Mark of Cain
Juvenile Instructor Vol. 26, No. 20, October 15, 1891, pg 635; “From this it is very clear that the mark which was set upon the descendants of Cain was a skin of blackness, and there can be no doubt that this was the mark that Cain himself received; in fact, it has been noticed in our day that men who have lost the spirit of the Lord, and from whom His blessings have been withdrawn, have turned dark to such an extent as to excite the comments of all who have known them.”
Genesis 4:15; “And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.”
The Hebrew word for “mark” is oòth meaning a signal (literally or figuratively) as a flag, monument, beacon, omen, prodigy, evidence…
The Bible is deafeningly silent in regards to what the “mark” looked like that God placed upon Cain.
One lesson to take away from this passage is Cain’s attitude even after he was caught with the blood of his brother upon his hands.
Genesis 4:13-14; “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 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.”
Where’s any remorse that he killed his own brother? Where’s the repentance that he sinned against God? He obviously missed the memo that he should’ve been ashamed because all we hear and see is “woe is me”, people will hate me, woe is me you won’t like me, woe is me I’ll be all alone…on and on he yammered with a laundry list of complaints.
Not once do we see any gratefulness that he wasn’t sweltering in hell at that exact moment.
Another lesson in this story about the “Curse of Cain” is how many people down through the ages have twisted this one passage of scripture to excuse their poor behavior. In each and every single case for those who’ve condoned racism and used this passage is guilty of not reading their Bibles. Just like Cain, they weren’t paying attention to what God said.
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