Passage Read: Genesis 1-4
Meditation Verses: 4:13-15
Thought
Cain killed his brother, but felt God's sentence on him was too great to bear! His brother Abel became the first inhabitant of Sheol, Hades, and must remain alone until the next righteous man to die. Who is there to comfort him? But Cain gets to continue living. The ground which he loved and cultivated will now turn against him because of the blood of his brother, he will be a wanderer and vagrant, he will be separated from the presence of the Lord and someone might find and kill him. God had mercy on him, allowing him to live, and further gave a sign that would keep others from killing him. So he left with his wife, found a place and built a city and family. He wasn't even much of a wanderer, except to be exiled from the land of his parents and the presence of God. And he considers his sentence too great. He didn't think much of his sin. And he didn't think much of what he deserved as opposed to what he received. There was no remorse, no gratitude, only complaint, yet still God extended mercy to him. He is a true representative of the dark side of man.
Application
Later God will establish the law that whoever kills a man must be put to death by men. Cain understood this principle without specific instruction and rightly feared for his life. This is now the second display of God's mercy. Man does evil and shows no repentance. Adam and Eve at least showed some measure of shame, albeit for their nakedness rather than their disobedience, and their natural response is to cover it up rather than seek the Lord and confess. What did they think would happen when they disobeyed? Did they think they could outsmart God and avoid His punishment? Cain was more bold, answering God with a lie and rebuffing Him with a denial of responsibility for his brother, as if God were dumb to ask him about Abel. And God still has mercy on him, twice over! He didn't need Cain to fulfill the mandate given Adam, but He allowed him to persist. He needed Cain to be a warning and rebuke to me. And to be the foil against which the goodness of God shines in the face of the darkness of man. God is the merciful one; men do harm to one another and complain against God for judging them, blind to the mercy they receive. God is proved righteous, man only further embarrasses himself. Sin is wrong and will be judged; I need to avoid it, even though God is merciful in judgment, but if I catch myself in sin, I need to be ashamed of it, and come to the Lord in confession and contrition, trusting in His mercy, but accepting His just punishment as a help for me to truly repent.