City Life Starter

Written by Nate Warren

The Word

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

Genesis 4:13-18 (ESV)

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:29 (ESV)

Reflection

The day Cain murdered his brother, Abel, he woke up in the land of Eden, in the presence of Yahweh.* He was even warned directly and lovingly by the Lord, but still, Cain succumbed to his jealousy. What follows in this passage is Cain’s enduring downward spiral.

To begin with, Yahweh’s judgment never said anything about Cain being banished from Eden, his family, or from the Face of Yahweh. Still, he can’t help but think that someone or something out there will kill him if they know how to find him, despite God’s assurance to the contrary.

So Cain sets out east of Eden, away from his family, and most tragically, from the presence of Yahweh. Still not believing Yahweh for his protection, he builds a city with walls and a gate. Now Cain is poised to take his own sevenfold vengeance, but on his own terms. Later this choice will lead to more and more bloodshed as Cain’s descendants double and triple down on their patriarch’s attitudes.

(* Yahweh is an English transliteration from Hebrew of the proper name of God, as expressed in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. I use His name here in my analysis to highlight the close personal nature of Cain & Yahweh’s discussions.)

Application

The Word of God Matters

Before Cain, Adam and Eve stumbled into sin after misquoting the Word of God–they added to His instruction. Cain repeats this mistake, adding his own assumptions and fears to Yahweh’s Word. We will go off track if our faith is in our own perception, not His. As we legitimately and earnestly seek to know Him, then our proper understanding of His Word is revealed.

Unrepented Sin Leads to Greater Sin

Cain had many chances to humble himself and accept the relationship that Yahweh was offering him. He never understood Yahweh’s loving faithfulness, so his decisions pushed him farther and farther away. Reading further, Cain’s lineage will be full of exponentially increasing violence. It doesn’t have to go down this way for us. As Jesus says to the churches, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).

God is Merciful

Jesus’ words from the Matthew passage above again show the tender heart of the Triune God. John proclaims that He is “full of grace and truth.” This story is ultimately about Yahweh’s astonishing generosity toward the villainous, foolish scoundrel. Yahweh, committed to justice, is not deaf to the cries of Abel’s blood, but Cain commits himself to an infinitely worse sentence than pronounced, rejecting the enduring offer of a redemptive relationship with Yahweh. Cain’s separation happens only because Cain is poised to look for it. When we trust in God’s mercy, we get Him.

Prayer

Gracious Father,
Help us to trust in Your Word, not our circumstances. 
May we depend on You to protect us from all sorts of violence. 
May we prefer Your closeness over the veneer of safety, comfort, or privilege.
Let us be joyously chastened by Your warnings before we fall into sin.
For the sake of our Lord, Jesus,
Amen