"And
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden." King James Bible.
In
the Bible, there is no record of how the Land of Nod came to be. As
well, there is no mention that Jehovah, Almighty God, had any
authority in the Land of Nod. And, best of all, there is no record of
any crime or sin committed in the Land of Nod. It was a perfect
place. Better than Eden which Jehovah God saw fit to shut down
because of its failure. Nobody lives in Eden, to this day; Nod
continues to be heavily and happily populated.
Cain
murdered his younger brother, Abel. The crime was not hidden from
Jehovah, and Jehovah cursed Cain for having committed the crime. Why
only a curse? Why not the death penalty? After all, Jehovah was
prompt and proud on many occasions to order Moses and Joshua to
murder innocent collaterals during wartimes.
Was
it because Jehovah himself was complicit in the murder? Cain had
killed his brother in a fit of rage because Jehovah had accepted
Adam's offering but not Cain's. Both men had sincerely worshipped
Jehovah; but Jehovah had unfairly discriminated between them, in
favour of Abel.
Hence,
Jehovah, Almighty God, in hidden atonement, could not have meant it
to be a full punishment when he banished Cain to the Land of Nod for
murdering Abel.
Indeed,
in the Land of Nod, Cain did very well for himself without any help
from Jehovah, 'out from the presence of the Lord', 'Cain builded a
City, and called the name of that City, Enoch.'
Jehovah
had accused Cain, "the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto
me from the ground." Could Cain's subsequent phenomenal success
in the Land of Nod ever be fitting justice for that cry of Abel's
blood from the ground?
After
Jehovah expelled Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, he was so
determined to keep Eden free of human occupancy, he placed sentries,
"Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way."
Since
Jehovah took no such precautions with the Land of Nod, everyone who
dared escape Jehovah's tyranny, could freely go live in Nod to live
happily ever after far away from Jehovah. There is no record of
Jehovah ever visiting Nod.
Jonah
said no to Jehovah when Jehovah ordered him to go to Nineveh. Had
Jonah fled to Nod, Jehovah could not have compelled him to go to
Nineveh.
Moses
said no to Jehovah when Jehovah ordered him to go to Egypt. Had Moses
fled to Nod, Jehovah could not have compelled him to go to Egypt.
Had
that serpent in Eden, "more subtil than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made," fled to Nod, Jehovah could not
have cursed it "above all cattle, and above every beast of the
field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the
days of thy life." Obviously, that subtil snake had walking legs
in Eden, before Jehovah's curse. In Nod, its posterity would still be
walking on legs and feet, to this day, not unlike our pretty cute
Millipedes and Centipedes in our backyards.
There,
in the Land of Nod, Cain met up with another two of Jehovah's
embarrassing mistakes: Lilith, and Nehushtan.
Lilith
was Jehovah's first attempt at creating a woman companion for Adam,
in Eden. Up to when Jehovah created a perfect Adam and placed him to
tend the garden of Eden, the notion of female did not exist. The
Bible does not record why Almighty God, Jehovah, thought the perfect
Adam was incomplete, and needed a female companion.
Notwithstanding,
Jehovah made a woman, and named her Lilith, and presented her to
Adam. Curiously, there is no record of Adam's response when he saw
Lilith for the first time. Jehovah made Lilith equal to Adam.
When
Jehovah informed Adam and Lilith that Lilith would be the one to have
babies, Lilith suggested that she produce girl babies, and Adam
produce boys. Adam agreed with Lilith. Jehovah disagreed with both of
them.
Lilith
discussed the matter with Adam when they were alone. She suggested
the two of them abandon Eden and try to live together in equality and
every other kind of fairness, on their own, away from Jehovah. Adam
was terrified of living outside of Eden, and away from God.
And
so, Lilith fled Eden on her own. Neither Adam nor Jehovah ever saw
her again.
Jehovah
made Eve, the second woman for Adam, but this time Jehovah took care
to make the woman less than Adam. Eve was made from a minor part of
Adam himself; a rib.
And
so, when Jehovah informed Eve she would be the one to produce babies,
boys and girls, Eve accepted, thankfully and obsequiously. Because
of his rib in her, Adam loved Eve more than he loved Lilith. Eve did
not bring up the matter of who should have babies, and, so, Adam
chose to be silent on the matter with Eve.
In
the Land of Nod, Cain met up with Nehushthan, a serpent made of brass
by Moses on Jehovah's orders, and named by Moses, while Moses led
Jehovah's especially chosen people out of Egypt.
"And
the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye
brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
And
the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the
people; and much people died.
And
the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to
pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived."
In
itself, Jehovah's creation of Nehushtan is one of his many, many
spectacularly awesome achievements. This time, however, Jehovah's
creation is spoiled by being in sinful violation of his own
commandment given to Moses on Mount Sinai: "Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water that is under the earth."
Worse
yet, the solid image of Nehushtan was worshipped along with Jehovah's
name for generations afterwards in Jerusalem, until King Hezekiah put
an end to the worship.
Strangely,
this act of loyalty to Jehovah did nothing to spare King Hezekiah's
family an abysmal future. It was as if Hezekiah was being
particularly punished for his actions against Nehushtan, a worshipful
image created directly by the word of Jehovah himself:
"Isaiah,
the prophet, said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold
the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy
fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into
Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that
shall issue from thee, which thou shall beget, shall they take away;
and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
And
King Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and his son reigned in his
stead."
How
many other embarrassing mistakes of Jehovah, Almighty God, did Cain
meet in the Land of Nod?
That
newborn innocent baby Jehovah murdered because it was born of the
adultery of King David and Bathsheba?
Jephthah's
daughter? An innocent loving child who Jehovah allowed to be the
fatal victim of her father's low IQ covenant with Jehovah?
Uzzah?
That righteously conscientious, innocent, loyal soldier who was
evilly murdered by the Ark of God? That Ark which had been
constructed of Shittim wood by Moses, on
specifications directly from the spoken word of Jehovah
himself?
Contact
Ezra (Unless
you
type
the
author's name in
the subject
line
of the message we
won't know where to send it.)
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.