Lost Outside Paradise

     Almost all theologians are wrong about the location of Eden. That is bold of me to say that, but scripture supports that as well as Jewish religious writings. To this day the Jews accept Jerusalem as the Garden of Eden, and Nahar ha-Yarden (Jordan) means "River of the Garden" (Wikipedia; "Jordan River").     Unknown is the size of Eden. God expelled Cain to the land of Nod "east of Eden." (See below). Hence, Eden was not the entire world, the Middle East or even Israel. The key to the size of Eden is the land given to the tribe of Dan.

Twelve Tribes of Israel (Wikipedia; _Tribe of Dan")

      Hebrew writings designate the Land of Dan as Eden. Nod was likely in Reuben's or Gad's inheritance. Many theologians believe Nod represented nomadic life and Cain was cursed to wondering in the wilderness. That makes sense, because the Egyptian Jews were a kind of Cain, also cursed to wondering in the wilderness for forty years, although like Cain, they were protected by a mark of some type.
     No one knows the type of mark, or whether it was even physical. It makes sense that it was one of two marks: circumcision or the name of the Father: "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." Some Jewish theologians agree that it is the latter. That makes more sense since circumcision is a Hebrew rite, and circumcision was not known to exist until Abraham's time.
      If that is true, then God's name would be something similar to the Phoenician tetragrammaton which is the upper letters.

God's Name (Wikipedia; "Tetragrammaton")

     Of course, the mark of God would appear on the forehead of latter-day Christians likely in their own alphabet. For Americans, perhaps JHWH or JHVH (Yahweh or Jehovah). Now read the story of Cain and Abel:

And in 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. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 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. 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. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (Gen 4:3-16).

     Cain was lost spiritually, but kept safe with God's seal. Now let's apply that to this era.
     "The Lost" are not those who have never been regenerated, but those "sheep" who were once under the care of  the Shepherd and strayed away.
     Those not born again know exactly their place; they are outside God's will and know it. The true lost are those who know God's will, profess the Doctrine of Christ, but yet are in the world, or under the law of sin rather than the Law of God.
     Cain was spiritually lost, and God sent him out to wander in the world. God didn't send Cain back unto the Garden eastward of Eden but beyond Eden to the east. The Garden would have been a return to Paradise, and Cain would have been saved from further harm. On the other hand, Cain was sent into the world, but God kept him safe. The mark was so that others would not kill him. The "others" were likely Satan and his demons, as per Job chapter one, since other than Adam's female children - Luluwa and Aklia - there were no others.
     Cain's condition, then, is a foreshadowing of the regenerated Christian who lives in sin. God marks those people so they won't fall away: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it"(Prov 22:6).  Adam trained Cain. He knew the Way of the Lord. He merely had trouble keeping the Way. God put a seal on him just as he would the Jews of the apocalypse to keep them from the evil one. Cain was not saved, but safe since he was still outside the Garden of Paradise. God was merciful to him, and let him live. He lived, however, with the adversary always there.
     Apply that to ourselves. The seal of God was a sort of hedge just as Job had around him (Job 1:10). God provides a hedge out of grace, and can tear it down when he tires of disobedience: "I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down" (Isa 5:5). It seems that Cain's "hedge" - the seal of God - was removed when his descendants tired of God's authority; that was with the flood of Noah's time. (Of course, Isaiah was writing of the Jews and Jerusalem, but God always uses the same method of justice.) Christians who live for the world have a sort of hedge or seal around them. They are safe but not yet saved. The latter - saved -is when they are back in the Garden or Paradise in Heaven.
     Christians are the "salt". That's enthusiasm to please God. In a short time, those born again can lose their savor when exposed to the world: "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned" (Luke 14:34)? That is just as the prodigal son did, and the father took him back under his care: "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry" (Luke 15:24). The problem is in losing so much savor that there is none. Those are lost sheep. They have value to God but they wander in the land of Nod just east of Paradise but never in Paradise.