22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 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.

Genesis 3:22-24 (NASB)

Evicted from Eden

Not only did Eve and Adam receive the consequences listed previously, they now are evicted from Eden. A  dangerous situation was created: If they ate of the Tree of Life, they would live forever. They did not become like God in every way. They were already created in His image. Prior to this, they knew how to obey and disobey but not good and evil. Now, they gained what they were not intended to have – the knowledge of good and evil and with it, a sinful nature.

Some may ask, “Why did God not just wipe out the garden, wouldn’t that have been easier?” Maybe, but man would have died in the process. After kicking them out, God removed Eden – during the flood of Noah’s time (approximately 1,656 later), or possibly prior. The process of evicting them created a physical separation from God’s presence in paradise – which had already happened spiritually.

“This signified the exclusion of [Adam] and his guilty race from that communion with God which was the bliss and glory of paradise.” (Wesley’s commentary) To keep them out, God placed an armed cherubim (representing God’s presence) at the entrance.

Tree of Life – Live forever

Eating from the tree of life can overcome the curse of death – but only physical death. The Lord fully understood man’s situation, that they were dead in sin and would also die physically. He didn’t want them to eat of the Tree of Life and live in their body forever.

But you ask, “Why couldn’t they eat the tree of Life and live forever? Surely Christ could still come and sacrifice for them and provide forgiveness and restoration of relationship with God.” This is true, but they would still have the sinful nature – as we do now, even after accepting Christ. They would be trapped in the situation we are in now: daily, hourly, fighting against our sinful nature; but they would have had no hope of release. Physical death now becomes our friend as it provides the escape from this sinful nature. 

RЯeflection

• Thank The Lord for the completeness of His thoughtfulness toward us that He considers every aspect of our existence and makes it possible for us to experience the fullness of eternal life!
• We struggle now against our sinful nature. Take hope. It won’t last forever. Death will free us from “the body of this death”. (Romans 7:24-25)