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. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genesis 4:15-16
The sentencing is over. Cain’s objection has been heard but the righteous judgment stands. Before it is carried out God corrects the last complaint of Cain.
Then the Lord said to him Cain ascribes actions to God He will not
allow. Cain will live his full life – a time God gives him in which he could
repent and turn to God for salvation. God will allow no one to take Cain’s life (as he had Abel’s) – he will live out all his days.
If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold God tells Cain the judgment of anyone who would kill him. God Himself will bring a seven fold punishment on that person.
And the Lord put a mark on Cain lest any who found him should attack him God then places a mark on Cain to warn anyone who would attempt to harm him. There is much speculation of what this mark is, most of it ridiculous in nature. God does not tell us what the mark was so we cannot know. More important is the purpose of the mark – to stop others from attacking Cain. Protection. God’s mark
makes it clear to others that this man, despite having taken another’s life is God’s property. The mark shows God’s grace to Cain in that it assures him of his full lifetime, one God gives him to repent and turn to God. For centuries each day, as Cain sees that mark from God, he is reminded that there is a God in heaven who is in charge and continually invites him to repent of his sin. God in His mercy gives Cain, and all men, time to repent for God’s heart is that no one “should perish but that all may come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9. God’s mark would either soften Cain’s or harden it further.
Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord These are some of the saddest words in scripture. Cain leaves God’s presence. There is no remorse or repentance over his sin, only grief over his
punishment. Despite God’s grace, Cain never returns to God. He will live out his existence in grief, wandering aimlessly. Jude 12-13, written of the eternal abode of unbelievers reminds us of the life Cain would live apart from God. “They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever”.
Cain’s departure from God begins with him creating distance from God first in his heart then physically. To go out from the presence of
the Lord may seem harmless, perhaps the act of a fit of temper or self-will. But it starts a course that leads to reprobate ungodliness – no interest in Eden; no desire to be connected with the place where God had once walked with his father in the cool of the day; it means not wanting to be reminded of God’s judgment every time he saw the cherubim with the flaming sword guarding its gates of Eden. Perhaps Cain even resented God’s mark on his life that protected him. Instead the distance Cain walks is meant to create space from the presence and memory of God, to be farther removed from Eden than his parents ever were. It is an action produced by his intense hatred of God and His authority to rule over Cain and tell him what to do.
Settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden Cain moves east from Eden, always an indication of departing from God. He goes to a land called Nod, a place scripture tells us nothing about. This reminds us of Acts 1:25 where we are told that Judas, after he betrayed (abandoned) Christ went to his “rightful place“. This is a terrifying thought. The Lord prepares a place for those who love Him (John 14:6) and in judgment He prepares a place for those who who willfully reject His
race. Both places are individually designed and fitted for that person.
We are all are moving toward one of those two prepared places. The place with God has only one path to it. John 14:6.