"Where is Abel thy brother?" This word, thy brother, must not be left out, because it doth greatly aggravate his wickedness. He slew "his brother"; which horrid act the very law and bond of nature forbiddeth. But when a man is given up of G.o.d, it is neither this nor another relation that will bind his hands, or make him keep within the bound of any law. Judas will seek his master"s, and Absalom his father"s blood. "Where is Abel thy brother?"
"And he said, I know not." He knew full well what he had done, and that by his hands his brother"s blood was fallen to the ground, but now being called into question for the same, he endeavoureth to plead ignorance before G.o.d. "I know not." When men have once begun to sin, they know not where they shall end; he slew his brother, and endeavours to cover his fact with a lie. David also little thought his act of adultery would have led him to have spilt the blood of Uriah, and afterwards to have covered all with dissembling lips and a lying tongue (2 Sam 11).
"I know not: am I my brother"s keeper?"
This is the way of all unG.o.dly men, they will not abide that guilt should be fastened. Sin they love, and the l.u.s.ts and delights thereof, but to count for it they cannot abide; they will put it off with excuses, or denials: Even like Saul, who though he had spared the cattle and Agag contrary to the command of G.o.d, yet would needs bear Samuel down, that he had kept, yea "performed the commandment of the Lord" (1 Sam 15:13,20). But they are denials to no boot, and excuses that will not profit, that are made to hide the sin of the soul from the sight and judgment of G.o.d. Lies and falsehood will here do nothing.
Ver. 10. "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother"s blood crieth unto me from the ground."
Poor Cain, thy feeble shifts help thee nothing, thy excuses are drowned by the cries of the blood which thou hast shed.
"What hast thou done?" the blood of thy brother cries. Beware persecutors, you think that when you have slain the G.o.dly, you are then rid of them; but you are far wide, their blood which you have shed, cries in the ears of G.o.d against you. O the cries of blood are strong cries, they are cries that reach to heaven; yea they are cries that have a continual voice, and that never cease to make a noise, until they have procured vengeance form the hands of the Lord of sabbath (Job 16:18): And therefore this is the word of the Lord against all those that are for the practice of Cain: "As I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, I will prepare thee unto blood and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, [that is, hated to shed it,] even blood shall pursue thee" (Eze 35:6).
"The voice of thy brother"s blood crieth unto me." The apostle makes this voice of the blood of Abel, a type of the voice of the justice of the law, and so extends it further than merely to the act of murder; intimating that he sheds blood, that breaks any of the commands of G.o.d, (and indeed so he doth, "he layeth wait of his own blood, and privily lurketh for his own life" (Prov 1:18)).
Wherefore the apostle compareth the blood of Abel and the blood of Christ together; but so as by the rule of contraries, making betwixt them a contrary voice, even as there is between a broken command and a promise of grace, the one calling for vengeance and d.a.m.nation; the other calling for forgiveness and salvation; "the blood of sprinkling it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24); that is, it calls to G.o.d to forgive the sinner; but Abel"s blood, of the breach of the law, that cries d.a.m.n them, d.a.m.n them. Christ also sets his own blood in opposition to the blood of all that was shed before him; concluding that the proper voice of all the blood of the G.o.dly, is to call for vengeance on the persecutors, even from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecharias, that was slain between the altar and the temple (Matt 23:35). And let me here take leave to propound my private thoughts: namely, that the Zecharias that here is mentioned, might not be he that we find in the book of Chronicles (2 Chron 24:21); but one of that name that lived in the days of Christ, possibly John Baptist"s father, or some other holy man. My reasons for this conjecture, are, 1. Because the murderers are convict by Christ himself: Zecharias, whom ye slew between the altar and the temple.
2. Because Christ makes a stop at the blood of Zecharias, not at the blood of John the Baptist: wherefore, if the person here mentioned were not murdered after, but before John the Baptist, then Christ seems to excuse them for killing his servant John; for the judgment stops at the including of the guilt of the blood of Zecharias. 3. I think such a thing, because the voice of all holy blood that hath been shed before the law by the adversary, excepting only the blood of Jesus, must needs be included here; the proper voice of his, only being to plead for mercy to the murderers. However, the voice of blood is a very killing voice, and will one day speak with such thunder and terror in the consciences of all the brood of Cain, that their pain and burthen will be for ever insupportable.
