Avoid Falling into a Spiritual Stupor

(Overcomer Wu)

“Just as it is written: ' God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.'” --Romans 11:8

As we were reading through Genesis chapter four, one of the more interesting and disturbing verses caught my attention concerns Cain, the second man to ever live – the eldest son of Adam and Eve. After Cain killed his brother Abel, he is put under a curse that makes him a wanderer. Following his conversation with God after Abel’s murder, comes an action that foreshadows much of future human history. It is found in Genesis 4:16: "So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden."

We don’t know where Nod was except that it is East of the garden of Eden. There is no recollection in any historical account of where this land was. However, the Hebrew meaning of the word "nod" tells us much about the spiritual condition and livelihood of Cain. Nod means "wanderings" in Hebrew. Cain went out into the land of wanderings… wanderings apart from the presence of God. This was his greatest mistake! In spite of his sin of killing his brother Abel, we don’t know for sure that Cain was no longer allowed to come before the Presence of God. Since the text does not clearly state that, we dare not make that assumption; and it is inconsistent with God's character to not want people to come to Him even after sinning, because He is the merciful God. Thus, it seems that Cain Himself chose to leave the Lord’s presence and be independent of God. Remember, the essence of the principle of sin and the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is independence from God. Therefore, Cain had essentially decided to live the rest of his life continually in sin. Actually, this was a mistake worse than the single act of killing his brother Abel from God's standpoint. It certainly seems that way when you consider the descendants of Cain and their wickedness and rebellion against God.

Due to Cain's decision to live independently of God, he and his descendants then had to provide for themselves, protect themselves, and find a means of pleasure and enjoyment for themselves. For this reason, we saw that there are three descendants of Cain, namely, Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain, had invented the basic means of providing for these three basic needs of man apart from God. Jabal, as we're told in verse 20, is the “father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock” -- both housing and food for livelihood; or in a single word, provision. On the other hand, Jubal, Jabal's brother, was the “father of all those who play the harp and flute” -- music is for man's entertainment and enjoyment. In one word, this is for man's pleasure. Finally, Tubal-cain was “an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron” -- bronze and iron were mainly used for the development of tools and weaponry for self-defense in the earlier times as well as today. To put it in one word, this is for man's protection. Thus, we see the necessity for these basic substitutes for God – provision, protection, and pleasure – when man departed from the Presence of God. God wants to be our Provision, Protection, and our Pleasure; hence, He is the El-Shaddai – the All-Sufficient One (Gen 17:1), that is, He is sufficient to meet all of our needs!

What Cain did physically, mankind since has done both physically and spiritually. When they leave the Presence of the Lord, even devising their own ways of serving God which was the original problem of Cain even before the murder of his brother when he decided to offer to God the produce of the land rather than what God had prescribed of an offering that requires the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22); they are simply doing what seems right in their own eyes and in their own concept when it does not have its basis solidly rooted on the Word of God. They have thus chose to ignore the Lord our God and live in the land of Nod like Cain did.

We cannot blame those who have never encountered the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ to wander off from God and do what is right in their own eyes. It is almost beyond belief that Christians, even some Christian leaders, can do the same. I would suggest to you with great sorrow that much of the Church today is asleep in the Land of Nod. They have left the presence of God for a life of wandering apart from Him. This may seemed like a harsh and negative prognosis on the churches of God on this earth. Maybe so. Nonetheless, consider the warnings of the Scripture about just such prevalent conditions especially in the last days. In the gospel of Luke chapter 18 verse 8, Jesus asked if He would find faith on earth when He returned. The Apostle John in the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation warns about the danger of a church failing to remain a church.

We also know that the seven churches in Revelations chapters 2-3 represent prophetically the church history from the first century church to the present last days on the earth. Yet sadly, the church that represents the very last days is the church in Laodicea, which is a church in lukewarm state that the Lord is so disgusted with that He was about to spit them out of His mouth. The author of Hebrews warns against the danger of drifting away from the faith: "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away" (Heb. 2:1). Perhaps that phrase "drifting away" may be helpful to us as we try to understand the dangers here. We may not be like Cain and simply leave God’s presence abruptly. It may be more of a gradual, slow, drifting away. This is one of the tactics of the enemy often successfully employed against God's people. Less time with Him today…even less time tomorrow. Don't take the step to do the right thing the Lord is prompting you to take and then it becomes easier and easier to ignore the subsequent times. Suddenly it seems we are so far away that it might not be worth the effort to try and return.

Departing from the presence of the Lord can obviously happen to any individual, including us, but it is of great concern that it can happen to a body of believers as well. The Lord’s warning in the short epistle to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 is directed at the whole congregation. Together they had served the Lord and even labor and endurance with great fervor doing what they think is the Lord's will, but they had lost their first love towards the Lord. Therefore, the church as a whole had left the Lord’s presence and were dwelling in the land of Nod. In such situations, the Lord had pretty much given up on the church unless they repent. And the Lord's hope is that at least there will be some in the midst of such churches who would have ears to hear the Spirit's speaking to the churches and overcome the degraded situation by coming out of such degradation and rededicate their hearts and their lives to the Lord and maintain their first love towards Him.

Sadly, there are many churches today are asleep in the land of Nod and yet they don't even realize it. Isn’t it interesting that there are outward similarities in the Hebrew word for wanderings (nod) and our English word "nod"? The Webster’s dictionary defines the English word "nod" as: "a quick downward motion of the head as one falls off to sleep." Sleepy churches drift off to sleep, moving away from the presence of God, perhaps not intentionally, but inadvertently as by their inaction and passivity. It is easy to just sit there nodding as the enemy's yes-man in passive compliance and even sit comfortably as the he lures us into a state of spiritual drowsiness and stupor; thus, the enemy succeeds in causing them to drift away from an active interaction with the Christ, Who is the true Head of the Church, and neglect their spiritual gifts in the Body by not functioning. It is just like sitting for a extended period of time to where the circulation to your legs is cut off and your legs fall asleep as they gradually become numbed.

What will wake up sleepy Christians in the Land of Nod? Only a fresh awakening to repent and return to the presence of Christ in the midst and out of the midst of degradation! This is not a call to a new program for awaking or revival. Enough of our programs and conferences that attempts to stir a short spurts of spiritual boost that don't last! It is a call for a true repentance and a return to the Presence of Christ. This may entail following the Lord's calling when the prevailing majority refuses to listen to the Lord, then the Lord simply calls out of their midst the overcomers: “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Cor 6:17).

We will be delivered from this kind of spiritual stupor only as we all are willing to humble ourselves, both individually and corporately, as a church in prayers of humility and repentance for trying to do the Lord’s work apart from His will and empowerment. We will be delivered from the wiles of the devil only as we uphold Christ and Him alone as the Head of the Church! We will not fall prey to the enemy's constant luring us into a spiritual stupor if we resolve to not compromise the truths of God's Word for some half-truths or some practices that are purely based on the traditions of man and the elements of this world, but not according to Christ and His Word. We will be safeguarded from falling into a spiritual stupor when we seek to please only God in spirit, and not try to be men-pleasers; the apostle Paul said, “if I yet seek to please men, I should not be a bondservant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10)!