The Word: Preserved for Mercy ...by Charles Swindoll

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven time over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him may kill him.” Genesis 4:15 (NIV)

I’m sure you are wondering what that special mark was. Frankly, so do I. In my research, I read one idea after another about the “mark” of Cain. I even started a list. Some of the items are downright homourous. Others are plausible. Most of them are intriguing.

• The Lord placed a bright light around Cain so he would appear frightening to others and they’d stay away from him
• God put leprosy on Cain’s forehead so that no one would touch him for fear of disease
• God gave Cain a dog
• The Lord changed Cain’s personality so others would be intimidated in his presence
• The Lord gave Cain a brightly coloured coat
• Cain grew horns on his head, which made him look like a kind of animal, so people would stay away from him

Are you ready for the right answer? No one knows! All we know is that God, in His grace, preserved Cain’s life. The only reason I can see for God’s doing this was to say, in effect, “Sometime in the remaining years of your life, if you find a place in your hardened heart for repentance, I’m ready to hear you. I’m ready to accept you. I won’t even allow your vicious act of murder to keep you from me… permanently.”


Taken from “Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives” by Charles Swindoll pp. 30-31