A dear saint inquired:
Saint
Blessed
morning, bro. Sing
Did
God permit Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden?
sing
Gen
2:23
Therefore, the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from whence he was taken. 24
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.
No,
the LORD God did not permit Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life in the
Garden of Eden. They had forfeited the right to the fruit of the tree.
It's also a wonderful act of divine mercy that they are kept away from that tree, for a very good reason.
Saint
Genesis
2:16 And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
sing
The
tree of the knowledge of good and evil is distinct from the tree of life; they
served different specific purposes.
The former is for the purpose of probation: to test Adam if the LORD God ALONE is the sole source of the knowledge of what is good and evil. Not to eat from it is to acknowledge the truth that the LORD God alone is indeed the only source of knowledge of what constitutes good and evil.
The latter is for their confirmation; if they succeed in their probation, they shall have access to the tree of life. They shall be confirmed in their blessed state of immortality.
Since they failed their probation/ test, they forfeited their access to the tree of life.
Scriptures indicate that they FOOLISHLY and desperately wanted access to the tree of life after the fall; "The LORD God... 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."
Can
you imagine the frightening situation if they had access to the tree of life in
their FALLEN DYING state? Imagine ever dying but cannot die; the world would be
filled with dying people who cannot die!
Gen 3:22 "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."
If
Adam had eaten from the tree of life after the fall, it would be an immortality in the state of sin
of everlasting hell on earth. Such a horrid folly must be averted.
Immortality
in the state of grace is by Jesus Christ alone, and that's eternity in heaven
after the general resurrection.
Saint
Thanks
bro. Sing. Great help.
sing
I'm
glad it helped.
------
If someone asks, "Why did the LORD God so carefully guard the tree of life from Adam and Eve? Why didn't He let them eat from it? Wasn't He so very unkind?
What would be your reply?
Gen 3:24 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.
(please note:
-
"the man" consisted of male Adam and female Eve.
-
The LORD God stationed CHERUBIMS to prevent access to the tree of life, to
guard the way to the tree of life.
- a
flaming sword which turned every way: yes, just one sword, but one sword that turns every way is sufficient and adequate for the task.
Why
such tight security?
What
does this speak of man's folly and desperation?
What
does this speak of God's mercy?
