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10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 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. ~ Genesis 4:10-15
Today we return to Genesis 4 where we learn of the first murder in the Scriptures. Cain was the first recorded male born in human history and this first recorded son of Adam and Eve became a murderer and a liar because he chose to be defined by the culture of the devil rather than the culture of God. This merely underscores the doctrine of original sin which is the teaching that all mankind suffers moral corruption as a consequence of Adam’s sin. The doctrine of original sin teaches that all human beings are born into sin, born spiritually dead, and born separated from God. We are sinners not because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. In order for man to be reunited with God, someone must pay the penalty for our sin.
In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.'"
So here, God identified Cain with the serpent. In Genesis 3, God cursed the serpent and the ground but not Adam and Eve because they represented the seed of the woman. God cursed Cain indicating that he was the seed of the serpent. In Genesis, we can trace the line of the serpent down through those who were cursed. God cursed the serpent in Genesis 3, then Cain here in Genesis 4, then Noah’s grandson in Genesis 9, and then all those who oppose Abram in Genesis 12. The seed of the serpent are those cursed like their father the devil. They are known as the seed of the serpent because they chose to be defined by the devil.
The very fact that Cain murdered and lied indicates he inherited Adam’s sin. This first recorded sin after the fall would become standard operating procedure for all humanity. Cain was told that the blood of Abel cried out from the ground. The blood of dead Abel, obviously, couldn’t actually speak, but the fact that there was blood on the ground spoke volumes to God. It cried out to God before His heavenly throne, demanding divine vengeance, and Cain was guilty before God. And the divine sentence was that the very ground which had yielded the crop screamed of the death exacted upon Abel by his brother. Cain would not be able to offer another hypocritical offering. Cain’s punishment was much like his dad's he would work the ground with toil and see little fruit, and he would be a vagabond" which is a wanderer on the earth. Sin always makes our lives harder.
Throughout the Bible, God draws a contrast between the sowing of unrighteousness with the harvesting of faith. Cain sowed the ground with the blood of his brother because he was jealous of Abel and mad at God. But as we have seen, it was by Abel’s faith that his offering was acceptable to God.
In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 And Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.'"
The greatest honor that can be bestowed on a person is to have the face of God shine on them. Cain understood this in his limited way and cried out at the loss – a loss which he had brought upon himself. Even to this day, Cain is the biblical example of the wicked son who remains forever out of the favor of the Lord.
Obviously anyone alive on earth during Cain’s life would be a rather close relative to Abel, but it’s most likely that one of his own sons would try to repay Cain for what he did. Cain’s remark then very well could be his fear of this.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "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."
We are not told what the "mark" that God put on Cain looked like. What is important is that the mark stood for God’s merciful protection of Cain, despite his sin. Cain had switched sides and joined the devil's team, murdering the seed of the woman, so God rightly cursed him. God didn’t send Cain to hell immediately; He put a mark on him to protect his life while on this earth. If they did, they would receive vengeance seven-fold, or "completely." There would be no mercy given for the murderer of this murderer.
In Hebrews 12:24 we are reminded that the Lord Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant, and His blood of sprinkling speaks better things than that of Abel. The blood of the Lord Jesus cries out before God for the forgiveness of all willing enough to believe in the efficacy of His blood. Whereas the blood of Abel cries out for vengeance and retribution, the blood of the Lord Jesus declares love, hope, peace, and forgiveness! Found in the death and blood of Jesus is everything we need for the removal of our sin and the access to us for deep intimacy with God Himself. The blood of the Lord Jesus is better than the blood of Abel because the blood of the Lord Jesus is the only blood that cleanses us from all of our sin. Cain took his brother’s life while the Lord Jesus laid down His life for all who are willing enough to believe in Him.
