A MERCIFUL GOD

"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 on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." Genesis4:13-16

Cain murdered his brother Abel and then tried to conceal what he had done from God. God passed judgment on Cain, taking away his ability to produce crops from the earth (his trade) and making him a "restless wanderer" on the earth. Cain is left to consider his punishment and his actions. In the scripture above, we see him crying out to God, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today, you are driving me from the land an I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me." Now…a common reaction to this plea might be "So what I Cain gets killed. He will get what he has coming to him. He killed Abel and now he will face being killed as well." This opinion might also be supported by highlighting the fact that Cain never tells God he is sorry for what he did. Wouldn’t you expect Cain to fall prostrate before God begging for His mercy? That doesn’t happen. God does not want Cain in His presence but that doesn’t mean He would completely condemn Cain. In fact, God reveals another important part of His character to us…His mercy.

God had every reason to just allow Cain to die and suffer at the hands of whoever would find him while he wandered restlessly but He didn’t. He placed a mark on Cain to assure he would not get killed. So even though Cain murdered…even though Cain was less than remorseful for what he had done…even though God did not have to show one ounce of favor…God did something amazing in sparing Cain’s life. In fact, Cain would go onto marry and have a son Enosh as well as build a city. He went on with his life something that Abel did not have the opportunity to do. We do indeed serve a God of mercy.

In Christ,

Mark

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