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Click here for a pdf of Genesis 1–3 in Redemptive History: 8.5×11″; A4 paper
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b) Gen 3:23–24: The creation epic concludes with these verses.[1]
Eden abounded with symbols of the life-giving presence of God: trees, gold, rivers, and jewels (Gen 2:8–14).[2]
Yet suddenly Moses amplified the preeminence of the tree of life. Unrecognized by us until now, the whole story has really been about this tree.[3]
Although sin greatly impacts each of us, the Old Testament (OT) emphasizes the effect of our transgressions upon the Lord (e.g., Lev 1–7). Sin dishonors God’s holy presence (Gen 20:6; Gen 39:7–9, Exod 10:16). Therefore, the most despicable aspect of human wrongdoing is not what it does to us but to the Lord.[4]
For a holy God to remain present among people, sacrifices had to remove the defilement resulting from sin.[5] Consequently, a significant percentage of the Pentateuch consists of sacrificial legislation.[6]
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Lest Adam “stretch out” (shalakh) his hand to take from the tree of life,[7] the Lord made a preemptive strike against any further attempt of his to become like God and “sent him out” (shalakh).[8]
According to Gen 2:15, the Lord placed Adam in the garden “to cultivate (avadh) and keep (shamar) it.”[9]
However, God exiled him from Eden “to work (avadh) the ground from which he was taken” (Gen 2:7), and “a flaming sword turned this way and that to preserve (shamar) the way of the tree of life.”[10]
The former priests of Eden had become intruders (Gen 2:18–23).[11]
They did not leave of their own will, nor were they gently escorted away.[12] Instead, God abruptly drove (garash) Adam and Eve out of the only home they had ever known.[13]
No longer would people automatically enjoy a personal relationship with their creator (Gen 3:8).[14]
Since the antidote to death grew in the center of the garden (Gen 3:9), God enforced the threatened penalty by cutting off access to it (Gen 2:16–17). Thus, he made death inevitable.[15]
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However, even worse than the end of their physical lives (Gen 3:19),[16] Adam and Eve suffered the loss of the pure fellowship they had enjoyed with God.[17]
Similarly, those who undergo the divorce of their parents miss the availability of both parents far more than being deprived of their former home.[18]
Israel’s people regarded expulsion from their wilderness camp as a living death, resulting in gestures of mourning (Lev 13:45–46). Rejection by God evoked the same reaction (1 Sam 15:26–31, 34–35).[19]
In fact, the paramount focus of the rest of the OT concerns how to regain access to the presence of the Lord.[20]
Adam lost the responsibility to guard the garden temple, a task which God transferred to the cherubim.[21] Ironically, they kept Adam out.[22]
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Reminiscent of the entrance to the garden on the east side of Eden, both the tabernacle and Israel’s temple were constructed with their access points to the east.[23]
Cherubim do not resemble the chubby babies with wings we often picture. Instead, they functioned as sentinels of death (Ezek 10:2).[24]
In the Akkadian Vision of the Netherworld, the concubine who accompanied the ruler of the dead “was provided with the head of a kurību.”[25] Some Hebrew scholars believe this word linguistically precedes the Hebrew term.[26]
This type of angel resembles a winged lion with four faces (Ezek 10:9–14). Cherubim traditionally guarded Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) sacred spaces.[27]
The Old Testament mentions them over ninety times, usually in the context of guarding the Lord’s holy presence (2 Ki 19:15; Ezek 10:3–5).[28]
After Israel constructed the tabernacle, the Levites fulfilled a similar role. They stationed themselves as guards to strike down any unauthorized person who encroached upon God’s sanctuary (Num 1:50–54).[29]
Representations of cherubim were stationed around the Most Holy Place, where God’s presence dwelt (Exod 25:17–22; 1 Kgs 6:23–28). They were also carved into the doors and the walls of the Holy Place of the temple (1 Kgs 6:29; Ezek 41:18–20). Significantly, the lamp stand which symbolized the tree of life stood in the Holy Place (Exod 40:17–25; 1 Kgs 7:48–49).[30]
Statues of cherubim often flanked the thrones of ANE rulers.[31] One Phoenician king’s sarcophagus features them surrounding his throne.[32]
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After Jesus withstood the serpent’s temptations, “angels came and ministered to him” (Matt 4:11; Luke 22:40–43).[33]
Due to Adam’s sin, he experienced a starkly different relationship with the angels. “The flame of a sword turning this way and that” blocked any attempt to return to eat from the tree of life.[34]
Such a weapon would certainly bring death (Num 22:22–23, 31–33).[35]
By learning the mysteries of good and evil, Adam and Eve lost the paradise they had received (Gen 3:7–13). Consequently, all of us have been born outside of Eden, with our natural inclinations and thoughts confirming our status as outsiders.[36]
The gate remains shut.[37]
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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Read Gen 3:23–24. Why were Adam and Eve evicted from Eden? What roles do cherubim fulfill? How do we remain shut out of Eden?
