An Unrepentant Cain
Genesis 4:9-15
Having looked at 1 John 3:12 in
our previous lesson, with understanding of why Cain killed his brother Abel, we
return to our narrative concerning man’s redemption, that in the end Jehovah
Elohim may have a Kingdom of sons of God. We left off with Cain killing his
brother Abel and once again Jehovah Elohim must confront Cain.
Again Jehovah does not
bring immediate judgment as deserved. Rather Jehovah mercifully gives
Cain opportunity to repent and confess and be cleansed from all unrighteousness
through choosing to receive righteousness and eternal life in the Covenant Son
who is coming in the fullness of time (see Gal.4:4; 1 Jn.1:6-10).
“Jehovah said unto Cain,
‘Where is Abel, your brother?’” Cain,
in his believing himself to be right to have carried out the works of his
mentor father, the Devil, and in his being backed by the evil one, became bold
and defiant in being questioned by Jehovah. Cain answered with a bold
lie, and he said, “I know not” (Gen.4:9a).
The Hebrew puts the “not” first
to give emphasis: “Not do I know.” Cain followed his defiant lie with a
flippant, “I, my brother’s keeper?” (v9b). Cain knew full well that under “the
Royal Law of Love” we are to love one another and care for one another’s
well-being (see Lev.19:15-17; Jn.13:34-35; 1 Jn.3:16-19).
Cain’s answer shows how he had so
hardened his heart against the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit, as his
parents taught him the truth of the way he must go and the life he must receive
(see Heb.4:1-13; 1 Jn.5:7-13). That he is calloused to the mercy and grace of
God being yet open to reconciliation can be seen in his attitude and words .
Cain would dismiss the matter. He
does not want to reason with Jehovah. Did Cain think Jehovah did
not know what Cain had done? Surely he had been taught of Jehovah being
omniscient and omnipresent. Jehovah Elohim knows all things.
Jehovah did not accept
Cain’s defiant lie. Jehovah will have His say. Cain must be warned of
the circumstances he is bringing upon himself if he continues to go his own
way. So Jehovah said to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your
brother’s blood cries to Me from the ground” (Gen.4:10).
Jehovah is after a
confession of Cain’s transgression of the Royal Law of Love. Note Jehovah’s
emphasis upon “your brother.” Cain has taken his brother’s life. The life is in
the blood. That is a crime worthy of death. A life for a life (see Gen.9:4-6;
Ex.21:23).
The normal term for “blood” in
the Hebrew is in the singular. Here the intensive plural form is used,
“bloods.” The intensive plural is used
to express the brutal violence of the killing. There was blood all over the
scene. Here is the expression of the hatred, not of Abel, but of the
righteousness Abel represented. The hatred is against Jehovah Elohim and
His absolute say as to who will be accepted into His Kingdom and who will not
(see Gen.4:5-7).
Jehovah personifies the
blood as having a voice. Jehovah has His witness to the crime that the
life of His born son of God has been taken and He knows the guilty party. Jehovah
continues, “And now cursed are you from the ground, which has opened her
mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground,
it shall not henceforth yield unto you its strength. A fugitive and a wanderer
shall you be in the earth” (Gen.4:11-12).
That was Cain’s field, the source
of his livelihood. The blood outside the body speaks of death. Death is
defiling. The death has defiled the ground which drank it in. The ground,
defiled with death, will no longer yield produce to sustain life as it had
formerly, when it had the strength of life-giving force. It would be futile for
Cain to till it. Cain has caused the death of his former occupation. He will no
longer be the happy farmer rejoicing in the harvest of his labor. Cain has
caused that life to be cut off. He has brought the curse of death on himself.
In the teaching of the gospel by
his parents, with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shined in his
heart, life and death had been set before Cain for a choice. Life and blessing
is in receiving the righteousness of God and in the eternal life sent as a Gift
in God’s begotten Son (see Rom.4:25-5:21). Death is in not receiving the Gift
of eternal life in the Son.
We, the true Church, the Body
over which Jesus Christ is the Head, have Jesus’ word for it that Cain’s work
of killing his brother Abel was out of the evil one, the old serpent, called
the Devil and Satan (Rev.12:9). The apostle John shared with us what Jesus
taught him. That knowledge gives us understanding of this passage (see 1
Jn.3:10-12; also Jn.8:41-47).
In killing his brother Abel, Cain
shows that he has made a choice for death, though Cain would not think of it
that way. Cain had chosen to continue going his own way. He refused to turn and
go God’s Way of righteousness and life to live forever in God’s future Kingdom
of sons of God. In choosing to not receive the Gift of God’s Son, Cain had
cursed himself not only from the ground of his field temporarily during his
earthly sojourn but from God’s earth forever.