Ver. 11. "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother"s blood from thy hand."
Here begins the sentence of G.o.d against this b.l.o.o.d.y man; a sentence fearful and terrible, for it containeth a removing of him from all the privileges of grace and mercy, and a binding of him over to the punishment and pains of the d.a.m.ned.
"And now art thou cursed from the earth." Peace on earth, is one branch of those blessed tidings that were brought into the world, at the coming of the Messias (Luke 2:14). Again, before Christ was come in the flesh, it is said, He rejoiced "in the habitable part of his earth" (Pro 8:30). Wherefore, by the earth in this place, I understand the state that the men are in, to whom, by the mind of G.o.d, the gospel and grace of G.o.d is to be tendered. Now, whether it respect that state of man by nature, or the state of those that are saints, from both these privileges Cain is separate, as are all whom the Lord hath utterly rejected. Not but that yet they may live long in the world, but G.o.d hath cut them off from the earth, and all the gospel privileges therein, and set them in the condition of devils; so that as to grace and mercy they are separate therefrom, and stand as men, though alive, bound over to eternal judgment. And as to their lives, it matters not how long they live, there is "no sacrifice for their sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb 10:26,27). So that I say, as the devils be bound in h.e.l.l, so such lie bound in earth; bound I say in the chains of darkness, and their own obstinate heart, over to the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of G.o.d. Cain therefore by these words is denied the blessing of future means of grace, and stands bound over to answer for his brother"s blood, which the ground had received form his cruel hand.
Ver. 12. "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."
This is a branch, or the fruits of this wilful murder. Indeed, sins carry in them not only a curse with respect to eternity, but are also the cause of all the miseries of this life. "G.o.d turneth--a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein" (Psa 107:34).
"When thou tillest the ground." Sin committed doth not always exclude the sinner from an enjoyment of G.o.d"s mercies, but yet if unrepented of, bringeth a curse upon them. "I will curse, [saith G.o.d,] your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart" (Mal 2:2). This also is the reason that the table of some is made their snare, their trap, a stumbling-block and a recompence unto them (Rom 11:9); men ought not therefore to judge of the goodness of their state, by their enjoyment of G.o.d"s creatures, but rather should tremble while they enjoy them, lest for sin they should become accursed to them, as were the enjoyments of this wicked man.
"A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." The meaning is, thou shalt not have rest in the world, but shalt be continually possessed with a guilty conscience, which shall make thy condition restless, and void of comfort. For the man that indeed is linked in the chains of guilt and d.a.m.nation, as Cain here was; he cannot rest, but (as we say) fudge up and down from place to place, because his burthen is insupportable. As David said, "Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake" (Psa 69:23). A continual shaking and restlessness doth therefore possess such persons as are given up of G.o.d, and swallowed up of guilt.
"A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." Some men certainly know, even while they are in this world, their state to be most miserable, and d.a.m.nable, as Cain, Saul and Judas did; which knowledge, as I have hinted, puts them besides the very course of other carnal men; who while they behold them at quiet under their enjoyments, these cannot but wonder, fear, and be amazed with the deep cogitations which will abide upon them, of their certain misery and everlasting perdition.
Ver. 13. "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear." Or as the margin hath it, "Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven." And both readings are true: for however some men please themselves in lessening sin, and the punishment thereof, yet a burdened conscience judgeth otherwise.
And if Cain failed in either, it was in that he counted his sin (if he did so) beyond the reach of G.o.d"s mercy. But again, when men persecute the worship and people of G.o.d, as Cain did his blessed and religious brother, even of spite, and because he envied the goodness of his brother"s work; I question whether it be lawful for a minister to urge to such the promise of grace and forgiveness; and also whether it be the mind of G.o.d such persons should hope therein. He that sins the sin unto death, is not to be prayed for (1 John 5:16), but contrariwise he is to be taken from G.o.d"s altar that he may die (Exo 21:14). This was Cain"s case, and now he knew it; therefore as one excluded of G.o.d from his mercy and all the means thereof, he breaks out with roaring under the intolerable burden of the judgment of G.o.d upon him, concluding his punishment at present "greater than he could bear," and that yet his sin should remain unpardonable for ever: As saith our Lord Jesus Christ, He hath neither forgiveness here nor in the world to come (Matt 12:32).
