THE MARK OF CAIN & THE WICKED ONES

  What is the specific mark  revelation on Cain? 

THE

MARK OF CAIN

&

THE

WICKED ONES

In this message, we shall take a journey through time to study the distinguishing MARK OF THE WICKED ONES. We can trace the MARK found on the wicked ones beginning from the first one who dwelt outside the Garden of Eden to the last one who is dwelling in the Vatican.

I will deal mainly with that MARK which the Lord God had set upon Cain.

Of what importance is this revelation of THE MARK OF CAIN to a Bible Believer?

An understanding of the MARK will certainly enable us to recognize the working of the children of the Wicked One throughout the ages, especially in our days. Cain, the seed of the Serpent, had his own kind which still exists today. That MARK which God had set upon Cain can also be found upon his kind. As you take a look around you, you can never miss his kind with that prominent MARK upon them.

 

EXPULSION FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD

After sin had entered the Garden of Eden, the Man and his Woman were expelled from that delightful place (Gen.3:22-24). It wasn't just a specific location from which God had driven them away and which God had placed cherubim to guard the way to the Tree of Life. Remember that the Bible is written in the language of the Spirit. In many passages, the TRUTH is hidden from the wise and prudent who are content to read the Bible casually and scratching only the surface of it. But we, who are spiritual, do mind the deep spiritual things of God.

The couple were actually driven from the Eternal Presence of God. They were in that place where they had access to the realm of the spirits. They were actually dwelling in the Glorious Presence of the Almighty. But when sin entered their lives, they were no longer allowed to live in the presence of the SOURCE OF LIFE (Gen.3:22). They were driven away from God's Glorious Presence of Eternal Life. Sin brought death upon them.

“Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” – Gen.3:23

Thus, man became earth bound and possessed a corruptible natural body, and since then has been denied access to that realm of the Glorious Presence of his Creator (Gen.3:24; 1 Cor.15:42-50).

Thenceforth, Adam had to toil by tilling the ground to obtain food for himself and his wife. In the sweat of his face, and in sorrow, he had to labour against the thorns and thistles which sprang up from the ground because of God's curse upon it.

 

CAIN & ABEL

In the course of time, Eve gave birth to twins, Cain and Abel. Eve was the mother of all living, as she was named (Gen.3:20). Although Cain (whose name means acquisition) was the elder of the twins, the whole Sacred Scripture bears out that he was not of Adam. Cain was a Beast-man, the seed of the Serpent. Abel was the firstborn of Adam.

“And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” – Gen.4:2b-7

From the above account we can see a marked difference between the twins. Like his father, the Serpent, who was a servant of Adam, Cain was a tiller of the ground. Whereas, Abel was a shepherd. And like his father, Adam, he had dominion over the animals that God had created.

While Cain had brought of the best of the first fruits of his harvest as an offering to the Lord, he did not have the divine revelation of what God desired. Apostle Paul said his sacrifice was excellent, but Abel was more excellent (Heb.11:4). God not only wanted the best, but the BLOODY BEST, if I may say so, not meaning to be sacrilegious. Because of the make-up of his personality, Cain never understood that. He was not a son of God as Abel was.

Abel offered to Jehovah God precisely what God desired: the shed blood of the best firstlings. That prophetic revelation pointed to the Seed of the woman (Gen.3:15) who was to come as the Lamb of God and die a bloody death at Mount Calvary. The Lamb of God was our Lord, Jesus the Christ. He was God's BEST GIFT to mankind.

God was not without mercy and grace when He rejected Cain and his offering. On the contrary, He was, and always is, rich in Grace and Mercy. He always provides the way for man to return to Him that man's fellowship with Him may be restored.

Yes, even in this generation, had God not sent to us the second 'Elijah', prophesied in Malachi 4:5-6, we would not be found walking in the Light of His WORD, neither would we have the REST that Prophet Isaiah had prophesied (in Isaiah 28:8-13). We would most likely be out in the denominational quagmire and hogwash if not for the Grace and Mercy of God. The Lord is restoring His Bride back to His WORD that He may know her as His Own before He burns the world up at His coming. (Read Matthew 7:21-23; 25:11-12.)

Now, there are various interpretations given to Genesis 4:7. One version states that Cain was told to master his sin, which was crouching at the door (of his heart), because of his wrong offering. Another version implies that Cain sinned because he did not do well in his offering, and that he was told to go back to his brother Abel, who would be subjected to him.

On the face of it, all these interpretations seem to be acceptable. But the Great Merciful and Gracious God did not just stop at showing Cain the acceptable way, but had gone beyond that by providing him an acceptable sin-offering.

Let me paraphrase Genesis 4:6-7:

And the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why do you look so downcast?  If you had done well, would you not be accepted? And if not, there is a sin-offering crouching right before you. He is subjected unto you, and you can do with him as you please.”

There is a somewhat similar situation in Genesis 22. When Isaac asked Abraham about the lamb for the burnt offering, Abraham replied that God would provide Himself a lamb (vv.7-8). And right at the moment when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering, God provided him a ram for the purpose. And Abraham went and took the ram under subjection and offered him up for a burnt offering unto the Lord (vv.13). See also 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Well, Cain was not like Abraham. He was of Satan, the Wicked One and the Adversary of God. He was too proud and too lifted up to accept God's Provided Way of Worship, especially seeing that God had favored his younger brother and his offering. Like many today, he felt that his religion was as good as Abel, and that God should accept it. To Cain, even God's gift was not good enough, compared to what he had to offer. He spurned the Grace and the gift of God, and walked out on Him. (Can you see the same thing being committed today by thousands and thousands of people who just have no desire to accept God's Gift at Calvary and His Provided Way of Worship in that Blessed Name of Jesus Christ?)

Some time later, being filled with envy, jealousy, emulation, wrath, and other works of the flesh, Cain took his (half-)brother Abel to the field, and argued with him about religion. ('Religion' has always been the greatest cause of bloodshed. Read 1 John 3:12.) And Cain murdered Abel and buried him good and proper, that he might not be found.

Well, he didn't realise (or did he?) that the blood could cry out. Life is in the blood. And God heard the cry of Abel's blood. He questioned Cain concerning his brother's death.

Cain's reply, as recorded in Genesis 4:9, was not merely a soft spoken denial of guilt which many Bible readers think so. On the contrary, Cain was insolently violent. He literally shouted at God.

 

THE CURSE ON CAIN

The Lord God then cursed Cain:

“And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” – Gen.4:10-12

Notice the shock reaction of Cain when he heard the punishment God had pronounced on him:

“And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.” – Gen.4:13-14

Now, why would “every one” (excluding the sons of God, the Sethites) want to kill him? As he had protested, his punishment was already too much for him to bear. Was it because his iniquity was too great to be forgiven? Not only was he under a curse and rejected by the earth which received the blood of Abel, but Cain was also banished from the Presence of God to live a nomadic life as a fugitive and a vagabond.

