The Land of Nod
you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth Genesis 4:12
Fugitive and Wanderer – Aimless. Staggering. Terrified. Cursed. Are those the words that come to mind when you think of “the land of Nod”? I doubt it. These days the land of Nod is more often associated with children’s bedtime stories and falling asleep in boring meetings. But that’s not what the Genesis word means. In fact, two Hebrew words (nua and nud) are combined in this expression that announces God’s curse on Cain. The Hebrew root is connected with terrible things: shaking like a reed, fleeing danger, staggering and wandering aimlessly. This is not a word for children.
How did we slide from curses to bedtime stories? How did we go from the Hebrew nod as misery (see Psalm 56:9) to the English “nod” as sleepy? The connection comes from the use of the Hebrew root in an expression that means “restless and sleepless nights”. We experience the curse of Cain in diminutive form when we just can’t get to sleep. We wander through the night in aimless agony.
Cain fought back. He refused his curse by attempting to protect himself. He moved to the land of Nod, named after God’s punishment, and built a city for himself. Cain refused God’s verdict even after God’s mercy. In the process, the Hebrew word nud became a sign of punishment and guilt, not a signal of pleasant sleep. If you’re wandering, something is wrong. God does not make His faithful children wander. But He does correct His unfaithful ones with the rod of Nod.
God governs with order and direction. He anticipates obedience and rewards it with permanence. God wants to “plant” us in the place He provides. Look at 2 Samuel 7:10 to see God’s promise of stability. But there is another side to the story – a side that is precipitated by disobedience. It is the nud side, the side of wandering, of trial and error, of confusion and staggering. God uses the land of Nod to bring us back to ordered existence. He does not want us to be fugitives and wanderers. When we look at Yeshua, we see the ordered life that the Father desires. Easy? No. Clear? Absolutely. Demanding? Certainly. Fulfilling? Well, that’s what it means to do His will.
Are you a nud case or have you found God’s order in living?
