Deep Dive: The Story of Cain

Genesis 1-3 gets a lot of air time, and rightly so. But my attention is often drawn to what happens after Genesis 3. By the time we reach Genesis 4, we have a full-blown sin-soaked, gospel-drenched murder. Yes, that's right, the good news comes to a cold-blooded murderer in one of the first chapters of the Bible. Here's the story...

Adam and Eve had children; two sons were named Abel and Cain. Abel is a shepherd, and Cain is a farmer. As the story goes, Abel brings the best meat from his herd as an offering to God, while Cain brings an offering of his crops. God accepts Abel's offering, but not Cain's.

Oh no! Anyone whose been around brothers long enough knows this will not end well.

Cain invites Abel into the fields, where he kills him. Wow. That escalated quickly (Anchorman vibes intended).

But it gets even worse. Cain lies to God about the murder even though God saw it. God then gives Cain his punishment. What would you expect it to be? A life-sentence? Death penalty? Nope, neither of those things happened.

Cain merely has to leave his land, and forever he will be a struggling farmer. This punishment seems light to me. Cain, however, didn't think so. He whines and protests, "When people find me, they will kill me."

God has already withheld the full punishment He could have given Cain. So how would He deal with Cain's whiny spirit?

God took this complaining murderer and put a mark on his body to protect him. God told Cain that if anyone sees that mark and hurts him, they will face even worse punishment than Cain. It seems odd, right!? Is God sheltering a criminal? It may seem that way until we get to another son of Adam.

Jesus never murdered anyone, helped little old ladies across the street, and always put his cart in the cart return at the grocery store (those last two are unverified). The point is... He NEVER sinned. And yet, at the end of His life, He died on a cross.

I ask you, student of the Bible, what held Jesus on the cross? Nails. What do you imagine that left on His hands and feet, which He later showed Thomas? Marks. Ahhh....

The mark God placed on Cain, because of his sin, was good news for Cain.

So likewise, God's mark on Jesus, because of our sin, is good news for the world.