The answer to the earlier question lies in the first part of Genesis 4:12. The ground would no longer yield its strength for everyone's crops no matter how hard they would work on it. That was the cause for the other ill consequences which would befall him.

The people who would later come into existence in his lifetime would surely rise up against him to kill him. They would not just merely curse and swear at him, they would want to kill him; not because he was a murderer, but because he had caused the ground to be cursed that they would be unable to reap what they had sown no matter how hard they would work the field. Vengeance would be the natural reaction of the unregenerate to someone who had caused them all those troubles!

 

THE GROUND: TWICE CURSED

The ground was cursed twice. The first curse was the judgment of God on the sin of Adam. Although the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles, its strength to produce abundant crops was not removed (Gen.3:18). The second curse was the penalty of Cain's sin for shedding the righteous blood of Abel. The Lord had heard the voice of Abel's blood (which denotes his posterity) crying out from the ground unto Him (Matt. 23:35). And Cain was placed under a curse in which the ground was no longer able to yield its crops as it used to be. The harvests which were once plentiful had become barely sufficient.

THE MARK OF CAIN

“And the Lord said to him, It shall not be so; whoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, so that anyone who may find him may not kill him.” – Gen.4:15 [Lamsa]

The El Shaddai had once again shown His Mercy and Grace unto Cain upon hearing his plea. Cain had feared for his life because of the curse on the ground as a result of his sin in shedding Abel's blood upon it. But God promised him that he would not be so easily killed by any person who sought to kill him, and He further added that a sevenfold vengeance would be upon anyone who took Cain's life. And the Lord set upon Cain a mark which made it impossible for anyone to kill him.

What was that MARK?

Some Christians believe that the mark was either a visible sign, indelibly inscribed upon Cain's forehead, similar to that which is described about the Mark of the Beast as recorded in the Book of Revelation, or that he had black skin. There are others who do not even bother to find out what it was. A true Bible Believer should never adopt such an attitude towards the Word of God, but is enjoined to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Tim.2:15). For “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim.3:16-17).

Yes, the Bible should be our most precious Book of all books on our book shelves. And we would gain by receiving the revelation of God's hidden mysteries within It.

The mark set upon Cain was something which could protect him from being killed. Therefore, it was neither an indelible visible sign on his forehead nor the black colour of his skin. How could a mark upon Cain's forehead (the Bible does not state so) or being a black person ever protect him from being killed by other men?

The mark was certainly a visible protective sign which was able to generate fear in his opponents. Any would-be killer would think twice before making any attempt on Cain's life lest he be overpowered by Cain.

Believe it or not, the MARK set upon Cain was his SIZE. This is the revelation I have received from the Holy Spirit according to His Scriptures. That same MARK was upon some of his kind, as we shall see by following the trail of the Serpent.

 

SAGACIOUS GIANT OF A MAN

The Prophet of God to this age, William Branham, told us that the Serpent was a BIG fellow. Let's say he was 1 foot taller than Adam who was perhaps 6 foot tall based on the average height of mankind. Remember, he was created to be Adam's servant to work the field. Being a Serpent's seed, Cain must also be a BIG fellow like the Serpent according to the law of reproduction. When God set the MARK upon Cain, He actually further increased his PHYSIQUE and his INTELLECT.

Now, would any of his descendants, who stood about 7 foot tall and weighed 300 pounds, dare to look upon a giant like Cain, who stood, perhaps between 9 and 10 foot tall (may be even taller) and weighed some 800 pounds, and say, “I am going to kill you, you trouble-maker!”?

Undoubtedly, no man in his right mind would dare make that attempt.

At this juncture, let me say that though Cain was the father of the Cainites, his descendants were not giants until they intermarried with the Sethites and produced the hybrids.

Genesis 6:4 states that there were giants in those days before and after the Flood. The giants were a result of the intermarriage of the two lines of people, the Sethites and the Cainites, which probably began some time before the generation of Enoch. This can be determined by looking at the two genealogies of Cain and Seth.

According to the record of Genesis 4:19-22, the line of pure Cainite people ended with the three sons of Lamech — Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain. They belonged to the same generation as Enoch, a descendant of Seth (Gen.5:18-24). The hybriding between the two peoples most likely took place two or three generations prior to this period. It brought an end to the totally PURE Cainite race. But as the seed is traced to the male sex, the Cainite race continued even as the male descendants took to themselves wives of the Sethite race.

As the two peoples began to intermarry among themselves, the pure descendants of Seth continued for another three generations until the generation of Noah who was the last of the pure Sethite race (Notice, like Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain, Noah's father was also named Lamech.)

Giants, both physical and intellectual, were born as a result of genetic disturbances in the hybriding. However, not everyone who was born of such inter-racial marriages was a giant. But the majority of them were by nature more wicked and evil (Gen.6:4-5). And so, by God's foreknowledge of that condition, Enoch was born and raised up to prophesy against that wicked and evil generation. His son, Methuselah, was the living testimony of his faith in Jehovah God. He was also a faithful testimony to his God-given prophecy concerning the impending judgement of God upon the earth (Jude 14,15).

Intellectually, Cain was as smart and cunning as his father, the Serpent. He had not only inherited the evil traits from the wicked one, the devil, but was also full of worldly wisdom. When God increased his BUILD, the SIZE of his BRAIN also increased proportionately and his mental capacity and reasoning power were thus enhanced. Should a group of men come against him, Cain might not be able to overcome them with his build alone, but with his INTELLECTUAL SHREWDNESS he would be able to escape unscathed.

Whether you are hunting or being hunted, you have to be smart and cunning in order to get your prey or to stay alive. With the MARK set on him, Cain must have been more subtle than his Serpent father. His intellectual and sagacious mind must have helped him to outwit his pursuers in many situations when he was being hunted.

“A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth” — as the Lord God had said to Cain, and so was he. As he was being hunted, Cain constantly had to run from one place to another to hide himself from his pursuers.

 

'SPIRITUAL' DECEIT

Remember, Cain was also spiritually religious. But he did not worship God in TRUTH. He rejected GOD'S PROVIDED WAY OF WORSHIP. He killed the righteous Abel out of jealousy because his own deed was evil. After God had judged him, he set off towards the land of Nod and led a wandering life.

Genesis 4:16-24 is a record of Cain's descendants who were as carnally and intellectually minded as Cain. The Bible records that they were either great builders of BIG or PROMINENT monuments and cities, or great artificers and inventors of BEAUTIFUL metal objects, musical instruments, tools and weapons. They were also as RELIGIOUS as they could be.

