There is this one
song I always loved by Mumford and Sons called “Timshel.” I never knew why it
was called “Timshel” until recently. One line reads “And you have your choices/
And these are what make man great/ His ladder to the stars.” I always thought that
those lyrics were rather profound. All we really have as human beings is our
choices. Love would not exist without our power of choice. If Adam and Eve did
not have the choice to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life then we would all just
be God’s robots and any love we had for him would not be real. We wouldn't be
able to be separated from God even if we wanted to. So we are left with our
choices; To follow God or not to follow God; To love or not to love; To be at
that party and not sleep with that girl even though you could have.
I was down at
Liberty University in Virginia attending College for a Weekend, which is for
highschoolers who are looking for a college and want to try Liberty out. I
found myself in bookstore browsing around while my friends were looking at
T-shirts and Flat- Brims in the other section of the store. I saw this book
“East of Eden” by John Steinbeck and decided to try it out.
I started reading
it once I got home. It seemed to progress rather slowly, but I liked the
language and the stories so I kept reading. Halfway through I lent it out to
one of my friends, but got it back and picked it up again. There is one part
when they discuss chapter 4 of Genesis. This is the chapter that tells the
story of Cain and Abel. Roughly the book discusses three different translations
of chapter 4 verse 7 of Genesis. Now bear with me here, because I’m going to go
into scripture but I believe there is something real important in this.
After God asks
Cain why he is angry about is sacrifice not being looked on with favor, God
declares with this verse. The King James Version says, “If thou doest well,
shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Pay
attention to the “thou shalt rule.” This is a promise to Cain that he will
conquer sin.
The American
Standard Version says, “If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if
thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its
desire, but do thou rule over it.” Now
pay attention to the “do thou.” This is very different. It is not a promise,
but an order.
Now to the
original Hebrew. The Hebrew word for that part of the verse is Timshel. The
true translation, or what most likely the author meant, was “thou mayest.”
“Thou mayest rule over sin.” This “thou mayest” gives man a choice. Thou mayest
conquer sin or thou mayest not. You may or may not conquer sin.
So God gives us
this choice. Francis Chan once said, “Its crazy, if you think about it. The God
of the universe - the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and
E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self sacrificing love.” This
God who loves us, loves us enough to give us a choice; to enter into a life of
joy, real deep down joy, or not to. Not happiness but joy. I've been lost so
many times in my life, but God is always there and ready for me when I’m ready
for him. God is just waiting for you to choose him.
