Genesis 4 talks about how Cain kills his brother Abel. Verse 16 describes Cain's condition after his sin by saying:
"Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod opposite Eden." (Genesis 4:16)
Cain could have and should have repented to God, like King David when he sinned, and say "Do not cast me away from Your presence..." (Psalm 50:13) However, not only did Cain not repent, he also chose to live away from the presence of God. Notice that it was Cain's choice to live in this state. The bible says that "Cain went out from the presence of the Lord..." not that the Lord cast him out of his presence. Never! "'Do I ever will the death of a lawless man,' says the Lord, 'since My will is for him to turn from the evil way and live?'" (Ezekiel 18:23) The Holy Scripture also says "Who desires all men to be saved..." (I Timothy 2:4)
But what does it mean to live "out from the presence of the Lord"? Living out from the presence of the Lord means living without the following:
A life outside the Presence of the Lord is no life at all for "for in Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) It is no wonder that our Lord Jesus Christ said "...for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Name (required)
Email (required)
Website
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail
OrthodoxBibleStudy.com hosts articles of Holy Scripture and contains tools to help anyone who would like to study the Holy Scripture.
This is a very new website. We've asked St. Mary to be the Patroness for this website. We pray that God may bless this service, those who are being served by it and those who are serving in it through the intercessions of the holy Theotokos saint Mary.