Genesis 3:1-24 conclusion

“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” Genesis 3:22-24

“The man is become as one of us…”. The MacArthur Study Bible on this note reads, “This was spoken out of compassion for the man and woman, who only in limited ways were like the Trinity, knowing good and evil — not by holy omniscience, but by personal experience (cf. Is. 6:3; Hab. 1:13; Rev. 4:8).” From pg. 21. When God made man in His image, it was with the ability to reason, will, and think, also to create [from what was already made]; which in God’s Creating was from nothing.

Look at the LORD God’s concern now for the man and woman. Can you imagine living in sin unable to die? Would you want to live in such miserable conditions? Think about these conditions. A body being consumed by a cancer, stricken with pain. Growing older and older, and older, with the joints of the body growing more and more painful each day. Some of these things are hard for us to imagine, but without death, these would be possible. God drives (v. 24) the man and woman from the garden. He tells us why, “…Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever…” (v. 22).

The garden of Eden is shut off to the man and woman after they are driven out. It is kept secure by Cherubims [angelic beings], and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep them from the tree of life. Adam was now to till the soil, plant the seed, then keep it weeded, and the soil nurtured through some growth processes to help the seeds grow. There were the insects now that afflicted them and their crops.

The garden was a place of LORD God’s constant presence. The two made in the image and after the likeness of God were cast out of His presence the labor, toil, and judgment their disobedience had brought them. Death is separation – not cessation. In the expulsion they experienced a death worse than anything – separation from God.

Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden in judgment. They awaited a day when the LORD God would send a Savior, the Substitute, in order that the way to the Tree of Life might be open once again. All who trust the Substitute for sin, Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection will have access to the Tree of Life, in that final garden the “Heavenly Paradise” (Rev. 22:1-4).