Too Great a punishment?

 

         

Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear 

(Gen 4:13)

In fact, despite the atrocious sins Cain had committed – cold blooded murder of his innocent brother, getting angry with God, lying to God, questioning God, etc. – the Lord did not punish him as He ought to have.

But Cain, instead of saying, “My sin is greater than I can bear,” says, “My punishment is too great to bear.” This was an affront to the matchless love God had shown to him. It was not God Who drove him away, but his own sins. But he accuses God of driving him out “from the face of the earth” (vs 14). There are many sinners who speak the language of Cain even today.

From Cain and from his offering Yahweh withheld the sign of acceptance which He granted to Abel. The reason for this difference of treatment is in Cain's lack of right attitude toward Yahweh. Instead of humbling himself Cain displays signs of strong indignation at Yahweh's refusal to favor him. Under the just rebuke of Yahweh he hardens his heart and is further confirmed in impenitence. His jealousy of Abel increases until it culminates in deliberate murder. 

God had chosen Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom Israel. He promised Solomon he would establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely carried out God's commandments and ordinances. Under Solomon, Israel became a great world-power. 

But once on the throne, he became a thoroughgoing despot. Israel was a wealthy nation, but the resources of the nation were diverted to his personal aggrandizement.  His whole idea was to secure himself in peace, to amass wealth and indulge his love of grandeur doing evil in the sight of the LORD; he built temples for heathen Gods and worshipped them.

So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. And even so, I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city." (Read it all in 1Kings 11). This is one example of God's extreme compassion shown even see to deliberate violators of His commandments.

Everything was going well for Saul, the first king of Israel. A simple peasant, his only qualification for the monarchy was a striking appearance and personal courage. During his reign, Saul had his greatest successes when he obeyed God. He united the twelve disparate tribes of Israel into a nation, won every war against his neighbours, expanded the kingdom, and proved to be an able administrator. But his disobedience and rebelliousness cut him off from God and alienated him from his mentor Samuel.

He allowed his jealousy to overcome him and became obsessed with the idea of getting rid of David, his son-in-law. He disobeyed God on several occasions and tried to be a king on his own. Eventually he was rejected by God, lost his kingdom to the enemy Philistines and met a tragic death at the battle field, a fate which he brought up on himself.

The book of Lamentions says  the guilt of Israelites grew to become greater than that of Sodom during a certain time (4:6) and the Lord had indicated He cannot ignore it anymore, but had to punish Jerusalem for her many sins. Even as he laments the fate of the city, Jeremiah expresses the hope (Lam 3:31, 32) the Lord does not abandon anyone forever.  Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love. The Lord makes this clear in Ezekiel 18:23 "Do you think... that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live".

Contrast Paul's experience with Cain's complaint: Five times he received whip lashes. Three times he was beaten with rods,  pelted with stones once, three times shipwrecked,  spent a night and a day in the open sea; been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea and in danger from false believers. He had  known hunger and thirst and had often gone without food; he had been cold and naked. He was bitten by a poisonous snake once. 

Too many were the travails he suffered in the service of the Lord to mention here, but he didn't complain, grumble or blame God. He asked God three times he be healed of a chronic condition he was suffering, but God turned down his request assuring him that God's grace was sufficient for him. He accepted God's judgement in obedience and humility. And the criminal Cain here says his punishment was too great to bear!

Look at how King David took reproof. When the prophet pronounced God’s judgment on him for his sin, he humbled himself greatly before God and accepted his punishment in humbleness. We can see this in many of his psalms. For instance in Psalms 51:3, 4 he confesses to God: "For I recognize my shameful deeds— they haunt me day and night. My sin is ever before me. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just". Elsewhere he tells the Lord (in  2 Samuel 24:17) "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! ..... Let your anger fall against me and my family".

Psalms 103:10 asserts "He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does he deal with us as we deserve".

It is a heart like that of King David and St Paul that the Lord wants us to have. When we err, let us humble ourselves and say like Ezra, “Our God has punished us less than our iniquities deserve”(Ezra 9:13).