Summary

Here we learn how Cain responded to God’s punishment. It is not a response of repentance, of real sorrow over his sin. Cain did speak of his guilt, and he did feel miserable, but it was not about the sin itself. He felt sorrow over the consequences his sin had for him. He balked at God’s punishment that would affect his life so adversely.

Paul later makes this distinction: As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death (2 Corinthians 7:9–10).

The world only grieves over the consequences of sin. Therefore, no real conversion takes place. We see that happening here with Cain. He was merely interested in seeking relief from his punishment. He felt that God was punishing him too severely.

The Lord expelled Cain. He and his family ended up being isolated, far from God and his people. This is how two distinct camps arose on earth—the camp of the seed of the woman and the camp of the seed of the serpent.

The punishment Cain received consists of four elements:

a. The ground would yield less.

b. He had to go far away from God, away from before God’s face. This does not mean that God would no longer see him. But it does mean that God took away his grace and goodness from Cain.

c. He had to live as a fugitive and a wanderer on earth.

d. Everyone he met on earth had become a threat to him.

The Lord did not yet completely withdraw from Cain. He gave him another promise. This promise means that there was no need for Cain to be terrified of everyone he encountered. The Lord God gave Cain a sign by which he knew that anyone who sought to kill him would be avenged sevenfold by God. This served as a kind of security for the wandering Cain. Again, as with Genesis 4:4–5, we cannot say that we know what this sign looked like. However, it was a sign that was recognizable to other people and that would deter people from killing Cain.

Cain left. He moved away from before God’s face—away from that part of the earth where God’s children lived and where the Lord cared for them in a special way. Cain was no longer close to the Lord (cf. Psalm 73:27–28).