Pilate was standing in judgment over the King of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37) However, when He came unto His own, the Jews and the nation of Israel, received Him not. They delivered Christ to Pilate to be put to death by crucifixion. Pilate tells us that the whole nation, and the chief priests and in another reference verse, all the people, had delivered the Lord Jesus Christ into Pilate’s hands. However, Pilate found no fault in Him. When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify [him], crucify [him]. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify [him]: for I find no fault in him. (John 19:6) Yet Pilate asked the Prince of life, What hast thou done? The Lord could have said, ‘I raised the dead, I gave sight to the blind, I cleansed the lepers, I caused the lame to walk, and I brought salvation down to mankind,’ however, the Lord Jesus simply answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (John 18:36) Here we have the conflict of the righteousness of God against the evil and sin of the whole world. They had filled up their own cup with sin, just as Cain, and they stood in condemnation against the Lord who was the Prince of life, and the Author of eternal life. Five (5) times in five verses it is recorded that Pilate said that he found no fault in Jesus the Christ. (Luke 23:4, 14; John 18:38, 19:4, 6)
  In all these seven instances of What hast thou done? man would not take responsibility for his own actions. The sin of man caused others to be put in harm’s way and discomforted by God Himself. Since Abel was the first man of faith, and also the first martyr of righteousness, in the seventh repeat of this question, we have the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ on trial for His life by a sinful and evil world of children who have gone in the way of Cain. Sin lieth at the DOOR.
This article is from a section of a post on one of our websites titled Son of His Love. The post is called Sin Lieth at the Door. CLICK HERE if you would like to be redirected safely to the original article.
© Copyright 2022, Michael Haigh
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All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)