This week, I was reading through Genesis 3, and my goal was to take my time and thoroughly understand what the chapter was saying. This is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible because it reveals what drove mankind into darkness. Adam and Eve were living in the felicity of the Garden of Eden and were given the privilege of being an extension of the authority of God but weren’t satisfied with it. They wanted to usurp a status that wasn’t theirs when they ate of the forbidden fruit thus violating the command of the Lord God. What follows is a sequence of curses directed first at Satan, then at the woman and the Man. But even in the midst of the curses, we are given a glimpse of the mercy of God and that is what I want to explore today as we zero in on verses 22 through 24 of chapter 3.
Genesis 3:22-24: A Closer Look
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Man Has Become Like One Of Us
At first glance, it seems as if the Lord God is threatened because the man has become like the Triune God. Before delving more into this phrase, I’d want to point out that the pronoun “us” already alluded to the Trinity. God exist in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You can even look at Genesis 1:1-3 and see that all three persons are already appearing as the Heavens and the Earth are being created.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God creates all things through His Word while the Spirit of God brings the Word of God to life. So The Father, the Son and the Spirit are all present and work in conjunction to bring about God’s order at the moment of creation. Now let’s get back to the phrase” become like one of us”.
God wasn’t threatened at all when HE said that the man has become like one of “US”. Becoming like a person isn’t the same as being that person. Jesus isn’t LIKE God, HE is God incarnate, the image of the invisible God as we are told in Colossians 1:15. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature, Hebrews 1:3. There is a difference between being like someone and being someone. Adam wanted to be God in his own terms, just like satan, and by doing that, he fell. Adam just like satan was a creature and would never be God because he isn’t of the same essence as God. So by taking of the forbidding fruit, he wanted to become autonomous, but autonomy is a status only reserved for God. This was evil in the sight of God, this is why God said the man has become like one of us. God isn’t threatened or afraid of the man, He is rather mentioning his fallen state.
God’s Mercy Is Being Revealed
We read the following in verse 22-23 :”…Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken”
The Man Adam is now in a fallen state, and God doesn’t want him to eat of the tree of life and live forever. We must ask ourselves why? If Adam was allowed to stay in the Garden of Eden, he would’ve eaten of the tree of life and made his condition worse. He would have lived in a fallen state forever , thus forfeiting any opportunity for redemption. Satan has been condemned forever, there is no redemption for him. But Adam fell, and thus far there is no indication that he and his wife have been condemned forever. This is the reason why God doesn’t want him to eat of the tree of life, so that he may not be condemned forever ( because he is in a fallen state). I hope you see the mercy of God. John 5:28-29 gives us a better understanding of this portion of Genesis
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
The resurrection is two fold, some will be subjected to the resurrection of life, the children of the living God, and others will be subjected to the resurrection of judgment. In other words, for some, the bodily resurrection on the Last Day will be good news but for others it will be terrible news, as they will be subjected to God’s eternal wrath.
And this is why Adam couldn’t partake of the tree of life lest he lived forever in a fallen state that would have guaranteed his eternal damnation. Consequently God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to preserve him. Do you see the grace of God, His mercy towards mankind, amazing grace indeed. Now there is more for us to see in this passage.
A Picture Of The Gospel
In Genesis 3:21, we read the following,
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
God made garments of skins to clothe Adam and Eve. This means that something or someone had to be sacrificed for them to be clothed. Now we also need to understand that while Adam and Eve were covered by the garments of skins, their guilt was still standing. To fully understand this, we need to go to the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 9: 6-14,
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent[a] was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence.[b] It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section[c] called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age).[d] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,[e] then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify[f] for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[g] conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The blood that was shed to clothe Adam only serve as a covering for their flesh ( human body), their conscience was still stricken with guilt.
Hebrews 10: 1-17,
10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ[b] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
I hope you understand what is going on; the skin coverings that God supplied for Adam and Eve are merely a temporary fix until their final redemption. The skin garments alluded to the sacrificial system provided to the people of Israel as a covenant of preparation for the coming of the Messiah Christ. Only the blood of Jesus can completely cleanse us of all unrighteousness. While the sacrificial system was important, the blood of bulls could not be used to take away sins. God would see the blood sprinkled on the books of the Law and relent from His judgment. But this had to be done every year on the Day of Atonement.
Every year, the Day of Atonement served as a reminder of sins. But when Christ died on the cross, breathed His last, and proclaimed, “It is finished,” God’s wrath was satisfied, and the veil was ripped from top to bottom, allowing humans entry to the Holy of Holies and insuring their eternal salvation.
This is how much God loved Adam and His wife, HE gave them garments of skins, as a way to remind them of their eventual redemption.
The Significance of Adam’s Work
The ground was curse because Adam, Genesis 3:17-19. And in verse 23, we read the following,
therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken
Adam is to now to work the ground from which he was taken. I’m just going to cut the Gordian Knot and go straight to what I believe this means. The work Ada was doing now was to serve as a preparation for his redemption. The same way Christ is the goal/end of the Law of Moses, Adam’s work was intended to be some form of reminder to lead him to his savior Christ. In the book of Galatians, we read the following in verse 19 of Chapter 2,
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God
The traditional Judaizers misunderstood the purpose of the Law. They thought that one could be made right with God by observing the Law. But the apostle Paul came to realize that no one could be justified before God by the works of the Law. They were supposed to reduce us to complete dependence on the mercy and grace of God for salvation. Let’s go to Galatians 3:19-24,
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
We see that the works of the Law had a specific purpose, to lead us to Christ. The Scripture tells us that there is none righteous, in other words, no one can be made right with God by attempting to keep the works of the Law. They were put in place in order that we could come to realize our total depravity and helplessness and then cry out to God to deliver us.
In the same away, Adam’s working of the cursed ground was supposed to remind him of the felicity of the Garden of Eden, in such a way that he would cry out to God for his redemption. Let’s go to Hebrews 2:5-9
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,[a]
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
The world to come would be subjected to mankind again, even though now it seems as if we are under its weight, eventually God’s mandate for us to oversee His creation will be restored because of Jesus’ work on the cross. So Adam’s work was supposed to keep his eyes on his coming redemption.
As these passages demonstrate, the Gospel of God pervades every chapter of Sacred Scripture, and every account contains glimpses of His love, grace, and justice system. And all we can do is fall on our knees and worship for we don’t deserve any of the blessings He has bestowed upon us.
My name is Tayib Salami and I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. In 2017, I entered a very dark time in my life and it’s only by the grace of the Living God that I’m still alive today. It led me to really go deeper in my faith and consider a myriad of questions that I never thought about asking myself or others before. Welcome and enjoy the ride with me.