Genesis 4:16. A Black Hole Destination

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Genesis 4:16 “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” 

What sad words! Instead of staying in the presence of the only One who could restore and save him, Cain choose a greater punishment for himself than any of the judgments God had declared upon him. He had lost his garden’s prolific production by divine mandate, and was sentenced to be “a fugitive and wanderer in the earth”, but God never barred Cain from returning to His presence. The cherubim and the flaming sword were still at Eden’s gate. Had he so desired, he could have returned to repent and express faith in the Lamb of God, the Savior to come. But Cain, in his self deception, surely felt that fleeing the divine presence was the only way to stay alive, because standing before a Holy God with the load of guilt he chose to hang onto felt like torture. But as Cain went out from God’s presence, any sense of relief was only a deadening of his spiritual nerves. Like a leper or diabetic, the pain ebbed because of his loss of sensitivity. He convinced himself that everything was fine, yet he was nonetheless dying inside.
And so Cain went to live in the land of Nod. The name Nod comes from the Hebrew root nûd, which means to waver, to wander, to flee, or disappear. Such is the destiny of all who choose to take the path out from the presence of the Lord. “Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain […]; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 13). 




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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).