God Thinking LXXXVIII - The Presence Of The LORD 1

"Genesis 4:16, “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.“

And today, secular humanist, the worldly, the worlds man-made religions (all), have followed the way of Cain, i. e., Cain believed there was a God, but chose to depart from His presence and His will. 

Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, not to return again, nor his children or his children’s children.  Murder wasn’t Cain’s gravest sin.  But departing from the presence of God was.

David on the other hand, also a murderer and an adulterer did not turn away from the presence of God, but ran after God, not once, but again and again. 

Psalms 16:11

 11.  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Jonah can also tell us what it was like to flee from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

 3.  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.                                                      

Presence as used in thee verses means, ‘facing toward’.  Being in the presence of God could be seen as facing toward God. Cain and Jonah were once facing toward God, in His presence, but they chose to run away, turn away.  In both stories they turned away physically, but they turned away spiritually also. 

They turned away from doing what God said to do.  When they turned away, they turned away from His ways and His truth and started in a different direction.   You cannot escape the presence of God as God is omnipresent, but you can turn the other way from His ways and from His truths and it is in this way that you leave the presence of the LORD." 

Excerpt from God Thinking LXXXVIII - The Presence OF The LORD by Keith C. Powell Copyright 20105