Ver. 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 pa.s.s, that every one that findeth me shall slay me."
By these words is confirmed what was said before, to wit, to be cursed from the earth, was to be separate from the privileges of the gospel. For Cain was not now to die, neither was he driven into any den or cave; yet driven out from the face of the earth, that is, as I have said, he was excluded from a share in those special mercies that by the gospel were still offered by grace to the others that inhabited the world: The mercies, I say, that are offered by the gospel, as namely, The mercy of eternal life: For as to the blessings of this world, he had yet a notable share thereof. Besides, he groaneth under this judgment, as an insupportable curse: "Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth." And indeed, if we take it according as I have laid it down, it is a curse that would break the whole world to pieces; for he that is denied a share in the grace that is now offered, must needs be denied a portion in G.o.d"s kingdom. And this Cain saw; wherefore he adds in the process of his complaint, "And from thy face shall I be hid": "I shall never come into thy kingdom, I shall never see thy face in heaven." This is therefore the highest of all complaints; namely, for a man from a certain conviction that his condition must without fail be d.a.m.nable, to condole and bemoan his forlorn condition.
"Thou hast driven me out." O! when G.o.d shall bind one over for his sin, to eternal judgment, who then can release him? This was Cain"s state, G.o.d had bound him over. The blood of his brother was to rest upon him and not to be purged with sacrifice for ever.
"Thou hast driven me out THIS DAY." He knew by the sentence that fell from heaven upon him, even from that very day that he was made a companion of, and an a.s.sociate with devils. This day, or for this day"s work, I am made an inhabitant of the pit with the devil and his angels. Hence note, That G.o.d doth sometimes smite the reprobate so apparently, that himself from that day may make a certain judgment of the certainty of his d.a.m.nation. Thus did Balaam: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh" (Num 24:17). Where by now, he respects the time of grace; and by nigh, the time or day of judgment: As who should say, "I, for my sorceries, and wicked divinations, am excluded a portion in the day of grace, and therefore shall not see the Saviour NOW: I am also rejected, as to a portion in the blessed world to come: and therefore when he judgeth, I shall not see him NIGH: Nigh, as a friend, as a saviour to my soul." I doubt this is the condition of many now alive, who for their perfidiousness and treachery to Christ, and his church, have already received, even "in themselves, that recompence of their error which was meet" (Rom 1:27).
Ishmael also, in the day he laughed at Isaac (Gen 21:9), and Esau in the day he sold his birthright (Gen 27; 28), might have gathered, the one from G.o.d"s concurring with the judgment of Sarah, the other, from his father"s adhering to his brother; his adhering, I say, in a prophetic spirit (Gal 4:29); that from thenceforth they both were excluded grace and glory, as the apostle by the Holy Ghost afterwards doth (Heb 12:16,17).
"And from thy face shall I be hid." By face here, we are to understand G.o.d"s favour, and blessed presence, which is enjoyed by the saints both here, and in the world to come (Psa 4:6,7; 16:11).
Both which this wicked man, for the murdering of his brother, and his envy to the truth, now knew himself excluded from.
"From thy face shall I be HID." The pit of h.e.l.l, to which the d.a.m.ned go, besides the torment that they meet with there, is such a region of darkness, and at such a distance from the heavens, and the glorious comfortable presence of G.o.d, that those that shall be found the proper subjects of it, shall for ever be estranged from one glimpse of him: besides, sin shall bind all their faces in secret, and so confound them with horror, shame, and guilt that they shall not be able from thenceforth for ever, so much as once to think of G.o.d with comfort.
"From thy FACE." As it were all the glory of heaven, it lieth in beholding the face of G.o.d: A thing the unG.o.dly little think of; yet the men that have received in themselves already the sentence of eternal d.a.m.nation, they know it after a wonderful rate; and the thoughts of the loss of his face and presence, doth, do what they can, as much torment them, as the thoughts of all the misery they are like to meet withal besides.
