Crying Out to God in Anguish

I recently was introduced to the concept of "ze'akah" or crying out in anguish.  This is a Hebrew word that is more of a concept which is not easily translated.  It is more than crying out...rather it is a groaning not unlike the groaning of Romans 8:26 where we learn that "the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with "groaning" too deep for words.

In Genesis 4:1-12, we see the narrative of Cain killing his brother Abel.  In verse 10, God confronts Cain and uses the term ze'akah to describe the blood of Abel "crying out" from the ground to God in anguish over the heinous sin of his brother Cain having slain him. 

It seems that ze'akah is a cry with such pathos inherent in it, a cry which God cannot seem to ignore.

See again, in Exodus how the children of Israel are crying out to God with groaning from the midst of their devastating circumstances (Exodus 2:23-26).  Pharaoh and the Egyptians were practicing "genocide" and extremely harsh tactics on their slaves, the Israelites.  It is out of this pain that God's own people began to cry out to Him and we read that "their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning."  This is ze'akah!

And, it also is ze'akah that Rachel cries out to God.  Originally, from her grave near Bethel that she looks out over Ramah and weeps that her children are being taken into captivity (Jeremiah 31:15) and over the slaughter of boy babies in the region of Bethlehem by Herod in Matthew 2:18.  It is her cry (ze'akah) from the grave that causes the stirring of the heart of our compassionate God as He gives us His Son to deliver us from the ravages of sin.  Galatians 4:4 tells us that the response came "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son...to redeem us."

In extra-biblical history, the 20th century saw Hitler and the Nazis do their very best to wipe out from the face of the earth forever the Israelites.  Hitler's hatred of the Jews, carried out in the gas chambers and ovens of Dachau and Auschwitz, brought forth ze'akah once again wherein God used the Americans and Allies to defeat the Nazis and deliver His people.

Has Ze'akah's time come once again when the people of God, under the ravages of sin and darkness, should be crying out to Him.  Notice, however, this concept of ze'akah is not something which can be evoked at will.  It seems from history that it comes out of a sense of hopelessness and a desire for God to take revenge on the evil taking place. For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, the hopelessness comes not from a concern of our salvation, for that cannot be taken from us (Romans 8:39) but rather from a sense of frustration with the worldview which seeks to eradicate God from any significance and condemns us for trying to keep Him first and foremost.  It comes from a sense of "unless God rends the heavens and comes down" (Isaiah 64:1-2) there will be nothing left to cry out but our blood from the grave.

How long, O God, will you wait?  "Maranatha, Lord Jesus, even so come!"

A song which I find very moving:
Ze'akah - A Cry for Help by Rick Astley