telling the story ~ aftermath
Composition version: yes.
lyrics
two sons will sacrifice
one rejected, what's gone wrong?
one son kills, one son dies
and so soon the cycle's on
we're always falling back it seems
we're born into these years of wrath
living on these hopes and dreams
and living with the aftermath
when will it be over
how long must we pay
how long till the promise
finally finds its way
sometimes I think I've made it
but it always dogs my path
how long must we live
with the aftermath
two lines live side by side
Cain's daughters have those eyes
sons of God apostatize
and now soon the waters rise
and it feels like the aftermath
yes it seems just like the aftermath
just as soon we're on land
and the cycle starts again
world is new but how to ban
these defiling arts of men
and it feels like the aftermath....
we're always falling back it seems....
when will it be over....
narrative
Adam and Eve - and through them, their children - were given promises to hang onto. But that doesn't mean that things can go back to the way they were. The fall had serious consequences, not only in terms of the introduction of death and suffering, but also the introduction of corruption. The fall wasn't just about sin on one occasion - it guaranteed that from here on out, human beings would all be marked by sin.
Although Adam and Eve were given a measure of restoration in their relationship to God, then, this personal corruption makes human beings vulnerable to being deceived again. And so, in the very next generation, Cain manages to convince himself that he can decide for himself how his relationship to God will go. Instead of providing a sacrifice that included blood (demonstrating that sin was deadly and required God's covering), Cain offers the fruit of the cursed ground. When God is displeased with that move, Cain becomes angry and envious toward his brother, who had offered an animal sacrifice with which God was pleased. And so he kills his brother.
And so the story goes in the aftermath of the fall. Over and over again, God displays His patience and restoration, and yet, over and over, human beings make a mess of things - to the degree that in Noah's day, God destroys the world with a flood.
How did things get so bad that God was moved to such a drastic measure? It turns out that the line of people that originally held fast to the Lord after Cain killed Abel ended up intermarrying with those who lived wickedly and violently - just as their father Cain. Eventually, the earth is so corrupt that only one family still worships the Lord and lives "righteously." To preserve them, God starts over with that family. A bitter reminder of what can happen when man's sin and corruption is left unchecked.
And yet, there are still promises; there are still hopes and dreams....