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Go to Seeking Death but Not Finding It (Rev 9:1–6)
[Related posts includes The Lord Breathes Life (Gen 2:7); A Well-Watered Garden (Gen 2:8–14); Serving and Keeping (Gen 2:15); Forbidden Fruit (Gen 2:16–17); Not Good! (Gen 2:18); A Parade of Animals (Gen 2:19–20); An Equal and Adequate Partner (Gen 2:21–23); Serpents in the Ancient Near East (Gen 3:1); A World-Altering Conversation (Gen 3:2–5); Succumbing to Temptation (Gen 3:6); Their Eyes Are Opened (Gen 3:7); Hiding from God (Gen 3:8); A Day of Reckoning (Gen 3:9–13); A Return to the Ground (Gen 3:19); A Plain in Shinar (Gen 11:1–2); The Third Temptation (Matt 4:8–11); The Holy Mountain of God (Rev 21:18–22:3); Ancient Literature; and Author and Date of Genesis]
[Click here to go to Chapter 10: The Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22–24)]
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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3, 141.
[2] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 74.
[3] Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3, 141.
[4] Walton, Genesis, 231.
[5]Richard E. Averbeck, “Offerings and Sacrifices,” EDBT, 574–81, 574.
[6]Gary A. Anderson, “Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings,” ABD 5:870–86, 871.
[7] Brown, Driver, and Briggs, “שָׁלַח” (shalakh), BDB, 1018–9, 1018, https://archive.org/stream/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft#page/1018/mode/2up.
[8] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 85.
[9] Brown, Driver, and Briggs, “עָבַד” (avadh) and “שָׁמַר” (shamar), BDB, 712, 1036, https://archive.org/stream/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft#page/712/mode/2up; https://archive.org/stream/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft#page/1036/mode/2up.
[10] Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary, 110.
[11] Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, 137.
[12] Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 210.
[13] Holladay, “שָׁלַח” (shalakh), CHALOT, 372.
[14] Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land, 132.
[15] Walton, Genesis, 230.
[16] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 90.
[17] Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 208.
[18] Walton, Genesis, 231.
[19] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 90.
[20] Walton, Genesis, 231.
[21] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, 70.
[22] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 85–6.
[23] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, 74.
[24] Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3, 144.
[25]E. A. Speiser, trans., “A Vision of the Nether World,” in ANET, rev., 109, https://archive.org/stream/Pritchard1950ANET_20160815/Pritchard_1950_ANET#page/n133/mode/2up. Note that this spelling differs from the older edition available online.
[26]Stephen F. Noll, “ךְּרוּב” (kerub), NIDOTTE, 2:717–8, 717.
[27] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 85–6.
[28] Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, IVPBBCOT, Gen 3:24.
[29] Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 210.
[30] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, 70–1.
[31] Walton, Genesis, 230.
[32]Ancient History Encyclopedia Ltd., “Sarcophagus of Ahiram (Illustration),” http://www.ancient.eu/image/174/.
[33] Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, 172.
[34] Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, 137
[35] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 86.
[36] Walton, Genesis, 232.
[37] Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3, 144.
Redemptive History and Theology 