Beginning of the End

The Punishment of Cain

Again the Lord said to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Cain had had time to reflect. He knew the terrible nature of the deed he had done and the falsehood he had spoken to conceal it; but he was still rebellious, and the consequences were no longer postponed. The divine voice pronounced the terrible words: “So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” BOE 28.5

A merciful Creator still spared Cain’s life and granted him opportunity for repentance. But Cain lived only to harden his heart, to encourage rebellion against divine authority, and to be the head of a line of bold sinners. His influence exerted demoralizing power until the earth became so corrupt and filled with violence that it needed to be destroyed. BOE 28.6

The dark history of Cain and his descendants was an illustration of what would have been the result of permitting the sinner to live on forever, to carry out his rebellion against God. The patience of God only made the wicked more bold and defiant. Fifteen centuries after the sentence pronounced upon Cain, crime and pollution flooded the earth. It became clear that the sentence of death on the fallen race was just and merciful. The longer people lived in sin, the more degraded and reckless they became. BOE 29.1

Satan is constantly at work to misrepresent the character and government of God and to hold the inhabitants of the world under his deception. God sees the end from the beginning. His plans were far-reaching and comprehensive, not merely to put down the rebellion but to demonstrate to all the universe its nature, fully establishing His wisdom and righteousness in His dealings with evil. BOE 29.2

The inhabitants of other worlds were watching with the deepest interest the condition of the world before the flood. They saw the results of the kind of rule that Lucifer had tried to establish in heaven in casting aside the law of God. The thoughts of human hearts were only evil continually (Genesis 6:5), at war with the divine principles of purity, peace, and love. It was an example of awful wickedness. BOE 29.3

By the facts unfolded in the great controversy God carries with Him the sympathy of the whole universe, as step by step His great plan advances to its fulfillment in the final complete destruction of rebellion. It will be seen that all who have rejected the divine precepts have placed themselves on the side of Satan, in warfare against Christ. When the prince of this world shall be judged, and all who have united with him shall share his fate, the whole universe will declare, “Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints” (Revelation 15:3). BOE 29.4