Genesis 4:15
15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. -niv
15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. -kjv
15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. -nkjv
Meditations:
1) Cain murdered his brother Abel and received a curse from God whereby the earth that he tills will no longer yield its crops to him and he is to be a restless wanderer of the earth. This leaves Cain fearful for his life.
2) Yet even after the curse, Cain still received mercy from God and his life was preserved by God as shown in the verse above. This shows that God is merciful to his children even after they sin against him.
3) This verse assures me that I will never be too bad for God to reach out to me. Even a sin as grave as murder receives mercy, I should take heart in that. However, this account does not give us a license to sin.
4) Sin puts up a barrier between us and God. In Cain’s case, he is hidden from God’s presence.
5) I read that mercy from God is God not giving us what we deserve. In this case, Cain deserved death but God spared his life.
6) God does not change like the shifting shadow. He says Cain will be cursed and he’s cursed for his life. He says Cain’s life will be preserved and his life is preserved as it was written.
Our Lord & Savior has promised NEVER to leave or forsake us. Too bad we do not promise HIM the same.
Even though God still loves us after we sin does not mean let us go ahead and sin and do things we know we should not since God is still with us.
When we commit sin yes God still is with us but we will have to pay until death for the hurts and mistakes we cause other people. Let us each strive to read the Bible and become very close to God. The closer usually the less sin. As we love God in our life we will not want to hurt him but obey him so our sins should be at a minimum.
By: Robert I Salsman on December 18, 2011
at 8:21 am
Interesting passage with some key questions.
(a) Why did God show mercy on him?
(b) Was it because Cain was repentant?
(c) But his later life (and line of descendants) was one characterized by independence of God and self-sufficiency.
It was the first murder in human history.
God, in his grace, could be exerting his spiritual influence on the human race to stop more murder. Till this day and age, if not for His grace and mercy, our world would have been much worst.
By: kong wah on December 18, 2011
at 8:58 pm
Hi Kong Wah,
The scriptures did not say that Cain was repentant. In fact, he was more fearful than anything else, fearful of what will happen to his life. Probably, it just dawned on him of the seriousness of his crime. So, God showed mercy on him because God is merciful?
By: thaishin on December 19, 2011
at 11:38 am