“My punishment is greater than I can bear! 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.” Genesis 4:13-14
How does a convicted murder react to just punishment? God records
Cain’s reaction for our edification.
My punishment is greater than I can bear The first thing out of Cain’s mouth is a protest, a complaint about what God has done to him. There is not a word of remorse or repentance. Remember, at least from a human perspective, this is the worst crime ever committed after the fall. It is a monstrous sin but there is no recognition of the evil he has inflicted. Cain has a numbing fear of punishment and therefore he protests that God is unfair, his punishment does not fit the crime. Note the first thought is about himself. The second thing to notice about Cain’s first reaction is that he does not see God’s mercy in this sentence. Cain deserves
to die. God gives him much less than what he deserves which is a death sentence. The last thing to note is this is every unbelieving man’s reaction to the idea of hell. God is unfair to sentence a person to trillions of years of separation from everything good for one decision they made in this life. For all eternity their thought will be on how unfair iGod is – never on the heinousness of their own sin..
Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground Cain blames God. God did this. How could He be so wrathful, so unfair, so unloving? Cain accuses God – He has no reason to expel him. (Cain admits no blame. There is no humility that leads to repentance.) Leave his vineyards and fields of his own volition? Preposterous!. This is God’s doing. He is driving Cain away. The word face can also mean acceptance. The fact the earth, the ground, will no longer accept and respond to Cain’s labor shows Cain is only thinking about how bad is punishment is, with no comprehension of his evil.
I shall be hidden from Your face God made no mention that this is a part of Cain’s punishment. Yet as Cain thinks through what God has said he begins to anticipate this will be a part of his loss. God will have nothing to do with him anymore, he believes. He begins to count the cost of his sin.
When one thinks about eternity in hell separated from God they may joke about what it will be like – fun and debauchery with all their unbelieving buddies. When one stops to truly consider the meaning of hell – existence apart from the attributes and characteristics of God they begin to tremble just as Cain does here. Remember Cain was taught by Adam and Eve. He heard them speak of the joy of walking with God in the garden and of the blessings of God. He begins to realize the magnitude of the consequences of his sin – but to himself, not the ones he has harmed.
I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth Cain begins to fear what it means to be given the desires of his heart – the life he desires without God ruling over him. He thinks of the aimless, fruitless and unsafe life ahead. A life lived in fear and trembling and wandering across the face of the earth settles into his mind. He begins to realize the impact on his family. They will never be able to put down roots like a normal family. Sin has stained and impacted them also. These thoughts should break Cain’s heart and drive him to repentance before God. It does not.
It will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me. Remember at this point there is only one family on earth. Cain will not repent of his sin and he also realizes his own family members will likely hate him for what he has done. He begins to comprehend that he will tremble in fear all his days, hated by those who once cared for him – just as Satan hates those in hell.
What can we learn? The consequences of his sin begin to dawn on Cain – joy and peace are gone. What Cain took credit for and enjoyed earlier – the fruitfulness of his fields and fellowship of his family, he now realizes is lost.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above”. In defying and rejecting God Cain has made a decision to depart from God and all that is good. His parents had learned these same lessons in the Garden of Eden – they too were banished from their perfect garden that God created, they too lost the fellowship God had with them. Yet their sin led them to repent in humility. Cain’s hardened heart defies and blames God.