Genesis 4:14 – 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.

John 3:19 – And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3:20 – For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Hello readers, thank you for your time today, I appreciate anyone who reads this blog, and I hope you get something from God’s word for your life today. Today I will be briefly looking at a statement God made to Cain after he killed Abel, God said he would be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. What does this even mean? Is it just applicable to Cain, or to really bad people out there… but not me?

Most people know the famous story of Cain and Abel. Cain brought a wrong sacrifice, Abel brought the right sacrifice… and Cain killed Abel for it. He was a pretty mean brother, very cold hearted. Cain today represents the world, and anyone who is unsaved is like a Cain. You may think you’d never be that bad, but take a closer, honest look at yourself, and you might find you have more in common with Cain than you think.

Cain is a picture of a lost, unsaved, worldly person. Unsaved worldly people are fugitives, and they are vagabonds. What is a fugitive? Well it’s somebody who is on the run from authority, trying to evade being accountable and responsible, usually because they’ve done something wrong. How accurate is this word then in light of the truth of God’s word? That’s what Cain was, and if you’re not saved and right with God, that’s you too. People have it the wrong way around! It’s not God is so hard to find, it’s you are ON THE RUN from him. Talk to unsaved people, you will find out at the core, it’s not they don’t have truth, it’s not they don’t know truth… its they don’t want truth. You can show them the entire Bible, give them straight truth, and they won’t take it, because they DON’T want it. They don’t want truth, just as Jesus said in John 3. Cain wanted away from God, Cain had to push God away, it wasn’t God’s lack of ability to communicate and convey himself to him, and it wasn’t God being unjust or unmerciful… because God treated Cain a lot better than he deserved. Isn’t this true of God and the unbeliever today?

Cain had no interest in getting right with God. What he did want from God, well he wanted God to do some things for him. Oh my punishment is to great, he wanted God to get out of his way, after making provision for him. Unbelievers want God to do what they want him to do, to suit themselves. As far as they want God is what they can get out to him and what they can make him do for them, to further themselves. Cain was selfish, and unbelievers are selfish at their core, as is all unsaved humanity. Cain wanted to do what he wanted and avoid the consequences of his actions, he didn’t want accountability, he wanted to do things his way, in his time, without God getting in his way. His brother got in his way, his brothers righteous life irked him. Is that not true? Unbelievers hate someone who is obeying God, Christians don’t even harm them, yet you see the hate for Bible believing Christians is off the chart. And particularly so when someone tells them the truth, they won’t mind you so much if you’re out of sight, out of the public sphere, if you don’t “judge” them. But as soon as they feel conviction from God through your life and deeds, they won’t come back to you in any uncertain terms. Most Christians are not like Abel at all.

You might be on the run from God today. But God will catch up with you. Your sin will find you out. You cannot avoid accountability. The Bible says you have no power over your spirit to retain it. If you are a Christian who witnesses to others, you’ll find out, the real issue is unsaved unbelievers of this world DO NOT WANT GOD. They won’t say they don’t want truth, they won’t say they won’t consider it, but once cornered by God’s word, by justice, accountability, truth, the righteous judgements of God… out will come the truth. They have a problem with God. Evidently they are more righteous than God, look at Cain, even though he was the murderer, he was complaining about God. God didn’t accept his sacrifice, and he was wroth with God and thus with Abel. Pretty arrogant, no humility.  People today are mad at God, look how mad they were at Jesus, they tried chucking him off a cliff right at the start! Their deeds are evil, and they love them, they won’t let them go, they won’t believe, they do not want God. It’s not lack of proof that is the issue, because there is no lack of proof, creation, conscience, the knowledge of God in themselves, the light that God has given them is enough alone, it’s they want none of it, they have put a line through God’s name in their hearts. Did God make Cain a fugitive? Cain made himself a fugitive by his own actions, it was God who just told him he would be that, and a fugitive he was.

