The LORD God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat and live forever.” So the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
If you have ever owned or been involved with rental property, you might have had cause to evict someone. Normally, someone who rents property to others gets some type of lease or signed agreement. This agreement usually states the rules or expected behavior of the tenant with the understanding that should the tenant refuse to abide by the rules they may be evicted.
Sadly, Adam and Eve were evicted from paradise and as a result they forfeited eternal life in the garden of Eden. God tells them that because they have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and have become “like one of us” (meaning the trinity-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) they must not eat of the tree of life. Now before they listened to the devil and ate the forbidden fruit, they were allowed to eat from the tree of life. But they broke the rules and everything changed.
Now, God is forbidding them to eat from the tree of life. God banishes them from this beautiful garden and sends them out for Adam to work the ground and produce food from the sweat of his brow (Genesis 3:17-19). As you may recall, God told Adam that the ground would now be cursed and would produce thorns and thistles. He was going to have to do some weeding and some serious work to produce food now. Before God had readily provided these lovely grounds with vegetation growing, but now Adam was going to have to work for it.
In Genesis 2:8-9 we learned that God produced all these beautiful trees with good food on them and gave them full access to each and everyone of them including the tree of life. But, God forbid them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We now know that this was for their own good.
After they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God then forbid them to eat from the tree of life. But do you notice something vastly different here? When God forbid them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He simply told them not to. He didn’t post guards there like He did with the tree of life. When he was angered with them for their disobedience, He evicted them from the garden and forbid them to eat from the tree of life. But, He didn’t stop there. He posted cherubim to guard the tree and also posted a flaming, whirling sword. Wow!
Why the difference? Well, it sounds like God trusted them. He told them not to do it. He was telling them this for their own good and He trusted that they would do the right thing. When you rent a property to someone, you trust that they won’t destroy it, right? You make an agreement, both parties sign off and you trust that they won’t go in and demolish the property that they are renting from you. Most landlords require a deposit in the event that something does get damaged or the property requires extensive cleaning.
But, God trusted Adam and Eve to follow this one simple instruction and they failed to do so. He was not taking any chances with the tree of life. In verse 22, God explains that if they eat from the tree of life they could live forever. Another consequence of sin is that now man must face a physical death.
Adam and Eve were given the keys to paradise. Had they not fallen for the devil’s lies they would have lived there forever. But, they fell into temptation and now for generations to come, we have to choose redemption through Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life. We couldn’t just pluck a piece of fruit from the tree of life and live forever. We have to have our names written in the Lamb’s book of Life (Revelation 13:8).
If your name is written in that book, you are guaranteed a home in heaven. Your deposit is paid. If not, you will be evicted come Judgement Day. Follow the rules and avoid eviction.
Have a great day!