Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.“
(Genesis 4:15)

Once again, in judgment God shows MERCY. God put a supernatural mark on Cain so that any ONE and any THING seeking his life, would think twice. The penalty God put on anyone who took Cain’s life was a seven-fold return of vengeance – which considering it would be vengeance for death, it would NOT be pleasant. Whether it was a visible mark or not, anyone approaching Cain would be aware that judgment from God was imminent if they killed him.

God did not kill, but protected the first murder on Earth. This is because the Law wasn’t given. If it had been, Cain’s life would have been forfeit. But this is BEFORE the Law so the consequences OF the Law were not enacted. Yet, God did not in ANY way approve of Cain’s actions or decisions. Cain had harsh consequences for what he did. But God STILL showed him mercy.

The sage Tur HaAroch writes: ‘הרג קין שבעתים יוקם. “whoever kills Kayin will be avenged sevenfold.” According to Nachmanides this means that whoever will kill Kayin will be avenged seven times over, i.e. .he will be punished for his deed as if he had killed seven people. This threat was designed to restrain anyone who would feel like killing Kayin. וישם ה’ לקין אות, “G’d placed a mark on Kayin;” the Torah did not write ויתן לו ה’ אות, “G’d gave Kayin a mark,” but וישם, a word which describes something permanent. The mark with which G’d provided Kayin would remain visible for an indefinite period of time. Perhaps the meaning is that whenever Kayin, in his many journeys, would face a route unknown to him, the fact that he received no guidance would serve as a warning to him that that route was potentially dangerous for him.’