So what does vagabond mean? Vagabond basically means wanderer, it’s someone who has no certain, fixed dwelling. Is that not the life trajectory of an unsaved person? They wander. Wander from truth to truth. You see, the world’s beliefs and ideas and philosophies and fads and ways are always subject to change. They have no certain place that they are at and they definitely have no certainty in where they’re going.  They haven no rock in their life… everything is progressive, relative, subjective, everything is ambiguous and moving. Because they have no true fulfillment, they are restless, never truly satisfied, because this life is vanity, it is fleeting, even pleasures fade, youth fades, fun fades, happiness is temporary… whereas death and judgement is SURE. Vagabond also refers to the fact that not only are such people wanderers, but they don’t have jobs or homes. It refers to the futility of a life without God, the meaninglessness of it. Because Cain would try to make his life meaningful, building a city, having a family and all that, yet without God it was all a waste. A nonbeliever’s life is futile, it is waste, it is an Ecclesiastical life. You can build your whole life upon you, your fun, your adventures, your travel, your job, your whatever… yet it be all a waste. And it will be.

If you look at Cain’s life thereafter, you see a picture of a man in his own effort, trying to not be a fugitive or a vagabond. He was a fugitive and a vagabond, but he made his own attempts. He built a city. He was putting his roots down, creating his own civilization, creating his own belonging, identity, a city with his laws and ways… and he called that city after his son. He was trying to make his own legacy, he was setting up his own posterity. Without God though. He did things his own way, by his own reasoning. He had wicked children though, that got worse and worse, and his city and his legacy got destroyed in the flood. Cain made a lot of bad decisions in his life, decisions motivated by him being a selfish, evil person, who was deceived about his own goodness, who would not come to the truth, because his deeds were evil. He tried not being a fugitive and a vagabond, making a city, having family and children isn’t very “fugitivey” or “vagabondy”. It wasn’t that God couldn’t be known, it’s Cain didn’t want God, he went out form the presence of the Lord the Bible says.

There is much more that could be said. Cain made God at fault, when it was really he who was at fault. Sound like anybody? Cain pointed fingers, even though he was the murderer. Cain was a liar. Sound like anybody? Cain was selfish. Sound like anybody? Cain was deceived about who he really was, that sounds like people today. People who trust in themselves, who think they’re pretty good, when really they’re the problem. Cain had an issue with his brother Cain, who actually did the right thing. And that’s what people do, they’re the ones with the issues, but make someone else pay for it. Cain had no conscience. And that’s what worldly people end up like. God gave us light, gave us conscience, but we put it out, we defile it, people do bad and don’t even feel bad, in fact they hold bad as good, and call good… bad. Cain was angry at God who acted righteously, but justified his sin, which was cold blooded murder. Talk about upside down.

But back to the main thought, people of this world are fugitives and they are vagabonds in the earth. They might do ok, like Cain ended up doing by world’ standards. Abel got the raw deal… Cain seemed to get by with his sin. But he was on the run from God, running from judgement, running from accountability, running from God’s face. We need to stop blaming God, and start looking within. It’s not God is so far away, so unknowable, so mysterious… it’s we don’t want God, we don’t like him, in fact, we HATE him… just as Cain was angry at God. The real problem wasn’t God was in the wrong, it was Cain in the wrong, just as John 3 says. And that is the condemnation, that light is come into the world… Cain had light and we have light!… but men loved DARKNESS rather than light… why? because their deeds were evil. People love their sin, that’s why they reject God. They like Cain, don’t want no part of God’s reasoning, God’s questioning, God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness, God’s presence… Cain was a liar, and unsaved people cannot but lie, even sincerely… because if you are deceived you cannot but deceive others.

Unsaved people go out and live a vagabond life, wandering through life, and because it’s their way, they treat right and wrong as a smorgasbord, they take bits they want and leave what they don’t want, their God is… themselves. Ye shall be as gods… Proverbs 18:2 – A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.  An unsaved person is interested in himself, not in God. And it’s not God doesn’t seek them out and give them grace and light, it’s they refuse it, they say no, they don’t want it… and the consequence may not be apparent immediately. Look at what Cain did, he seemed to get by, but at the end of his life… he ended in hell. Bad way to end. It’d be a bad way for you to end as well. Oh you aren’t as bad as Cain… but actually make sure you’re not a Cain. He chose the life of a fugitive and a vagabond, even though on the surface it looks like he had a pretty good life, and got a pretty good deal… but it ended badly. Going out from the presence of God to find his own dwelling place, to live his own way, to do things his way was the worst thing he could’ve done. Cain tried making God the bad one, but actually he was the bad one. Cain’s life and end wasn’t God’s fault, but his own, and in fact he got better than what he deserved, and better then what he dished out to fellow man. God was patient and long suffering with Cain, but one day, time ran out.

Ecclesiastes 8:11 – Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Ecclesiastes 8:12 – Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

Ecclesiastes 8:13 – But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

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