Genesis 4:14. Forecasting

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Genesis 4:14 “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.”

    Cain stubbornly refuses to recognize his own guilt and tries to make God bear the blame.  (How ironic, when the Son of God bears our blame already of His own free will, on the sole condition that we confess and forsake our sins and believe on Him.) “You have driven me away,” Cain accuses, and then gives an irrational three-part foretelling of his own future that is two-thirds speculation and one-third quote from God’s Word. Heaps of false prophecies today generate for the same reasons and in much the same manner as Cain’s prognosticating.   

    “From thy face shall I be hid” seems more like wishful forecasting on Cain’s part, poorly disguised as a complaint. At the same time it reveals his ignorance of God’s character and capabilities. 

    “I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth,” Cain finally repeats something God actually said. But God also said, “when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength.” Cain’s own persistant refusal to face up to the results of his evil actions would turn him into a continual wanderer. When we run from our problems we are bound to run into them again. 

    Finally, Cain concludes that everyone is after him to take his life. Who did Cain think would kill him anyway? His own father and mother? Another brother? Did Able leave behind children who Cain feared would grow up to avenge their loss? In any case, Cain clearly judges everyone else according to the standard of his own character. How often do we do the same thing? When we reject God’s moral measuring mechanism, there is nothing else left to us but to make ourselves the standard, which is a recipe for suspicion, doubt, fear, anger, and depression, ad infinitum: in short, an absolute disaster. 

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Ezra James
The Word of God is bread from heaven. God sent it, but we must gather it, appreciate it, digest it, and live by it. These days it is increasingly scarce. Many are starving for it and don't know it because they keep feasting on bad bread that doesn't satisfy. But if we would learn to carefully gather up the fragments of the True, Heavenly Bread of Life, we would always enjoy a feast of crumbs, because even God's crumbs are miracles mighty to save (Mark 7:24-30). ESPAÑOL: La Palabra de Dios es pan del cielo. Dios lo envió, pero debemos recogerlo, apreciarlo, digerirlo y vivir por él. Hoy en día es cada vez más escaso. Muchos están muriendo de hambre por falta de él sin saberlo porque se alimentan de pan falso que no satisface. Pero si aprendiéramos a recoger cuidadosamente los fragmentos del Verdadero Pan Celestial, Pan de Vida, siempre disfrutaríamos de un banquete de migajas, porque hasta las migajas de Dios son milagros poderosos para salvar (Marcos 7:24-30).