Genesis 4:13

Genesis 4:13 says, And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Cain had killed his brother out of jealousy and anger, but he complained to God that his punishment was greater than he could stand.  Life was no longer going to be easy for Cain, but he should have been grateful that he was alive.  We too often seem to feel that our punishment is unfair when we should simply acknowledge that we should be grateful that we are alive and have the ability to repent and be restored to God, as did Cain.  I believe his attitude shows that he still had not taken responsibility for his actions.  Verse fourteen states, 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.  Though Cain would be a vagabond, he was not driven from the face of the earth.  We are not really told of anyone else knowing about what Cain had done, so we should question why everyone would want to kill Cain.  Of course, there is also the question of where everyone came from if Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel were the only people who existed.  Whoever the people were, Cain said everyone would want to kill him, possibly based on the way he treated Cain.  Cain was judging others based on his own attitude.  Verse fifteen declares, 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.  God protected Cain from being killed.  Today, if we are alive, even if we refuse to follow God's teachings or even believe in Him, we are alive because God sustains our life.  God said anyone killing Cain would be punished seven times worse, and he put a mark on Cain so that everyone would know who he was.  I don't believe that this was a mark that would pass to Cain's descendants as some claim, but was a mark unique to Cain.  His descendants, like ours, are not punished for our sins, but each individual is held accountable for his or her own.  Verse sixteen states, And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Cain went to dwell in the land east of Eden.  Eden was not the only place in the world, and Cain was not the only one cast out, so his punishment may not have been as severe as he claimed.  We never find an account of Cain accepting responsibility for his actions and asking forgiveness, and since he evidently did not, then God's face was indeed hidden from Cain as he had stated earlier.  Sin, especially unconfessed sin that we know we are guilty of, will always stand between God and us.  Verse seventeen declares, 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.  We know that there were at least a few more people than what has been revealed, because Cain had a wife.  This does not make the account of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden incorrect.  Cain and his wife had a son that they named Enoch and built a city named after Enoch.  Then, we begin the genealogy verses.