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Cain Exile by Fran Regan
10/09/2010
“That is why its name was called Babel, because there Yah confused the language of all the earth and from there Yah scattered them over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11: 9)
Babel means ‘confusion’. You can imagine everyone speaking a different language, trying to get something done in unison; yet even in the chaos, there was order. – It appears that Yah was dividing them into their clans (divisions) by languages. Genesis 10:5 “From these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their nations. (speaking of the sons of Yepheth) Genesis 10:20 “These were the sons of Ham, according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, in their nations.” Genesis 10:31 “These were the sons of Shem, according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.” Genesis 10:32 “These were the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations. And from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.” If you will count the sons of the sons of Noah in Genesis 10:2-29, from which Yah divided the nations, you will find there were seventy (70) sons listed. Seventy is the number of the nations, as outlined for us again in Genesis 46. Seventy went down into Egypt, (Genesis 46:27) yet when they left, they left by their divisions (or clans). “And it came to be at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it came to be that all the divisions of Yah went out from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:41) Again, we see an Elohim of order. It was not mass chaos. It was an orderly exodus – “by their divisions” -- “Yah’s divisions”. “And Elohim spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob,…..I am the El, Elohim of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I shall make you there into a great nation. I Myself am going down with you to Egypt and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again.” (Genesis 46:2a,3-4) Yah promised to make Jacob into a great nation. Yah promised to make Abraham into many nations. “And no longer is your name called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, because I shall make you a father of many nations.” Genesis 17:5 Out of the nations, Yah made a nation (Israel). Seventy sons went down (representing all the nations); one nation (Israel) came out, forged in the fires of adversity and exile, for El Elohim was with them. All nations become one in Israel. When Yah separates, it is good. He separates to bring back together. Zephaniah 3:9 “For then I shall turn unto the peoples a clean (pure) language, so that they all call on the Name of Yah, to serve Him with one shoulder.” He brings order out of the chaos. It also shows we serve Him with our words (or not). “For by your words you will be declared righteous and by your words you will be declared unrighteous.” (Matthew 12:37) (On another level, could it ultimately also be important which language we use when we “call on the Name of Yah”?) Words are thoughts, which identify who we are. When we choose to turn away from the Elohim of order, only confusion and chaos is left. Yet, in His mercy, He is even in the chaos. He has, so to speak, gone in after us. Could this dispersion be a pattern of the later dispersion? And had this happened already (from the standpoint of being scattered) – maybe even twice – though not on so grand a scale? Let’s go back to the beginning. “So Yah Elohim sent him (Adam) out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. And He drove the man out…” Genesis 3:23-24a Confusion was in the garden brought about from the man’s decision to do things his own way. Sent is Strong’s #7971 – shalach – chet, lamed, shin – meaning to sow, spread, cast away, send out Till is Strong’s #5647 – abad – dalet, beit, ayin – to work in any sense, to serve, be in bondage, be bondmen, bond-servant Taken is Strong’s #3917 – liyliyth – tav, lamed, yud, lamed – a twist away of the light, adversity, night season, from 3883- to fold back a spiral or winding step, comp. 3924 – a loop Drove – Strong’s #1644 – garish – shin, resh, gimel – to drive out from a possession, espec. to expatriate or divorce, cast out, divorced (woman), drive away, trouble (To expatriate is to drive from one’s native land, exile) Back in the very beginning, Yah (in His mercy) cast man out (or scattered him) to work, to do, to be a bond-servant. It was a twist away from the light (Tree of Life) into adversity or the night season, but He made a way to loop or fold back again into the place of Yah’s protection (Garden/New Jerusalem/Promised Land). For in Genesis 3:24b “And He placed kerubin at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” The entrance to the Garden had an angel, a kerubin, stationed there. Each gate to the New Jerusalem does also. “….having twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels….” Revelation 21:12 (in part). Yah is not a God of confusion. (1 Cor. 14:33) There will not be confusion in Yah’s place of refuge. There will be peace. Adam had been driven out but the way back is guarded and protected. The pattern of exile had begun with Adam. And then there was Cain. “See, You have driven (1644) me from the face of the ground today and I am hidden (5640) from Your face. I shall be a fugitive (5128) and a wanderer (5110) on the earth and it shall be that anyone who finds me kills me.” Genesis 4:14 How quickly our first parents fell and brought about confusion. As a result, they were exiled (scattered) from the Garden. How quickly Abel, as even his name implies (Abel – breath, vapor), representing the one who worshipped Yah in Spirit and in Truth, following Yah with his whole heart; how quickly his ways were persecuted and shut down resulting in more confusion. From the beginning, Yah’s ways (order) were set aside for man’s ways (confusion). Cain had every opportunity to do well. He was instructed by Yah Himself. “And Yah said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face fallen? If you do well, is there not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it.” Genesis 4:6-7 Cain chose, however, not to listen (shama) to Yah but rather do things his own way, which brought confusion. As a result, he was banished from the land, to be scattered among the nations; he was exiled from the presence of Yah. How important is it to ‘shama’, to listen to Yah? By Cain choosing not to, he was hidden (exiled) from the face of Yah. Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear (listen carefully – shama twice!) and come to Me (walk in My ways). Hear (shama), so that your being lives…” In this one verse, Yah tells us three times to shama , with the intent to walk in His ways – Why? – ‘so that our being lives…’ “….You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:12b “See, You have driven me from the face of the ground today and I am hidden from Your face. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and it shall be that anyone who finds me kills me.” Genesis 4:14 A fugitive is Strong’s #5128, nuwa, ayin, vav, nun, meaning to waver, go up and down, to and fro, move, scatter, shake, sift. Wanderer is Strong’s # 5110, nuwd, dalet, vav, nun, meaning to flee, disappear, from shaking the head in sympathy to tossing the head in scorn. Hidden is Strong’s #5640, catham, final mem, tav, samech, meaning to keep secret, shut up or out, closed up, or to repair. Driven, as we have seen, means to exile, divorce, cast out. “So Cain went out from the presence of Yah and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16 The land in which Cain dwelt, Nod, is Strong’s 5112 – nowd – dalet, vav, nun – and means exile, wandering. It comes from 5110, to nod, waver, wander, flee, disappear, mourn, a way. Cain chose a ‘way’, apart from Yah’s ways. He did not listen (shama) and so disappeared in exile. Cain was afraid he would be completely wiped out. So Yah, in His mercy, put a ‘mark’ upon him to keep that from happening. So in the beginning (Alef), Yah put a mark (Tav) upon Cain. Tav is a covenant or mark. Yah covenanted with Cain, an exile, not to let him be completely ‘wiped out’ or disappear. Yah put a mark upon him, so I suppose we could say it was Yah’ mark? We have always wondered what the mark of Cain was. I will venture to say we all carry the ‘mark of Cain’, as we have all wandered from the face of Yah and His ways, choosing our own ways instead. [Remember seventy (the number of the nations or ALL the sons) went down into Egypt.] Jeremiah 6:28 “All of them are rebels of rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze (5178) and iron (1270), all of them are corrupters.” Genesis 4:17-24 “And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Hanok. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Hanok. And to Hanok was born Irad. And Irad brought forth Mehuya’el and Mehuya’el brought forth Methusa’el and Methusa’el brought forth Lemek. And Lemek took for himself two wives, the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Tsillah. And Adah bore Yabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents, with livestock. And his brother’s name was Yubal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. As for Tsillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, a smith of all kinds of tools in bronze (5178) and iron (1270). And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Na’aman.” Bronze, #5178, nechosheth – tav, shin, chet, nun – copper, 5154 or 5153 – the red color of the throat of a serpent when hissing – 5172 – to hiss, whisper, learn by experience Iron – 1270 – barzel – lamed, tsade, resh, beit – iron as cutting from 1269, to pierce, holes Who is the corrupter? Here in the very definition of bronze, we see the serpent’s ways/words (hiss) represented. Cain, as his parents, looked into the open mouth of the serpent (listened to the words of the serpent) and chose his own way over Yah’s. He was, therefore, (just as his parents) sent into exile. The difference seems to be his parents repented and he did not. He continued in rebellion. This also shows Cain reproducing after his own kind. His rebellion was passed on in his descendents. In this, we again see the importance of words and which ones we listen to and follow. If one of the definitions of ‘bronze’(hissing serpent) is to ‘learn by experience’ but we say “experience is the greatest teacher”, what are we saying? Yah has given us what we need to know. However, if we refuse Him, if we refuse to shama, we must ‘learn by experience”, build our own cities, go our own way. We may carry the mark, but the question is: Do we continue in rebellion or do we turn back to Yah and His ways? Yah says to us today, just as He did to Cain, “If you do well, is there not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it. “Thus said Yah of hosts, the Elohim of Israel, ‘Make your ways and your deeds good, then I let you dwell in this place.” (Jeremiah 7:3) (we could come home?) This is also what Cain was told. “If you do well, is there not acceptance?…” If Cain had done well, he would not have been exiled from the land. He would have been allowed to ‘dwell in this place’. Instead, he had to ‘learn by experience’. “In an overflow of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I shall have compassion on you.” Said Yah, your Redeemer.” For this is the waters of Noah to Me, in that I have sworn that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth, so have I sworn not to be wroth with you, nor to rebuke you. For though the mountains be removed and the hills be shaken, My kindness is not removed from you, nor is My covenant of peace (opposite of confusion) shaken,’ said Yah, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:8-10 “For you shall break forth to the right and to the left and your seed inherit the nations and make the deserted cities inhabited. Do not fear, for you shall not be put to shame, nor hurt, you shall not be humiliated. For the shame of your youth you shall forget and not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.” “For a little while I have forsaken you, but with great compassion I shall gather you.” Isaiah 54:3,4,7 Yah never leaves us without hope. “For this is the waters of Noah to Me……I have sworn not to be wroth with you….My kindness is not removed from you…..but with great compassion I shall gather you.” We still see the rainbow and Yah’s faithfulness to His Word which He established from the beginning. He has shown us we can depend on Him to do as He says. “For your Maker is your husband, Yah of hosts is His Name and the Set-apart One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of all the earth.” Isaiah 54:5 He is our Husband – loves, provides for, protects “…with everlasting kindness I shall have compassion on you….and all your children taught by Yah and the peace of your children great.” Isaiah 54: 8, 13 He is our Redeemer – saves, delivers, makes us His own “No weapon formed against you shall prosper…” Isaiah 54:17 He is our Elohim – He is able to do as He says. “In righteousness you shall be established…Whoever assembles against you falls…This is the inheritance of the servants of Yah..” Isaiah 54:14,15,17 We are still wandering in exile among the cities we have built, down among the nations. There are still many languages (religions) and much confusion, but Yah has preserved and protected the way home and is waiting for us; longing for us to return as a Husband longs for His beloved. He is forging us into shape, as a Potter upon the wheel, in the fires of adversity and exile. He has promised to gather us and bring us back, making us one in Him. In these patterns, Yah has shown us what will happen. When we each turn (loop) back, repent of our ways with our whole heart, He will bring us back to Him and to the land He has promised us. He will bring us home. He will give us a Covenant of Peace. He will rejoice over us with singing! (Zephaniah 3:17) He is waiting. Yah is still saying to us today: “Why are you angry? And why is your face fallen? If you do well, is there not acceptance? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should master it.” Genesis 4:6-7
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