As we read Genesis 4:26, it appears that this people in the generation of Enos had begun to call upon the Name of Jehovah God to worship Him:

“And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”

Generally, the verse has been misinterpreted by most people. It is preposterous to believe that the Serpent's descendants, the Cainites, had suddenly turned to the Lord God to worship Him in spirit and in truth. There are two obvious reasons why it could not have been so. The first is that Cain, being religious, would doubtless have a form of worship of his own, and that he would have passed it down to his descendants. And the second is that the Serpent seeds might claim to worship God in spirit, but certainly never in truth.

On the other hand, they are those who teach that this verse refers to Divine worship being practised only from the time of Seth's descendants. This is even more ridiculous. Before Seth, both Cain and Abel were worshipping God. There's no doubt about it. They were brought up to do so by Adam and Eve. When Seth was born, he too learned to worship Jehovah in the same manner. He would in turn teach his children who would also learn about the true form of Divine worship even from their grandparents, Adam and Eve. As such, it is indeed absurd to say that the Sethites only began to worship Jehovah after Enos was born. As it was only a short span of time between the two generations of Adam and Seth, how could they have forgotten how to worship God? True worship could not have begun only after Enos was born. It began when Adam was created and has continued ever since.

Ancient Jewish records rendered that the “men” refers to the Cainic race who “began profanely to call upon the name of the Lord”. That is right. They had desisted from that little knowledge of the true spirit of worship that they might have learned from Cain, although they might not have the truth. They had turned to make themselves idols out of precious metals, wood and stones, and surnamed their idols after the Name of Jehovah God in their worship.

The profanation of God's Holy Name started from Enos' time to and beyond the Flood. All the time, they got even more evil and more wicked, especially when they later co-habited with the Sethite women and produced giants who were “mighty men”, “men of renown”. (Read Genesis 6.)

After the Flood the serpentine nature was more markedly manifested in Ham and his descendants. One of them was Nimrod, a son of Cush. Nimrod was the builder of Babylon and the Tower of Babel (a name which means `the gate of the god' and also `confusion'). He was also the one who introduced the worship of Baal.

Enos' name, in itself, was a revelation that the Cainites were spiritually 'incurable, sick, frail and weak', especially when they profaned the Holy Name of God. Seth gave his son that name 'Enos' as a witness to that generation of evil people. Moreover, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was raised up to prophesy of the Lord's judgment upon their ungodliness (Jude 14,15.)

The third feature of Cain's MARK was his ability to deceive the people spiritually, making them religious. Always bear in mind that Cain was of the Evil and Wicked One, the Adversary of God and His people. Satan has always been a DECEIVER. He is good at transforming himself into an angel of Light to hoodwink the spiritually weak worshippers. For those who enjoy sweet talk, he is a great guy. He is good at tickling those who have itchy ears, too.

Well, how could that ability further help protect Cain from those who sought to kill him?

It certainly facilitated him to spiritually deceive the people into believing that he worshipped the same God and had the same faith as them. (Do not for one moment think that they did not have had as many different `faith' as Christendom today.) He would appease them by deceptive talks. “Why killest thou me, a believer of the same God Whom thou also believe? Let it be known that I also am a worshipper of the same God that thou worship. Don't you see? We are of the same family, same `church'? Let's love one another as real brothers in the Lord God.”

Deceit?  Sure!  Why, haven't we often heard `Christian people' say, “Come on, we believe in the same Bible and the same Jesus. We should not be splitting hair over doctrines. We should be more concerned about the Great Commission of Christ. We should be united together as one, just as Jesus prayed”? Very religious, indeed!

Yes, butter it up with sugar! Top it up with icing! Then give it to any `Tom, Dick or Harry' Christian: they will certainly grab and gulp it down! But not so with an elect of God: he will not even come near nor touch it with a ten-foot pole!  Amen!

Brethren, remember, serpents do not die easily. And Satan, that old Serpent, whose head was bruised at Calvary, had revived himself through time and has come up riding on a white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. Yes, he has gone through all the Church Ages, deceiving, killing, blackmailing and leading mankind into a spiritual WORD-less death within the RELIGIOUS REALM.

Today, 'The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man' is the theme of the religious World Council of Churches which seeks to bring about a unity of all the organised churches around the world. This is the fulfillment of the Scripture as spoken by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 13:30. The TARES are now gathered together and bound up ready for the burning soon.

 

DEATH OF ALL PURE SERPENT SEEDS

We know that Cain and his descendants built a great empire in those days before the Flood. They were great people who were very imaginative and inventive (Gen.4:16-24). And their intermarriage with the Sethites produced even greater, but more wicked, people whose entire imagination, desires and purposes of their hearts were only evil continually (Gen.6:1-5).

It grieved God at His heart to see the prevailing condition on the earth. So He sent a great flood upon the earth by breaking up the fountain of the great deep and the floodgates of the heaven to destroy every living thing upon the face of the earth.

Except Noah and his family, and pairs of every kind of animal, bird and creeping thing, all the rest of the living things upon the face of the earth were destroyed in that deluge. All those who survived with Noah were in the ark for about a year.

The Flood had destroyed ALL the pure Serpentine people. No literal Serpent seed exists today, as some believe otherwise. But the evil and beastly serpentine nature is present in the whole of human race. For we are all of the same blood. We are descendants of either Ham, Shem or Japheth, who carried a mixture of the blood of righteous Noah, a Sethite, and his wife, who was either a Cainite or a hybrid.

 

SERPENT NATURE

It was not long after the Flood that the serpentine nature began to manifest itself. Among the three sons of Noah, the serpentine nature was more predominant in Ham. It had so dominated him that he committed incest with his mother while his father was drunk in his tent (Gen.9:20-23; cf. Lev.18:8; 20:11).

When Noah came to know about it, he cursed Ham and said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen.9:25). Canaan was the fruit of Ham's incestuous act with his mother.

Canaan was the last of the four sons of Ham. He was the father of the Canaanites; all giants, like the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgasites, and many others, which dwelt in the land of Canaan.

 

CUSH & NIMROD

Yes, the Mark of Cain was upon Ham and his descendants, too. They were people of great stature. Ham's firstborn, Cush, the ring-leader in the building of the Tower of Babel and the city Babylon, was also a great big fellow. In Pagan Antiquity he was known by several names, two of which were Bel — 'The Confounder', and Chaos — 'God of Confusion'. Cush gave birth to one of the most controversial politico-religious figures in history — Nimrod, who was a mighty man and a tyrant in the sight of the Lord God (Gen.10:6-12).

Nimrod took over his father's unfinished work. He came to be known as the founder and builder of the great city of Babylon. He also built several other great cities. He was literally the founder of the religion of Papal worship.

