What was the mark of Cain in Genesis 4:15? & what the hell was it for?

by cantleave 12 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  adamah

  BOTR said-

  I was always outraged by Jehovah's rejection of Cain's sacrifice. What is wrong with agriculture? I see nothing wrong. In fact, it seems a step up from hunting.

  Except Abel wasn't a hunter, but a shepherd: he raised domesticated animals (the account doesn't state what kind of flock, or what he did with them, since they couldn't have been raised for their meat since it wasn't yet added to the menu).

  Supposedly Cain had his 'green thumbs' completely nullified (unlike Adam, who had the power of his green thumbs diminished, not completely nullified), which left him with a slight problem: since animal flesh wasn't yet added to the God-approved diet, and he couldn't grow any food, what was Cain to do to obtain food?

  The story says Cain established a city (!), presumably depending upon trade with those who hadn't been cursed, and that's the Genesis explanation for the move towards urban centers and the development of high-tech things like musical instruments, culture, metal-working to create tools, etc.

  Adam
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  jws

  I guess God forgot to tell his creation that murder was wrong, so when Cain committed it, he couldn't really punish him too severely.

  So to protect Cain, he puts a mark on him. At this point, only his family (a small group) knew him. Weren't the family given orders not to kill him? Who's going to stumble across him and not know who he is and just kill him? Why? Because they just kill strangers? If so, murder is apparently commonplace.

  So Cain is sent to wander the Earth. Except that he lives in the land of Nod. Oh, and is building an entire F'ing city he's going to name after his son Enoch. How is this wandering the Earth?

  Since man did not eat meat at the time, why was Abel herding sheep? Perhaps for "friendship" (if you know what I mean)? Seems to me Cain was (a) not wasting his time because he gathered fruit - things that people ate to survive. And (b) gave some of this to God. Abel sacrificed things he had no use for. Unless, like I say, "friendship", maybe wool.

  I so wish some of my Bible believing friends would look at the Bible in the same way they look at movies. Sometimes it's sport afterwards to find and pick out all of the logic flaws in the plot of a film. Yet when it comes to the Bible, they rationalize or ignore anything that would make them question. Nothing seems odd to them. Nope, it's in the Bible, that was true.
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Here's the mark of Cain.

  

  Yep, dude had a candy cane tramp stamp.