"And a fugitive and a vagabond shall I be on the earth." Even from the present frame of his spirit, Now, having received the sentence, he knew, the judgment past being unrevokable, how it would be with him all his life long; that he should spend his days in trouble and guilt, rolling under the justice of G.o.d, being always a terror and burthen to himself, to the day he was to be cut off from the earth, that he might go to the place appointed for him.
"And it shall come to pa.s.s, that every one that findeth me shall slay me." Guilt is a strange thing, it makes a man think that every one that sees him, hath knowledge of his iniquity. It also bringeth such a faintness into the heart (Lev 26:36), that the sound of a shaken leaf doth chase such persons: and above all things, the cries of blood are most fearful in the conscience; the cries of the blood of the poor innocents, which the seed of Cain hath shed on the face of the earth (Jer 2:34; 19:4). Thus far of Cain"s complaint.
Ver. 15. "And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."
By these words, the judgment is confirmed, which Cain, in the verse before, so mournfully p.r.o.nounced against his own soul. As if the Lord had said, "Cain, thy judgment is as thou hast said, I have driven thee out this day from a share in my special favour; and when thy life is ended, thou shalt be hid from my face, and a blessed presence for ever; and seeing it is thus, therefore I will not suffer that thou die before thy time: Alas, thy gla.s.s will be quickly run! Besides, thy days, while thou art here, will sufficiently be filled with vexation and distress; for thou shalt always carry in thy conscience the cries of innocent blood, and the fear of the wrath of G.o.d: I have said it, and will perform it: I am not a man, that I should repent: So that thus shall thy judgment be: Therefore he that killeth Cain, I will take vengeance on him."
Hence note, That none need to add to the sorrows of the persecutors.
They above all men are prepared unto wrath. Let them alone (saith Christ) they will quickly fall into the ditch. Besides, G.o.d hath taken the revengement of the blood of his servants into his own hand, and will execute his wrath himself. Therefore he saith to his saints (as in this case), "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom 12:19). And the reason is, because the quarrel is in special between the prosecutor and G.o.d himself. For we are not hated because we are men, nor because we are men of evil and debauched lives; but because we are religious; because we stand to maintain the truth of G.o.d. Therefore no man must here intercept, but must leave the enemy in the hand of that G.o.d he hath slighted and condemned. This made Moses that he meddled not with Corah and his company, but left them to that new thing which the Lord himself would do unto them, because they had condemned the ordinance of G.o.d (Num 16:25-35). This made David also that he meddled not with Saul, but left him to the vengeance of G.o.d, though he had opportunity to have destroyed him (1 Sam 24 and 26:10-12). Let us learn therefore to be quiet and patient under the hand of wicked and blood-thirsty men. Let us fall before them like holy Abel; it is and will be grief enough to them, that when we are dead, our blood will cry from the ground against them.[23]
"Therefore he that killeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken," &c. He now that shall, after this admonition, plead for religious blood with the sword, vengeance shall be taken on him, because he giveth not place to the wrath of G.o.d, but intercepts with his own, which "worketh not the righteousness of G.o.d" (James 1:19,20). Say therefore with David, when you are vexed with the persecutor, Mine hand shall not be upon him; but "as the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or, his day shall come to die; or, he shall descend in battle, and perish."
"Vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold." It would not be hard to shew how little they have prevailed, who have taken upon them to take vengeance for the blood of saints, on them that have been the spillers of it. But my business here is brevity, therefore I shall not launch into that deep, only shall say to such as shall attempt it hereafter, "Put up thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword"! (Matt 26:52).
And "here is the patience and faith of the saints" (Rev 13:10).
Let Cain and G.o.d alone, and do you mind faith and patience; suffer with Abel, until your righteous blood be spilt: even the work of persecutors, is, for the present, punishment enough; the fruits thereof being the provoking G.o.d to jealousy, a denying of them the knowledge of the way of life, and a binding of them over to the pains and punishment of h.e.l.l.
"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain." What the opinion of others is about this mark, I know not; to me it seems like those in Timothy, who had "their conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Tim 4:2).
