"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
Genesis 3:22-24
These are some interesting verses, and I think it is easy to get the wrong idea here when God says "the man is become as one of us" to think that God is angry and upset that Adam and Eve have gained knowledge. I don't think that is the case though. Adam and Eve, now "like" God because of their basic knowledge of good and evil now needed to gain more experience and learn to choose, and grow up into what they could be. If they had stayed in the garden, they wouldn't have grown, or faced death, or had to make the hard choices that mortals with limited lifespans have to make. God, with this as with all things, wasn't shocked or surprised by what happened. It was all part of his plan from the beginning.
I think that goes for all the rest of the things that happen to Adam and Eve in this chapter. Enmity is set up between humans and animals, people will experience pain in body, inequality is introduced, the ground is going to bring forth weeds instead of easily providing food, and taxing physical effort becomes necessary to survival. They are all curses, and generally things that we aren't fond of, and that we work to ameliorate in our modern world, but the fact that all these things exist in our world is necessary in learning to make choices using that knowledge that Adam and Eve gained, and passed on to us.
This is opposition, which is the beginning of all the things that we learn. Today, we don't necessarily have to welcome it, but let's accept it and work with God to overcome it and learn from it. :)
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
Genesis 3:22-24
These are some interesting verses, and I think it is easy to get the wrong idea here when God says "the man is become as one of us" to think that God is angry and upset that Adam and Eve have gained knowledge. I don't think that is the case though. Adam and Eve, now "like" God because of their basic knowledge of good and evil now needed to gain more experience and learn to choose, and grow up into what they could be. If they had stayed in the garden, they wouldn't have grown, or faced death, or had to make the hard choices that mortals with limited lifespans have to make. God, with this as with all things, wasn't shocked or surprised by what happened. It was all part of his plan from the beginning.
I think that goes for all the rest of the things that happen to Adam and Eve in this chapter. Enmity is set up between humans and animals, people will experience pain in body, inequality is introduced, the ground is going to bring forth weeds instead of easily providing food, and taxing physical effort becomes necessary to survival. They are all curses, and generally things that we aren't fond of, and that we work to ameliorate in our modern world, but the fact that all these things exist in our world is necessary in learning to make choices using that knowledge that Adam and Eve gained, and passed on to us.
This is opposition, which is the beginning of all the things that we learn. Today, we don't necessarily have to welcome it, but let's accept it and work with God to overcome it and learn from it. :)
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