Parallel to Ham's incest with his mother was Nimrod's marriage to his own mother, Semiramis. According to historian Alexander Hislop, author of 'The Two Babylons', Nimrod was killed by his great uncle, Shem, who could not tolerate his evil practices of the occult and baby sacrifice. Then his evil mother-wife deified him. In fact, he was the first human to be deified. Hislop stated “that Nimrod was the actual Father of the gods, as being the first of deified mortals”. His mother was later deified based on the argument that if Nimrod was a god, then his mother-wife must also be a goddess.

That was how Papal Rome founded their worship of mother Mary and child Jesus.

Hence, we see the same Mark of Cain upon the Hamites: big physically, great intellectually. And their religion? As 'great' and 'beautiful', but full of deceit, evil and wickedness to the core.

 

ESAU & JACOB

Now, let us skip the pages of history and look at Esau and Jacob.

“And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus?  And she went to inquire of the Lord.

And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” – Gen.25:21-23

“…and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.” – Gen.25:27

This brief record clearly shows us that Esau and Jacob were twins of the same father. But the twins that were conceived in the Garden of Eden were of different fathers. Cain was a seed of the Serpent and Abel was of Adam.

We have noticed that, after the Flood, of the three sons of Noah, Ham possessed a very dominant serpentine nature, the mark of which was also manifested in his direct descendants.

Therefore, even by the same father, different kinds of seeds can come forth out of the same womb. It will either be a spiritual seed of God or a religious seed of the devil. One will believe every WORD and PROMISE of God, the other will despise God's WORD and make His PROMISES of none effect.

The twins of Isaac and Rebekah showed a type of what could come forth out of the 'womb' of the Church.

Now, like Abraham, the True Worshippers would be called of God out of their so-called kindred — the denominationals. They would hear the 'Call' in the 'SHOUT' Message of the 7th Church Age Messenger, William Branham. They would obey and walk out of their 'homelands' to claim the Promised Word. And like Abraham, they would hear the VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL and receive HIM — THE PROMISED SON (THE WORD OF GOD), which is THE TRUTH for their day.

As Isaac loved Rebekah, so Christ Jesus loves His Church. And as the womb of Rebekah produced two different people, so has the Church today. It has also produced its 'Esaus' and 'Jacobs'. The spirit of that religious Serpent seed has truly crept in.

Consider the two persons, Esau and Jacob.

Esau was a strong man, perhaps big. He married three wives, two of whom were Hittite giantesses (Gen.26:34). Though polygamy was permitted then, he was unequally yoked with the unbelievers. He was also a cunning hunter, an intellectual man who was knowledgeable about the things of the world.

Jacob, on the other hand, was merely a plain man. He was a shepherd, living a simple life. He married four wives: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah — believers within 'the family', so to speak.

Being the firstborn, Esau was heir to all his father's properties. He had the birthright. But when he was put to a test in a dire situation, Esau despised THE PROMISE OF THE WORD. To deal with his then famished condition was more important to him than his birthright. He said, “I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?”  So he despised his birthright for a piece of bread and a bowl of vegetable soup.

Is not this the confession of some of the 'Esaus' today? “I need natural bread.” “What is the use of preaching this Endtime Message if I am not financed?” “I am being ridiculed for the Truth.” And away they go, back to their 'homelands' like “a dog returneth to his vomit”.

And when Esau lost his blessing to Jacob, did he not seek to slay Jacob? (Gen.27:41).

Now, Jacob was a spiritual person. He knew what the birthright meant. All the PROMISES and BLESSINGS were attached to it. His heart was set upon obtaining it. And when he got it, he held on to it until the PROMISES and BLESSINGS came. So, ought not we, who possess the birthright TOKEN for this hour, do the same?

 

PARADOX

Elect does not persecute the elect. It is true. But notice a paradox. Weren't Esau and Jacob related? Weren't they from the same womb? Weren't they of the same father — bearing the same surname? If so, why did Esau persecute Jacob?

Naturally, the answer lies in the serpentine nature in Esau. As I have mentioned, 'religion' has always been the main cause of bloodshed. Hence, as the religious Cain had spurned the Grace of God and killed spiritual Abel, the religious Esau had also despised his birthright, lost his blessing and finding “no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Heb.12:17), he sought to kill spiritual Jacob.

But the Church is SPIRITUAL, not natural. The 'Esaus' in the church are not spiritual. They are only religious. They are the 'serpent seeds'! Like Esau, they are truly showing that Mark of Cain in their lives. Do I have to say more?

Now, let's see another group of 'elects' that persecuted the elects in their generation.

 

THE PHARISEES, THE SADDUCEES & THE SCRIBES

All of us, Bible believers, know that the Oracles of God were committed unto Israel. The Oracles were the channels of Truth through which true worship could be rendered unto the Lord God. But ever since they were given, many false anointed ones had crept in in every generation to proclaim themselves as prophets and leaders. All these sprang forth in the name of worship.

In the days of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, the common people were led religiously in their worship of God by three BIG RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS or DENOMINATIONS of 'Rabbis' — the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes. All those groups of religious people claimed that they believed Abraham, Moses and all the prophets — the Old Testament gospel. Yet when the Gospel, introduced by John the Baptist, came among them, they ridiculed Christ and His messenger. As religious as they were, those people were not even the least spiritual to recognise the hour of their visitation.

Read the New Testament Gospel Books and you can see that those Rabbis were INTELLECTUAL people. They were scholars, and very traditional. They would confront anyone who was opposed to their traditions or views. For that reason, they confronted John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus many times.

Being what they were, they dressed themselves differently from the common people. That was an outward show of themselves in public that people would call them 'Rabbi'. The Lord Jesus called them “whited sepulchers, which indeed appear BEAUTIFUL OUTWARD, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt.23:27). They appeared righteous unto the people but were actually full of hypocrisies and iniquities.

John the Baptist refused to baptize them and called them 'vipers', for so they were (Matt.3:7). Our Lord hit out against them, calling them 'names' such as blind guides, fools, hypocrites, murderers, DECEIVERS, and many others (Matt.16:1-12, 23; etc.).

Yes, beware of their leaven!  Jesus warned His disciples. They claimed as religiously as they could that they believed the WORD, but they despised THE TRUTH, THE WAY and THE LIFE. They were INTELLECTUALS in the field of traditional religions. They were BIG, STRONG and VERY DECEPTIVE. Without a shadow of doubt, they had the Mark of Cain upon them.

Did they not also persecute the disciples and the Lord's Christ just like Cain and Esau did their blood brothers? And did they not DESPISE THE WORD and CUNNINGLY put Christ to death on Calvary.

 

THE MARK OF THE BEAST

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads;

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.” – Rev.13:11-18

The trail of the Serpent will lead to the Antichrist in the end. Here is where we see the Mark of the Wicked One taking the form of the Beast — ROMANISM.

