Genesis 4:13-16

Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to bear!

 

“Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

 

So the LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.

 

went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

 

 

I wonder if this would all be less funny to me if I wasn't in the middle of parenting.

 

I think it is funny that after Cain kills Abel, he is crying out to God to protect him from being killed.  While life and death is not a funny matter, two year old arguing is - from a distance.  With the babies all visiting at the same time, I have seen Asher scratch Elijah's face at least 30 times.  That is not an exaggeration.  Now, I love them both.  I am frustrated at Asher for harming one of my babies, but as he IS on of my babies I am not ready to send him to the firing squad either.  But, finally the other day, the tables turned and Elijah was after Asher.  Asher was heartbroken!  All of a sudden he was worried that his face was going to be as painful as Elijah's had been.

 

So, although the consequences were less permanent, we see Cain and Abel.  (Obviously, this is a loose analogy, can't take it too far)

 

What I find interesting here is that Cain cries out to God, as any teenager would when being grounded.  He complains that it is too much, and God hears him and makes allowances for his fear.  I think it is interesting that even after Cain committed a very large sin, God still loved him enough to make allowances for him within the punishment.  Also, it reminds me as a parent to meter my punishments with some degree of grace and not be so rigid that I can't consider the heart of the one at the other end of the punishment.  (Not that Cain wasn't still sent away, his punishment still stood)

 

One more slightly less spiritual observation - what kind of sign was it that Cain was given.  Did God tattoo a sign on his chest that said "better not kill Cain or it will come back on you 7 fold".  Just a wandering thought.

 

Love y'all