parts from them into banishment,
loaded with the divine curses, on account of his sin--the very son
whom his parents had hoped to be the only heir of the promise, and
whom they therefore had devotedly loved from his cradle. Adam and Eve,
nevertheless, obey the command of God, and in conformity therewith
they cast out their son.

235. Accordingly, this passage rightly praises obedience to God, or
the fear of God. Adam and Eve had, indeed, learned by their own
experience in paradise that it was no light sin to depart from the
command of God; therefore they thought: Behold, our sin in paradise
has been punished with death, and with an infinite number of other
calamities into which we have been thrown since we were driven out of
paradise. And now that our son has committed so atrocious a sin, it
behooves us not to resist the will of God and his righteous judgment,
however bitter we feel them to be.

236. The story of the woman of Tekoah is well known, whom Joab
instructed to intercede for the banished Absalom. She pleads as an
argument before the king, that as she had lost one son, it would be
wicked in the extreme to deprive her of the other also. Also Rebecca
said to Jacob, her younger son, after she had perceived the wrath of
Esau against his brother: "Why should I be bereaved of you both in one
day?" Gen 27, 45. Adam and Eve overcame this same pain in their
bosoms, and thus mortified their paternal and maternal affections. For
not only did they feel it to be their duty to obey the will of God,
but they had also learned wisdom from former obedience. They had been
driven out of paradise for their sin of disobedience. They feared,
therefore, that if they now retained their son with them, contrary to
the will of God, they should be cast out of the earth altogether.

237. This part of the history of Adam and Eve, therefore, is a
beautiful lesson in obedience to God, and a striking exhortation to
fear God. This is also Paul's principal object in his first Epistle to
the Corinthians, nearly all of which is written against the
self-confidence of the human heart. For, although God is merciful, yet
men are not therefore to sin; he is merciful to those only who fear
and obey him.

238. As it was bitter in the extreme for the parents to lose their
son, this departure from his home was, I have no doubt, most bitter
also to Cain himself. For he was compelled to leave, not only the
common home, his dear parents and their protecti