Yes, it all began with the Serpent, a BEAST. He fornicated with the woman, Eve, and brought forth Cain, a Beast-man. And it will all end with a monstrous BEAST which, by fornication with the woman, 'Mystery Babylon', will bring forth the Beast-man known as the Antichrist.

In his days, Prophet Daniel had a vision concerning that beast before it changed its form to become that First Beast as seen by the Apostle John in his vision, centuries later. He witnessed four beasts (see Daniel 7) which foretold the changing empires from Babylonian to Medo-Persian to Grecian and finally to Roman. This fourth beast was “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns” (Dan.7:7). That was Pagan Rome under the Caesars.

However, Pagan Rome came to an end and gave way to Papal Rome. Since then, the Roman Catholic church has been sitting on the Beast (Rev.17:3-5). Papal Rome is Romanism in another form, a blending of politics and religion. It is power in the guise of religious holiness to conquer and to control the souls of men.

And the First Beast (of Revelation 13) grew stronger each day by the power of the Second Beast which gave life to the Image which the people had made to it.

The Second Beast is today's so-called PROTESTANT-AMERICANISM. It is no longer as benevolent with its two lamb-like horns that it once was when the early Protestants from the Papal-controlled land of Europe first came and settled in the great continent some 200 years ago. Now it is a freak Beast which has two horns like a lamb and a mouth that speaks like a dragon! Under the Republican and Democratic parties, the Church and State have been blended as one which speaks with authority!

Yes, religious giants and false prophets have been sounding a deceptive voice to the people, and an Image to the First Beast, the WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, has been formed! Yes, today practically every Protestant church has sold its birthright when they bind themselves to make this Image to the Beast. Does not the Bible specifically call them daughters of that Mother Harlot which is none other than that Roman Catholic church? As harlot daughters, they will naturally act like their Harlot Mother. (Read Revelation 17).

What deception! Just look at the MARK. They have everything BIG. They have BIG buildings. Notice the religious practices of the Serpent's seed seen in such buildings — flowers and idols. On the outside, do you not notice the pagan obelisk in the form of the spire pointing heavenward? Yes, that's Nimrod's horn, a horn that represented his power, sexually and religiously. Even his tower (of Babel) was built that way as a symbol.

Then they have BIG programmes, many Hollywood-styled, which are conducted in the name of the Gospel, to draw BIG crowd. They have BIG names for their organisations, even BIG names for their preachers, too. That's right. They are called by such high-sounding titles as Archbishop, Cardinal, Right Honourable, Very Reverend, Holy Father, etc., etc.. They are an INTELLECTUAL lot with letters after their names to denote the strings of university degrees they possess in Bible Theology and such like. But they are truly the children of DECEIT who are full of dead men's bones.

Like the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes, they have let down the bar of the Word of God and have subscribed to creeds and traditions of man. Instead of a phylactery, they wear a BIG hat, or a BROAD 'holy' garment with the collar turned inside out, to be seen of men and be recognized as someone who is holy and religiously intellectual. And so they are!

Furthermore, they seek to destroy those who are spiritual enough to disagree with their wrong interpretations of the Scriptures; just as religious Cain did to spiritual Abel; and as the religious Pharisees, the religious Sadducees and the religious Scribes did unto the spiritual Christ Jesus.

Yes, the true Christian Faith of the Bible has been replaced today by a 'big' bunch of creeds, dogmas, traditions of men and so-called fundamental truths. As in history where 'big' men built empires to their names, so it is today. They have replaced God by their 'Bigness'.

 

MARK – NAME – NUMBER

The nominal Christians may be looking for a literal Mark of the Beast to appear in the period of Great Tribulation. Little do they realise that it has already appeared since the 4th Century. It is religiously visible to the eyes of the spiritually discerned.

The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse (Rev.6) symbolise the reign of the Beast beginning with the Antichrist spirit which crept into the Church around 54 A.D. History shows how it conquered the people by its religious authority. That's NICOLAITANISM. Then it made WARS and caused BLOODSHED. After that it brought upon the people a state of FAMINE of the Word of God. And what did it produce?  Indulgence, mass, lottery and every conceivable beastly nonsense to keep the people from the WORD.

The result of all these is DEATH.

Papacy, the Beast, the great Roman ecclesiastical power, has continued through the centuries 'strong as iron', the unchanging and uncompromising rock in a turbulent and transitory world. She had exalted herself above all that is called God and made all nations drunk with the wine of her false doctrines (2 Thess.2:4; Rev.17:1-6).

Can you see the MARK, even the Mark of the Beast? Can you see its NAME and recognise its NUMBER, the number of a man? It has been manifested since the time of Cain, who was a Beast-man. And right after the Flood, his kind built the kingdom of BABEL (BABYLON), which means CONFUSION. That's the NAME. And 'Mystery Babylon' spells CONFUSION! It's the gate of the god of hell!

As for the NUMBER, Nimrod, the first god of BABYLON, bore the number 666 in his name in the Chaldee language. And the man who sits in his throne at St. Peter's (in Rome), overlooking an obelisk, and receives reverence and worship, also bears the number 666 in his NAME — 'VICARIVS FILII DEI'. Surely this is no coincidence. Even the NAME 'ROMIITH' which is 'ROME' in the Hebrew language, adds up to 666. Then again the title: 'LATEINOS' or 'LATIN MAN', of which Julius Caesar was first to claim, gives another 666. The title belonged to the man whose seat is now occupied by a politico-religious figure, the Pope.

 

GIVEN FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE BUT ENDS IN DEATH

The Mark that God set upon Cain was to protect his life, but the devil had taken advantage of it and twisted it into a form of death at the end of its trail. You are marked for death if you believe the words of the Beast or give your right hand of fellowship to it, or pledge allegiance to it or its Image (Rev.14:9).

Many churches have pledged their allegiance to this Beast and its Image. And God's warning to all true Bible Believers is this:

“Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” – 2 Cor.6:17

“Come out of her, My People, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” – Rev.18:4

God does not want you to stay put in the organisation and try to improve the situation.

To stay in these 'churches' today spells DEATH. They have become “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev.18:2). And they can be identified by the Mark of the Wicked One upon them. There is now darkness throughout the hold and cage, for the LIFE and LIGHT had moved out beyond that camp. It's death in there. The LIFE is on the outside (Rev.3:20).

Unfortunately, DEATH still stalks many who have come out for they are still being deceived in one form or another by the evil one who, by that Ecumenical Octopus, is holding them with his many ugly tentacles. Some of them, while staying independent, are still holding to the traditions and dogmas of the churches they had come out of. Others drift into the hold of the Charismatic Movement where Truth is substituted and sacrificed for freedom of worship and expression. It's today's great deception.

