Part 6 of 7 of the theme 'Lessons on the character of God‘ by Gijs van den Brink
In Gen. 4:11-12 we read about the punishment Cain receives.
'Therefore: cursed are you! Go away from this place, where the earth has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. Even though you cultivate the land, it will yield you nothing. Wandering and wandering you will go over the earth.'
The punishment Cain receives is fourfold:
- He is banished from the field.
- He is no longer allowed to practice his former profession.
- If he does try, the land will yield him nothing.
- He will be a wandering refugee all his life.
When I let this punishment sink in, I think: How lucky this Cain is. He would not have gotten off so well in many countries. Why is God so merciful? This question becomes more and more pressing. But first there is a climax. The murderer also has the audacity to disagree with the punishment God inflicts on him!
We read in Gen. 4:13-13, "Cain said to the LORD, 'This punishment is too severe. You are now driving me away from this place and I may not face You again, and then if I have to go wandering and wandering the earth, anyone who comes across me can kill me.' (4:13-14)
He says, "That punishment is too heavy to bear! If you do that, deprive me of my land so that I have to wander the world like a wanderer, I will be dependent on the favor of others and anyone who meets me can kill me!!! Cain gets a less severe punishment than you would expect (death penalty) and tries to haggle it down!!! You might expect something like that from someone who has fallen so far. What surprises me much more, however, is the response of the Lord God: "But the LORD promised him, 'If anyone kills you, it will be avenged on him seven times.' And He marked Cain with a sign, so that no one who encountered him would strike him dead. (Gen. 4:15)
And again it strikes us how unprecedentedly gracious the Lord is to Cain. He gives the murderer the protection he requested. 'Whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold'
And Cain then receives a mark as confirmation. No one will be able to kill him.
Cain must not be killed!? Why not? Why is God so intensely merciful? How am I to understand that?
[to be continued]
Next time:
Part 7 of the series 'Lessons on the character of God (from Genesis 4)' is entitled 'Why is God so unprecedentedly merciful anyway?‘
See also:
Part 5 of the series 'Lessons about the character of God (from Genesis 4) 'God gives the murderer Cain a third chance!'
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 6 of 7 of the series "Lessons on the character of God” Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
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