Insight into The Garden of Eden

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Yehovah Elohim had made. And he said unto the woman, “Has Elohim said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’” And the serpent said unto the woman, “You shall not surely die: For Elohim knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

Well, the serpent lied, and it didn’t.

The adversary still operates that way! It mixes one or more lies with enough truth so the lie sounds plausible.

The lie, “You shall not surely die.”

Thanks for that

Eating the fruit brought death into the world, not just for them, but for all of us.

The truth, “In the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Elohim confirms the true part, “And Yehovah God said, ‘Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil.’”

The other aspect here is that the adversary realized there was a difference between the imposition of the death sentence and the gaining of knowledge. “In the day you eat thereof,” their eyes were opened.

“And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7)

Their eyes were open immediately. It was later that Elohim imposed the death sentence. Although it is not specifically stated in the text, I suspect there was an immediate change in them that accompanied the realization they were naked. They may have felt the seed of death and it probably came with the opening of their eyes. If not, why was it important to keep them from eating from the Tree of Life?

Now Chava (Eve) aided in her own deception when she added, “Neither shall ye touch it,” to what Elohim told her and Adam. But that is the subject of another day.

Once Elohim discovered Adam and Chava had eaten of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He did eight things;

To the woman

·         I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception.

·         In pain you shall bear sons

·         Your desire shall be toward your husband

·         Your husband shall rule over you

And to Adam

·         The ground is cursed for your sake

For both of them

·         Made coats of skin

·         Clothed them

·         Sent them out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground

And then “Lest (Adam) put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever,” Elohim “placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:16-24)

Now comes the fun part.

Well, except for the whole we are all going to die, more or less.

When I talk with people, they agree the cherubim are there to keep Adam, and his descendants away from the Tree of Life. But let’s look at it another way.

“Lest (Adam) put forth his hand…”

Adam and Chava sinned. If you sin, can you reach out and take hold of Eternal Life? Nope. There is a process laid out of repentance, accepting the sacrifice that makes atonement for the sin, and then following the instructions Elohim has established for right living.

I think the cherubim were placed at the east of the Garden for exactly the purpose the text says, “To guard (Shomer in Hebrew) the way to the Tree of Life.”

Elohim did not want the adversary to block or obliterate the way that Adam and his descendants would be able to gain access to the Tree. Adam could not simply reach out and take the fruit, he had to follow the Way back. Not to keep Adam out, but to ensure that when he was ready, the way would still be there.

We need to follow the way as well.

Paul  pointed out we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23). We can’t simply reach out and take the fruit. But the Way cherubim have been guarding it for millenia so those who truly desire to find the Way to Eternal Life can find it.

Repentance is turning away from sin (violation of the instructions of God) and toward Elohim (living the way He wants us to live). The sacrifice is Yeshua (Jesus). The instructions that lay out how to live the way Elohim want His people to live is the Torah.

That was fun. I invite you to come back and visit me again. If you have comments, please share. Thank you for reading.