And of those who have come into the last day Message of the 7th Church Age Messenger, William Marrion Branham, but holding on to his STATEMENTS as The Absolute, they are just as deceived. Because they are simply holding to some 'creeds'. The Spoken Word of any true servant of God is only made meaningful by the revelation of the Holy Spirit according to the Written Word of God. And whosoever adds anything to or takes anything away from the LOGOS of God is accursed.

 

MESSAGE OF LIFE FOR THE HOUR

It is imperative that we know the Word of the Lord, see the hour that we are living in, and recognise our days of God's visitation. We should give an ear to what the Spirit is saying unto us in this day. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Yes, God has sent His Messenger with a message. And this is the message:

“Return to the Word!  Back to the Faith of the Apostolic Fathers! Back to the Original! Away with religious creeds and dogmas! Contend for the Faith once delivered to the saints!”

Yes, this is the hour of separation from things which defile. This is the hour of preparation. It is the hour of reconciliation and intimacy with THE WORD; it is an invisible union of the Bride with the Bridegroom. This is the hour of the Voice of the Archangel (1 Thess. 4:16). The True Word Bride must make herself ready, for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will soon become a reality (Rev.19:7). And how can she prepare herself unless she first hears the message of God's Messenger (Matt.25:6; Mal.4:5-6; Rev.10:7). Amen!

THE WORD is the only safe ground for us. We have to be sealed by His Holy Spirit of Promise unto the day of our redemption (Eph.1:13; 4:30). We must have the Mark of God upon us.

Be ye therefore established in the Present Truth of the hour provided for the perfection of the Bride of Christ through Christ's Own Gift of the Five-fold ministry. (Read Ephesians 4.)

CHRIST, The Revealed Word for this generation, is our answer to LIFE.

这该隐的印记

 & 这恶人

 在本篇信息中，我们将踏上一段时间之旅，研究恶人的显着印记。 我们可以从第一个住在伊甸园外的恶人到最后一个住在梵蒂冈的恶人身上找到标记。

 我将主要讨论主上帝为该隐所设置的标记。

 该隐的印记对于圣经信徒的启示有何重要意义？

 对标记的理解肯定会让我们认识到恶人的子孙历代以来的工作，尤其是在我们这个时代。 该隐，蛇的后裔，有自己的同类，至今仍然存在。 上帝加在该隐身上的标记也可以在他的同类身上找到。 当你环顾四周时，你永远不会错过他的同类，他们身上有明显的标记。

 被逐出神的面前

当罪进入伊甸园后，男人和他的女人就被逐出了那个令人愉快的地方（创 3:22-24）。 这不仅仅是上帝将他们赶走的特定地点，也不仅仅是上帝放置基路伯来守卫通往生命之树的道路。 请记住，圣经是用圣灵的语言写成的。 在许多经文中，真理对于那些满足于随意阅读圣经并只触及其表面的明智和谨慎的人来说是隐藏的。 但我们这些属灵的人确实关心神深奥的属灵事物。

 这对夫妇实际上被赶出了上帝的永恒存在。 他们所在的地方，是能够进入灵界的地方。 他们实际上居住在全能者的荣耀临在中。 但当罪进入他们的生活时，他们就不再被允许生活在生命之源的面前（创世记 3:22）。 他们被赶离了神荣耀的永生临在。 罪给他们带来了死亡。

 “因此，主上帝打发他离开伊甸园，去耕种他所出的土地。” – 创世记 3:23

 因此，人类受到了地球的束缚，并拥有了可腐烂的自然身体，从那时起，人类就被拒绝进入造物主荣耀临在的领域（创世记 3:24；哥林多前书 15:42-50）。

 从此以后，亚当不得不辛苦耕地，为自己和妻子获取食物。 他满脸汗水，在悲伤中，与荆棘和蒺藜作斗争，这些荆棘和蒺藜是因上帝对地的咒诅而从地里长出来的。

 该隐与亚伯

 随着时间的推移，夏娃生下了双胞胎，该隐和亚伯。 夏娃是众生之母，正如她的名字一样（创 3:20）。 尽管该隐（名字的意思是“获得”）是双胞胎中的长子，但整本圣经都证明他不是亚当的后裔。 该隐是兽人，蛇的后裔。 亚伯是亚当的长子。

 “亚伯是牧羊的，而该隐是耕地的。

 随着时间的推移，该隐将地里的出产当作祭物献给耶和华。

 亚伯也献上他羊群中头生的和羊的脂油。 耶和华看中了亚伯和他的供物：

 但他不尊重该隐和他的供物。 该隐就大大发怒，变了脸色。

 耶和华对该隐说，你为什么发怒呢？ 你为何变脸呢？

 如果你做得好，难道不被接受吗？ 如果你做得不好，罪恶就在门口。 他将渴望你，你将统治他。” –创.4:2b-7

 从上面的叙述中，我们可以看到双胞胎之间的显着差异。 就像他的父亲蛇（亚当的仆人）一样，该隐也是耕地者。 然而，亚伯是一名牧羊人。 和他的父亲亚当一样，他对上帝创造的动物拥有统治权。

 虽然该隐将初熟收成中最好的果子献给上帝，但他并没有得到上帝所期望的神圣启示。 使徒保罗说他的牺牲是伟大的，但亚伯更伟大（来 11:4）。 上帝不仅想要最好的，而且想要最好的，如果我可以这么说的话，并不是有意亵渎。 由于他的性格，该隐永远无法理解这一点。 他不像亚伯那样是神的儿子。

 亚伯向耶和华上帝献上的正是上帝所希望的：最优秀的头生者所流的血。 这个预言性的启示指向了女人的后裔（创世记 3:15），她将作为上帝的羔羊来到，并在加略山血腥地死去。 神的羔羊是我们的主耶稣基督。 他是上帝送给人类最好的礼物。

 当神拒绝该隐和他的供物时，他并不是没有怜悯和恩典。 相反，他过去、现在、将来都充满恩典和怜悯。 他总是给人提供回到他身边的路，使人与他恢复交通。

 是的，即使在这个世代，如果上帝没有派遣第二个“以利亚”给我们，正如玛拉基书 4:5-6 所预言的那样，我们就不会行走在他话语的光中，我们也不会得到先知以赛亚那样的安息。 曾预言过（以赛亚书 28:8-13）。 如果没有上帝的恩典和怜悯，我们很可能会陷入宗派的泥潭和废话中。 主正在使他的新妇恢复他的话语，以便在他到来时烧毁世界之前，他可以知道她是他自己的。 （请读马太福音 7：21-23；25：11-12。）

