“Genesis 3:20-24”

Sunday, October 20, 2019

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'—therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

---End of Scripture verses---

“The man called is wife's name Eve...” (verse 20) The man had previously given her the generic name “woman, because she was taken out of man.” (Genesis 2:23) Now he calls her “Eve”, a personal name which means “life” or “living”. This was an appropriate designation “because she was the mother of all the living” – Excluding Adam of course. Some people believe that there must have been other people living on the earth for Adam and Eve's children to choose wives from. Verse 20 makes it clear that all people of the earth are descendants of Adam and “mother” Eve. All people of all colors and cultures are blood relatives because everyone's family tree terminates back at the first couple. There is only one race of people and it is the human race.

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife...” (verse 21) “Despite their transgression and punishment, Adam and Eve are not wholly alienated from God, who now displays His parental concern for their welfare. Since nakedness now evokes shame, God restores human dignity by providing clothing. Also, the garments will afford protection against the harsh conditions of life they are to encounter outside Eden... a kind of long- or short-sleeved shirt...that reached down to the knees or even the ankles.” (Nahum Sarna) It appears that another consequence of Adam and Eve's sin was the killing of animals for the first time to make “skins” to cover the nakedness and vulnerability of humans.

God removed “the tree of life” from the “reach” of the first couple after they lost their innocence and gained “knowledge” that only left them filled with a sense of shame and disgrace. They had been left to live in a harsh world that was terminally cursed because of their transgression, and the worst outcome would have been for them to live forever in such a wretched condition. So the Lord mercifully removed that opportunity from their grasp. The tree of life disappears from the Holy Scriptures in the third chapter of the first book at the dawn of Creation, and does not reappear until the last book of the Bible in heaven after Final Judgment (Revelation 21).

Verse 23 says God “sent” man out of the garden and verse 24 says that He “drove” him out. After the expulsion from the garden the Lord set strong guardians, cherubim, to defend the entryway. These were angelic beings (Psalm 18:10; Ezekiel 28:4), whose likeness was fashioned from gold and set upon the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant kept in the most holy place of the tabernacle. W. E. Vine commented in his dictionary of Bible words: “The first reference to the 'cherubim' is in Genesis 3:24, which should read '...at the East of the Garden of Eden He caused to dwell in a tabernacle the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned itself to keep the way of the Tree of Life.' This was not simply to keep fallen human beings out; the presence of the 'cherubim' suggests that redeemed men, restored to God on God's conditions, would have access to the Tree of Life. (See Revelation 22:14 ).”

The “flaming sword which turned in every direction” is a bit of a puzzle and mystery, but we do see sword-wielding angels in the Bible from time to time (Numbers 22:23; Joshua 5:13; 1 Chronicles 21:16, 27). Verse 24 does not clearly state that the sword was in the hands of the cherubim, and the passages just listed do not confirm that the angels with swords were cherubim. It is just interesting to note that angels and swords are found together in other places in the Bible.

Friends sin is such a huge deal even though people have the tendency to downplay their own transgressions with frequency. The first sin simply changed everything, and sinfulness still ruins good things and people's lives today! It turned what was good and blessed and holy into pain and shame and isolation. Sin brought physical and spiritual death into the world, and it has separated people from God ever since. It even required the death of the Only Begotten Son of God, but through His sacrifice He provides hope for restoration and reconciliation. The tree of life is still available and within reach, but it can only be accessed through love for Jesus Christ and obedience to His word.

Please read Genesis 4:1-8 for tomorrow.

- Louie Taylor

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