We learn a little about the development of several modern conveniences here. First, we reach about Jabal. The Bible tells us he was the father of a couple different groups. “Father,” here, means the founder of something, just as George Washington has been called the “Father of his country” by Americans, or Hippocrates is called the “Father of modern medicine.”
The groups that Jabal founded are mentioned together. It is uncertain whether these were one and the same, or not. As mentioned in the study of verse 2, it could mean that he was the first to be involved in animal husbandry, the breeding of animals for specific purposes. It could also mean he was the first the wandering, nomadic cowboys. Both, of course, could be possible; he could have had a large empire of cattle, dominating the market, so to speak. It is also possible that cattle were not domesticated for a few hundred years after sheep – and, presumably, other animals – were.
Either way, he did something new. It was a good thing, but done in the wrong way. Jabal didn’t honor God in what he did, just like many who make the world better today.
Consider the mind of most who wish to better humanity. It might be through developing a new way to help people – like the person who first trained guide dogs. It might be through developing better ways to harvest foods. Both of these, and many other good things, can provide lots of benefits to society. God lets us dominion over all the earth because He wants us to use the gifts He gave us – whether it’s guide dogs to help the blind or cattle for milk and as beasts of burden.
However, too often, we lose sight of the Creator. We fail to give Him glory when we see an animal trained to guide people, or rescue them from things like the rubble of an earthquake. These are creatures trained to do this because they are gifts from God. If a Jabal would simply have glorified God when he discovered how to use cattle in whatever manner he did - whether through breeding, through nomadic herding and selling of milk, or whatever – think how much more wonderful it would have been. Yet Jabal, like many of us, is not shown to have ever given God any praise for the ability to use the gifts God gave him. Oh, that we would celebrate true science, that doesn’t conflict with Scripture, by praising God! And yet, when was the last time we saw something like a guide dog – and I’m preaching to myself here, too – and glorified God for the use of that animal? Indeed, when was the last time we saw any invention, and glorified Him?
Some smaller note, of course, should be made of those who dwell in tents. It doesn’t say whether Jabal himself lived a nomadic life, or whether he simply established the concept and taught others to do so. A nomadic life isn’t necessary, of course, to raise cattle; although it took the invention of barbed wire to make settling down and raising large numbers of cattle easy in America’s West. However, it’s possible, too, that the two are totally separate.
While mankind was first placed in a garden, rather than a city, God wanted man to have a place of stability. He didn’t create man to roam, always wondering where he would sleep next. He wanted people to hve stable homes, stable lives, and so on. Of course, sin messed all that up, but a simple life that is secure in the knowledge of God’s leadership in it is still possible, even in our hectic 21st century world. The fact is, Jabal’s dwelling in tents proved that he lacked that security which was only a single, sincere call for help from God away. Let us pray peole today don’t make the same mistake of living their lives in uncertainty, without seeking His forgiveness.