Jehovah knew that Cain had
opened himself to the beguiling of the desire to gain for himself. When Cain’s
parents had at first unknowingly not received the Gift of God’s Son, their
transgression and their offense of their Jehovah Elohim opened the eyes
of their understanding to their sin of having missed their high calling. As we
have seen, each one then immediately repented and received the eternal life in
the Covenant Son to be born again and live forever (see Gen.3:1-21; Jn.1:13-14;
3:3-8).
Cain refused to be persuaded of
his need of the righteousness of God and the eternal life, that he might be
born again and enter the Kingdom of God. Apart from birth as a son of God, one
is left naked. Unclothed, without a body raised up out from the dead, one is
left outside the Kingdom of God (see 2 Cor.5:1-3; 1 Jn.5:10-13).
Jehovah knows the plans of
Cain’s heart, and Cain knows the plans he is making. If Cain has killed off the
first righteous prophet for the evil one and that prophet is his own twin
brother, Cain has in his heart to build his own virtual world on God’s earth.
The city world of politics,
economics and religion, built by men who love the darkness, will furnish all
mankind a choice between going God’s Way - the Way of life everlasting - or
continuing to go their own way and, dying in their sins, never to be raised up
in a body like unto the body of glory of God’s Anointed Son, Jesus. From that
time, with the first city built on God’s earth through Cain and his family,
Satan’s world city will furnish the test of obedience to the truth of God’s Way
of righteousness and eternal life in His Anointed begotten Son, His Gift to
mankind.
Jehovah had a warning for
Cain concerning the way he had chosen. He would be a fugitive and a wanderer in
the earth. In the Hebrew “wanderer” is put first and “fugitive” second. Some
Bible translations read “vagabond” for “fugitive.” Both “wanderer” and “fugitive”
are participles. These will be constants in Cain’s life, a way of life for Cain
when he goes to build the city.
Jehovah knew that Cain
would build the first city for the old serpent, called the Devil and Satan
(Gen.4:17). Jehovah does not speak literally, but figuratively. In
building the city, Cain will gain the power and wealth promised by the evil
one, but he will never have heart satisfaction.
Heart satisfaction is only in
going God’s Way. Jehovah Elohim has the power and the authority to bring
to pass all that He has promised. One can fully trust Him. Jehovah has
all of the responsibility and one need only follow His leading.
When we think of “wanderer” and
“fugitive,” we have a very different definition than the Hebrew. The Hebrew
term “wanderer” has the meaning of a “to and fro movement,” figuratively
indicating a “state of instability.”
“A double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways” (Jas.1:8). Sons of God are not moved by every wind of
doctrine. Rather they are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
God (1 Cor.15:58). The workers of darkness are continually moved by any new way
of thinking (Eph.4:14). Like sheep, the unregenerate follow them.
The second term, “fugitive,” in
the Hebrew coveys the idea of “wandering aimlessly.” There is no goal achieved
that can fulfill the aim. It is on to the next thing, with no real fulfillment.
Everything is temporary. Happiness is fleeting. There is no heart satisfaction
because there is nothing of any eternal value. Self can never satisfy self, nor
can any self or person satisfy another self or person. What is shared is never
enough. Any goal reached is never what it was expected to be.
Man cannot find heart
satisfaction for himself. Man was designed and created and brought into being
for one purpose only - to be born from above a son of God. Eternity is in man’s
heart. He can be fully satisfied with nothing less. As long as one is missing
the goal of his high calling in God’s Anointed Son and as long as he is coming
short of the glory of the new birth with a body to be raised up out from the
dead to be forever in the Kingdom of God, one will be restless and
dissatisfied.
Jehovah was warning Cain
of the truth that he would himself discover in going his own way. Cain would
discover a truth which the prophet Isaiah later affirmed to God’s people
Israel. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, to
the wicked” (Is.57:20-21).
Jehovah Elohim will not
prevent any person from going his own way. No one will be forced or coerced to
go God’s Way. God has given man freedom of choice - God’s Way or man’s way. God
will enlightened every man who comes into this world born of the seed of man in
a body of human flesh in the image of the earthy (Jn.1:9; Col.1:23b; 1
Tim.2:3-6; Tit.2:11). The Spirit of God will woo through the love of God and
will draw men to come, but the final decision must be freely made by each
personal being of mankind.
Note Cain’s response to Jehovah’s
warning: “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, You have
driven me out this day from the face of the ground, and from Your face I shall
be hidden. And I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and it shall
come to pass, that anyone who finds me shall kill me” (Gen.4:13-14).
Cain not only refuses to confess
his sin, he puts all the blame for the consequences on Jehovah Elohim.
Was it Jehovah who defiled the ground of Cain’s field? Had Jehovah
sent Cain out of His presence? Cain caught Jehovah’s meaning of the
instability and lack of satisfaction being of the soul rather than the body. By
that time it must have been clear to Cain that Jehovah knew what was in
Cain’s heart.