 现在，对创世记 4:7 有多种解释。 一种版本称，该隐被告知要控制他的罪，因为他的奉献错误，罪就蹲在（他的心）门口。 另一个版本暗示该隐犯了罪，因为他没有做好供奉，并被告知要回到他的兄弟亚伯那里，亚伯将服从他。

 从表面上看，所有这些解释似乎都是可以接受的。 但是，伟大、仁慈和恩典的上帝不仅向该隐展示了可接受的方式，还超越了这一点，为他提供了可接受的赎罪祭。

 让我解释一下创世记 4:6-7：

 主对该隐说：“你为什么生气？为什么你看起来如此沮丧？如果你做得好，你不会被接纳吗？如果没有，就有赎罪祭蹲在你面前。他是 臣服于你，你可以随心所欲地对待他。”

 创世记二十二章也有类似的情况。当以撒向亚伯拉罕询问燔祭的羔羊时，亚伯拉罕回答说，神会为自己预备一只羔羊（7-8节）。 就在亚伯拉罕要献以撒为燔祭的时候，神为他预备了一只公羊。 亚伯拉罕就去牵了那只公羊，献给耶和华为燔祭（13节）。 另见哥林多后书 5:21。

 嗯，该隐不像亚伯拉罕。 他属于撒但、恶者和上帝的敌人。 他太骄傲、太自大，无法接受上帝所提供的敬拜方式，尤其是看到上帝偏爱他的弟弟和他的奉献。 像今天的许多人一样，他觉得他的宗教和亚伯一样好，上帝应该接受它。 对于该隐来说，与他所提供的相比，即使是上帝的礼物也不够好。 他拒绝了神的恩典和恩赐，离弃了神。 （你能看到今天成千上万的人正在犯同样的事情吗？他们只是不愿意接受上帝在加略山的礼物和他以耶稣基督的圣名提供的崇拜方式？）

 一段时间后，该隐充满了嫉妒、嫉妒、竞争、愤怒和其他肉体的行为，带着他（同父异母）的兄弟亚伯到田野里，与他争论宗教问题。 （“宗教”一直是造成流血事件的最大原因。请读《约翰一书》3:12。）该隐谋杀了亚伯，并妥善埋葬了他，以免他被发现。

 好吧，他没有意识到（或者他确实意识到了？）血液会哭泣。 生命存在于血液中。 神听到了亚伯血的呼声。 他向该隐询问有关他兄弟之死的事情。

 正如创世记 4:9 所记载，该隐的回答不仅仅是许多圣经读者认为的那样，轻声否认自己有罪。 相反，该隐非常粗暴暴力。 他简直是对上帝大喊大叫。

该隐的诅咒

 主神随后咒骂该隐：

 “他说，你做了什么？ 你兄弟的血的声音从地里向我哀告。 现在你已被大地所咒诅，大地张开了嘴，从你手中接受了你兄弟的血。 当你耕种土地时，土地从此不再为你提供力量； 你将在世上成为逃亡者和流浪者。” – 创世记 4:10-12

请注意当该隐听到上帝对他宣布的惩罚时的震惊反应：

 “该隐对耶和华说，我的刑罚太重，过于我所能受的。 看哪，你今天把我从地上赶了出来； 我将从你面前隐藏起来； 我将成为大地上的逃亡者和流浪者； 事情将是这样的，凡是找到我的人都会杀了我。” – 创世记 4:13-14.

现在，为什么“每个人”（不包括上帝的儿子，塞特人）都想杀他？ 正如他所抗议的那样，对他的惩罚已经超出了他的承受范围。 是因为他的罪孽太大，无法饶恕吗？ 该隐不仅受到咒诅，被接受了亚伯血的大地所拒绝，而且该隐也被逐出神的面前，过着逃亡者和流浪者的游牧生活。

 前面问题的答案就在创世记 4 章 12 节的第一部分。 无论人们如何努力耕种，土地都不再为每个人的庄稼提供力量。 这就是他所遭受的其他不良后果的原因。

他有生之年以后的人，一定会起来反抗他，杀掉他。 他们不仅会咒骂他，甚至会杀了他； 不是因为他是杀人犯，而是因为他让大地受到了诅咒，让他们无论怎样努力耕种，都无法收获自己所种下的果实。 复仇是未重生者对给他们带来所有这些麻烦的人的自然反应！

大地：两次被诅咒

 大地被诅咒了两次。 第一个咒诅是神对亚当罪的审判。 虽然地会长出荆棘和蒺藜，但它产生丰收的力量并没有消失（创世记3:18）。 第二个咒诅是对该隐因流了亚伯正义之血而犯下的罪的惩罚。 主听见了亚伯的血（指他的后裔）从地里向他呼求的声音（马太福音 23:35）。 该隐受到咒诅，土地不再能像以前那样出产庄稼。 曾经丰收的收成现在已经勉强够用了。

该隐的印记

    “耶和华对他说，不可如此。 凡杀该隐的，必遭七倍报仇。 耶和华在该隐身上立了一个记号，叫人遇见他，就不能杀他。” – 创世记 4:15 [Lamsa 翻译]

    在听到该隐的恳求后，El Shaddai 再次向他展示了他的仁慈和恩典。 该隐曾担心自己的生命安全，因为他犯下的罪，流了亚伯的血，导致地上受到咒诅。 但上帝应许他，他不会轻易被任何想要杀死他的人杀死，并且他进一步补充说，任何夺走该隐生命的人都会受到七倍的报应。 主在该隐身上设置了一个标记，使任何人都无法杀死他。

    那个标记是什么？

    一些基督徒认为，该印记要么是一个可见的记号，不可磨灭地刻在该隐的额头上，类似于《启示录》中记载的有关兽记的描述，要么是他有黑色的皮肤。 还有一些人甚至懒得去了解它是什么。 一个真正的圣经信徒绝不应该对神的话语采取这样的态度，而是被吩咐“要学习，以表明自己是蒙神悦纳的，作一个不需羞耻的工人，正确分解真理的话语”（提摩太后书 2： 15）。 因为“圣经都是神所默示的，对于教训、责备、归正、教导人学义都是有益的，使属神的人得以完全，预备行各样的善事”（提摩太后书 3：16 -17）。

    是的，《圣经》应该是我们书架上所有书籍中最珍贵的书。 我们会因接受神隐藏在其中的奥秘的启示而获益。

    该隐身上的标记可以保护他不被杀死。 因此，这既不是他额头上不可磨灭的明显痕迹，也不是他皮肤的黑色。 该隐额头上的记号（圣经没有这么说）或身为黑人怎么能保护他不被其他人杀死呢？