Which words are an allusion to the way of the magistrates in their dealing with rogues and felons; who that they may be known to all, are either in the hand, shoulder, or cheek branded with a hot iron. So Cain was marked of G.o.d for a reprobate, for one that had murdered a righteous man, even of envy to the goodness of his work: But the mark (as it was on those in Timothy) was not on any outward or visible part of his body, but (as there the apostle expresseth it) even upon his very conscience; his conscience then had received the fire-mark of the wrath and displeasure of G.o.d, which, as a burning iron doth to the flesh, had left such deep impression therein, that it abode as a scar or brand upon him, in token that good would for ever after hold him for a fugitive rogue or vagabond.
"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." For though the mark was branded with burning upon his conscience, and so inward and invisible; yet the effects of this hot iron might be visible, and seen of all: the effects, I say, which were, or might be, his restlessness in every place, his dejectedness, the sudden and fearful pangs and agonies of his mind, which might break out into dolorous and amazing complaints; besides, his timorous carriage before all he met, lest they should kill him; gave all to understand, that G.o.d had with a vengeance branded him. And indeed this was such a mark as was amazing to all that beheld him, and did ten times more make them afraid of spilling blood, than if any visible mark had been set upon him; of for by his trouble and distress of mind, they saw, what was the guilt of blood: and by his continual fear and trembling under the judgment of G.o.d, what it was to be in fear of, nay, to have the first fruits of everlasting d.a.m.nation. Thus therefore G.o.d reserved Cain to the judgment which he had appointed for him.
Ver. 16. "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."
The right carriage of a reprobate, and the infallible fruits of final desperation. For a man that hath received in his mind the stroke of the judgment of G.o.d, and that is denied all means of saving and sanctifying grace, (as the great transgressors are,) the presence of G.o.d is to such most dreadful; whether we understand the knowledge of him as he is in himself, or as he discovereth himself in his church; for the thought of his being, and eternal majesty, keeps the wound open, and makes terror and guilt revive.
To such it would be the best of news, to hear that the G.o.dhead doth cease to be, or that themselves were high above him. But that they are in the hand of the living G.o.d, this is the dreadful and fearful thought.
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may be taken many ways.
1. That he separated himself from the church (the place of G.o.d"s presence) (2 Cor 6:16) which then consisted of his father and mother, and of those other children they had. And this appears by the text, "He went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod."
2. A man goes out from the presence of G.o.d, when he withdraws his thoughts from holy meditations, and employeth the strength of his mind about the things of this life (Job 21:14-18). And thus he also did; he went into the land of Nod, and there fell to building a city, and to recreate himself with the pleasures of the flesh what he might.
3. A man goes out from the presence of G.o.d, when he throweth up the worship and way of G.o.d; and this he did in departing from the church (2 Chron 19:1-3).
4. Besides, his going out from the presence of the Lord, implieth, that he hardened his heart against him, that he set his spirit against him; that he said to G.o.d, Depart from me (Heb 3:12); that he grew an implacable enemy to him, and to every appearance of good in the world (Job 15:12,13).
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may also respect his being thrust out from G.o.d, as one anathematized, accursed, or cut off, in effect the same with excommunication.
But be it so, the act was extraordinary, being administered by G.o.d himself; even as he served Corah and his company, though in kind there was a difference, the one, even Cain, being yet permitted to live for a while in the world; the other being sent down quick into h.e.l.l; but both, for their villany against the worship and people of G.o.d, stand bound over to answer it at the eternal judgment.
Ver. 17. "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."
Cain"s wife was his sister, or near kinswoman; for she sprang of the same loins with himself; because his mother was "the mother of all living" (Gen 3:20).
This wife bare him a son; for whose sake, as it seems, he built the city. Hence note, That men who are shut out of heaven, will yet use some means to be honourable on earth. Cain being accursed of G.o.d, yet builds him a city; the renown of which act, that it might not be forgotten, he calleth it after the name of his son.
Much like this was that carnal act of blasted Absalom; because he had no child, he would erect a pillar, which must forsooth be called Absalom"s place, after the name of Absalom, to keep his name in remembrance upon earth (2 Sam 18:18).