Then it came out. The punishment
Cain feared he might have to bear. The one consequence Cain feared was the
vengeance of a brother. The fact that he did go out of God’s presence shows he
was willing to take the risk of the forewarning concerning the way life would be
for him with his rejection of God and His Way.
Cain had thought to get away with
his crime. Who would think that it was his own twin brother who had killed
Abel? But his sin had found him out. He would be exposed and one of the other
brothers would take vengeance for Abel. It would be a just retribution, a life
for a life, but Cain saw it as punishment (see Ex.21:12-15).
The Hebrew word Cain uses for
“punishment” is a noun that normally refers to “iniquity.” It can also refer to
the guilt of iniquity or to the consequences pronounced on iniquity. This
complaint came from Cain’s guilty conscience. Jehovah had said nothing
of vengeance.
The only punishment Cain feared
was what he understood would be the first impulse his brothers would consider
it right to do. We must keep remembering that though Moses is not specific,
other children have been born to Adam and Eve. Likely by this time Adam and Eve
have grandchildren. Cain is married and soon will be having a son, as Moses
records (Gen.4:17).
And Jehovah said unto
Cain, “Therefore whosoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him
sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should
kill him” (Gen.4:15).
There is no need to speculate how
God set a mark on Cain, or what the mark was. Moses did not record it. We have
no record of any eyewitness. We simply do not know. No one knows. The mark
served the purpose of taking care of blood vengeance.
The family of Adam was under the
Theocracy of Jehovah Elohim. They would have had the same commandments
as Jehovah’s nation of the sons of Israel. We are not told of them being
shut under the Law, as was God’s nation (see Gal.3:23). We have the record of
the appointed times being celebrated when Cain and Abel brought their offerings
(Gen.4:3-5).
As we saw in our previous lesson,
in his first epistle the apostle John made clear, always in Jehovah’s
Theocracy, the Royal Law is Love. The judgments of the Theocracy are just and
righteous. Jehovah did not make an example of the power of His Theocracy
to take the life of Cain, but He made clear that He would with anyone who
killed Cain. Anyone killing Cain would receive vengeance sevenfold, full
complete, vengeance, swift justice. The avenger would be put to death by Jehovah.
Jehovah chose to not
avenge Abel’s blood. He had His reasons and His timing. The world city would be
used as the testing of man’s obedience to the truth concerning God’s Covenant
Son. Men would be multiplying and filling the earth. Satan had found his man in
Cain. Jehovah would permit the building of the city. It was in Cain’s
heart to do.
As for avenging the blood of
Abel. Jehovah had plans to avenge the blood of all the prophets in one
generation of the serpent’s seed who killed the prophets of righteousness, which
Jehovah sent to them. Matthew recorded the woes Jesus Himself pronounced
upon the scribes and Pharisees of His day. Jesus Himself would be the prophet
sent from God whom they would kill.
In denouncing the Pharisees as
hypocrites Jesus uses the symbol of the serpent for their sin of exercising
their freedom to use their God-given will for gain. A viper is a particularly
poisonous type of snake. The sin of exercising one’s own will to gain for self
is in the heart of man in the flesh. Born of the seed of man, a heart of
self-serving and self-seeking is passed down from generation to generation. All
through the history of Israel, she has had rulers who pretend to be righteous
keepers of the Law, while they are poisoning the truth concerning God’s
Anointed Son with lies. For their gain, the righteous who would expose them,
must be killed off.
We have Matthew’s record in his
Gospel in the twenty-third chapter. The last woe begins in verse 29, “Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” ... “You are witnesses against
yourselves, that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. And you
fill up the measure of your fathers. Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How shall
you escape from the damnation [judgment, sentence] of Hell? Wherefore, behold,
I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and some of them
you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute them from city to city, that upon you may come
all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel
unto the blood of Zechariah, son of Barchiah, whom you slew between the temple
and the altar. Truly I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this
generation” (Mt.23:29-36; see Mt.23:37-39; Jn.8:34-47; 15:18-25; Ac.2:22-23;
10:38-43).
In His divine mercy Jehovah
set a mark upon Cain, and lest anyone kill him, Jehovah pronounced
judgment on any avenger of Abel’s blood on Cain. Was Cain thankful?
Cain’s fears allayed, he went out
of the presence of Jehovah (Gen.4:16). Not because he was driven out. He
turned his back on Jehovah and His Anointed Son to go his own way, the
way of the ungodly. Ungodly sinners, who turn the grace of our God into
unbridled lust and deny the only Master, God, even the Lord of us, God’s
Anointed Son, whom, we the Church, know as Jesus (see Jude 4, 11).
With vengeance taken care of,
Cain was free to go his way. God would reconcile, but Cain would not.
This concludes our lesson.
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