Cain’s Punishment
After Cain killed his brother Abel, God said to Cain: “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Genesis 4:11-12).
Sometimes life is more punishment than death. And because Cain believed life would be worse for him than death. He said to God, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 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” (Genesis 4:13-14).
God’s judgement turned Cain’s defiance into despair. Though Cain deserved the death penalty, a loving and gracious God gave him a second chance for repentance. But instead of repenting, Cain moaned about his punishment as being harsher than he deserved. He said no words of apology or sorrow and didn’t acknowledge his crime.
A Wanderer in the Earth
Previously, Cain had been “a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2), so this specific punishment took away his livelihood. Cain had misused the fruits of the ground. God would no longer permit him to gain his livelihood by tilling the soil. He will be a wanderer in the earth (vs. 14, 16), as a shepherd or nomad. But he cannot be a successful farmer. Cain was doomed to a life of continual wandering in order to obtain food for himself, his family, and his animals.
In addition, Cain feared death at the hands of other persons (his own children). To prevent others from killing Cain, God marked him with some kind of a mark (the Bible doesn’t specify). Thus, instead of being put to death, Cain was forced to live the rest of his life with unfruitful work and with the guilt of having killed his own innocent brother.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