    这个标记无疑是一个明显的保护标志，能够让他的对手产生恐惧。 任何想要杀死该隐的杀手在尝试杀死该隐之前都会三思而后行，以免被该隐制服。

    不管你信不信，该隐身上的标记就是他的身材。 这是我根据圣灵的圣经所得到的启示。 正如我们跟随蛇的踪迹所看到的那样，同样的标记也出现在他的一些同类身上。

    人类的睿智巨人

    这个时代的上帝先知威廉·伯兰罕告诉我们，蛇是一个大家伙。 假设他比亚当高 1 英尺，根据人类的平均身高，亚当可能高 6 英尺。 请记住，他被创造为亚当的仆人，在田野里工作。 作为蛇的后裔，根据繁殖法则，该隐也必须是像蛇一样的大家伙。 当神在该隐身上打上记号的时候，神实际上进一步增强了该隐的体质和智力。

    现在，他的任何一个身高约 7 英尺、体重 300 磅的后裔敢于看像该隐这样的巨人，他身高也许在 9 到 10 英尺之间（可能甚至更高），体重约 800 磅， 并说：“我要杀了你，你这个麻烦制造者！”？

毫无疑问，任何心智正常的人都不敢做出这样的尝试。

 说到这里，我要说的是，虽然该隐是该隐人的祖先，但他的后代在与塞特人通婚并产生了混血儿之前，并不是巨人。

 创世记 6:4 记载，在洪水前后的日子里，有巨人。 巨人是塞特人和该隐两支民族通婚的结果，这可能开始于以诺一代之前的某个时间。 这可以通过查看该隐和塞特的两个家谱来确定。

根据创世记四章十九至二十二节的记载，纯种该隐人的后裔终止于拉麦的三个儿子——雅八、犹八、土八该隐。 他们与塞特的后裔以诺属于同一代（创世记5:18-24）。 两个民族之间的杂交很可能发生在这个时期之前的两到三代。 它结束了完全纯粹的该隐种族。 但由于种子可以追溯到男性，即使男性后裔娶了塞提人的妻子，该隐种族仍然继续存在。

 当这两个民族开始相互通婚时，塞特的纯后裔又延续了三代，直到诺亚一代，他是最后一个纯塞特种族（注意，像雅八、朱八和土八该隐一样，诺亚的父亲 也被称为拉麦。）

身体和智力上的巨人都是由于杂交中基因紊乱而诞生的。 然而，并不是所有通过这种异族通婚而诞生的人都是巨人。 但他们中的大多数人本质上更加邪恶（创世记 6:4-5）。 因此，由于神对这种情况的预知，以诺出生并兴起，他要预言反对那个邪恶邪恶的世代。 他的儿子玛土撒拉是他对耶和华上帝信心的活见证。 他也是上帝赐予的关于上帝即将对地球进行审判的预言的忠实见证（犹大书 14,15）。

 从智力上来说，该隐和他的父亲蛇一样聪明、狡猾。 他不仅继承了恶人魔鬼的邪恶特质，而且还充满了世俗的智慧。 当神增加他的身体构造时，他的大脑也相应增大，他的心智能力和推理能力也随之增强。 如果有一群人来对付他，该隐单凭他的体格或许无法战胜他们，但凭借他的聪明才智，他就能毫发无伤地逃脱。

 无论你是在狩猎还是被猎杀，你都必须聪明而狡猾，才能获得猎物或生存。 有了标记在他身上，该隐肯定比他的蛇父亲更加狡猾。 当他被追捕时，他的智慧和睿智的头脑一定帮助他在许多情况下智胜了追捕者。

“你必在世上成为逃亡者和流浪者”——正如主上帝对该隐所说的那样，他也是如此。 当该隐遭到追捕时，他不得不不断地从一个地方跑到另一个地方，以躲避追捕者。

“精神”欺骗

 请记住，该隐在精神上也是虔诚的。 但他并没有真诚地敬拜神。 他拒绝了神所提供的敬拜方式。 他出于嫉妒杀死了正义的亚伯，因为他自己的行为是邪恶的。 神审判了他之后，他就向诺德之地出发，过着漂泊的生活。

 创世记 4:16-24 记载了该隐的后裔，他们和该隐一样有肉体和理智的倾向。 圣经记载，他们要么是大型或著名纪念碑和城市的伟大建造者，要么是美丽金属物品、乐器、工具和武器的伟大工匠和发明者。 他们也尽可能地虔诚。

我们读创世记四章二十六节，看来以挪士那一代的人已经开始求告耶和华神的名来敬拜他了：

 “塞特也生了一个儿子； 他给他起名叫以挪士。从此，人们开始求告耶和华的名。”

 一般来说，这节经文被大多数人误解了。 相信蛇的后裔，即该隐人，突然转向主神，用心灵和诚实敬拜他，是荒谬的。 有两个明显的原因可以解释为什么事情不可能如此。 首先，该隐作为宗教信徒，无疑会有自己的崇拜形式，并且他会将其传递给他的后代。 第二，蛇的后裔可能声称用心灵敬拜上帝，但绝对不是用真理敬拜上帝。

我们读创世记四章二十六节，看来以挪士那一代的人已经开始求告耶和华神的名来敬拜他了：

 “塞特也生了一个儿子； 他给他起名叫以挪士。从此，人们开始求告耶和华的名。”

 一般来说，这节经文被大多数人误解了。 相信蛇的后裔，即该隐人，突然转向主神，用心灵和诚实敬拜他，是荒谬的。 有两个明显的原因可以解释为什么事情不可能如此。 首先，该隐作为宗教信徒，无疑会有自己的崇拜形式，并且他会将其传递给他的后代。 第二，蛇的后裔可能声称用心灵敬拜上帝，但绝对不是用真理敬拜上帝。

另一方面，他们教导说，这节经文指的是仅从塞特的后裔时代开始实行的神圣崇拜。 这更可笑了。 在塞特之前，该隐和亚伯都在敬拜上帝。 毫无疑问。 亚当和夏娃从小就教导他们这样做。 塞特出生后，也学会了以同样的方式崇拜耶和华。 反过来，他会教导他的孩子们，他们也会从他们的祖父母亚当和夏娃那里学习神圣崇拜的真正形式。 因此，说塞特人是在以挪士出生后才开始敬拜耶和华，确实是荒谬的。 亚当和塞特两代人的时间间隔很短，他们怎么可能忘记了如何敬拜神呢？ 真正的敬拜不可能只在以挪士出生之后才开始。 它始于亚当被创造之时，并一直延续至今。

古代犹太记录表明，“人”指的是“开始亵渎地呼求主名”的该尼族人。 没错。 他们放弃了对真正的敬拜精神的了解，尽管他们可能没有真理，但他们本可以从该隐那里学到这一点。 他们开始用贵金属、木头和石头为自己制造偶像，并在崇拜中以耶和华神的名字给偶像命名。