“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Then the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’ Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from Your presence; I will be a restless wanderer of the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer the vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” –Genesis 4:8-15 (NIV)
Cain is probably the first person in history to come up with the language of sarcasm. I find it so interesting how he back-talks God and says “Am I my brother’s keeper?” If I were having a one-on-one conversation with God, where I could audibly hear Him, I don’t think I would have the boldness to give God any lip. But that is just a side note I thought I’d throw in there…
Cain had just killed his brother, and yet God have him a second chance. Of course, his actions had to be punished, because he had committed a sin and a huge crime against his brother. God didn’t let this go unnoticed; he teaches us that our disobedience or wrong ways don’t go unseen or unpunished. However, rather than just strike Cain down with a lightening bolt and call it done, God allowed Cain to have the chance to “wander” in the absence of God’s presence and potentially get his head on straight. I find this “punishment” very interesting. Looking in from a third person’s perspective, and not being mixed in among the people or experiencing this story first hand, I see how wise of a choice this was on God’s part. Cain was jealous of Abel’s relationship with God, a relationship that Abel worked at and brought his best to (Gen. 4:2b-5). God responded more to Abel, not out of favoritism for him (as Cain assumed), but because Abel was doing all he could to bring fruit and prosperity to his end of his relationship with God–and God loves when we make an effort to be close to Him like that! Cain’s jealousy fueled him to respond to the situation as a murderer, rather than try harder at what he had to offer God. Maybe not so much to this extreme, but this is an example of what happens when we compare ourselves to others and what they have. I interpret God’s punishment on Cain as a chance for him to discover God on his own. Cain had the chance to wander until he understood who God was and how unique his relationship could be with God. And even though this was a punishment on Cain, God still installed His hedge of protection around him and marked, or rather preserved, Cain so that no one would harm him. This ensured that Cain would have his chance to reveal God and it wouldn’t be spoiled by someone else’s cruel-ness. So even though God would technically be “absent” from Cain, He would still be protecting him in the form of that mark. The rest of the story is up to Cain’s response to the situation, and unfortunately he chose to alienate himself from God, rather than discover Him.
Are you “wandering” from God right now? Maybe it’s your chance to have a response to God that will help you discover who He is to you.
“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.’” –Gen. 4: 6-7 (NIV)
