The boy, whose arms and leg bore several long rows of scars carved deep into his dark skin, asked the man who owned a large cattle ranch in Missouri a question: “Are there any dangerous animals I should be aware of, like lions?” The rancher silently waited to see if the boy would break his deadly serious gaze. The rancher finally responds with a half-smile, half confused look, “Uh, no… there are no lions here.” This was an interaction from the true story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Some of these boys were taken to America as refugees because they were targeted for genocide during a horrible civil war. This particular boy and his 8 year-old brother were fleeing across the African wilderness when they were attacked by a lion which left him with scars, and his brother dead.
A lion will silently stalk and size up his prey… he will crouch low with his head and eyes fixed on his target… then suddenly 400 pounds of muscle, razor claws and powerful jaws come exploding out of the tall dry grass to pounce and attack his victim. Although lions are foreign to most of us in America, suddenly, the power of that lion became real to the rancher as he saw the scars on the boy and the fear in his eyes.
Just imagine for a moment, living with the fact that one of these killing beasts may be no more than a few feet from where are right now; and that at any moment, with a flash of its claws, you’d be his next meal! With that picture in mind, read this: “6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
I realize this bit is only a fragment of the whole story… and I also realize that on the surface this has nothing to do with the start of my story! But look at the imagery! This word for “crouch” in Hebrew is used to describe an animal’s behavior… on all fours… ready to pounce. Sometime shortly after Adam and Eve left paradise, God is warning Cain that sin is outside his front door ready to pounce on him! BUT, God says to “rule over it”, and “…do what is right…” It’s almost as if there are two doors he can choose; sin or doing what’s right.
The point of this is not to make this passage into something it is not. The point is to bring forward the thought that this imagery is powerful, and it’s precisely how God chose to communicate to His people and deserves a deeper look. Too often I blow right past something like this without really taking in the depth of the picture God painted. Even a simple word like “crouch” is packed full with a depth that adds richness to the text.
Maybe a picture of a 400lbs lion, like the one that attacked the Sudanese boys, hiding in the bushes outside a door ready to pounce on me sounds strange… perhaps the Hebrew word was meant for another animal all together… but whatever the case, I’ll think twice about which door I exit.
-Pete