Genesis 3:14-24 "The Curse of Man"

Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

We find ourselves tonight continuing in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 3:14-24 this evening.

Thus far in Genesis… we’ve looked at all of creation formed at the hand of God… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all playing a part in creation…

Simply referred to as “God” in Gen 1:1… which… fascinatingly is a plural word… a good support for the plural nature of our singular God.

Upon completion of His creative work… God declared it was “very good.”

On the Sixth Day… God created Adam & Eve in His image… and gave them dominion over the earth… over all creatures (which Adam named)… and plant-life… and they were entrusted to tend and keep it.

God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...”

And there was perfect harmony on earth… no death… no sin… no suffering… no toil in work.

And, things would have remained as so… had Adam & Eve obeyed the one command God gave them… to NOT EAT the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Last time we looked at that dark moment when Eve was deceived by the serpent… and Adam transgressed the command of God…

… they took and ate of the fruit… which we commonly call ‘the fall of man.’

God came in the cool of the day… and Adam & Eve hid from God.

He asked Adam… “Where are you?”

Which was not a game… not ‘hide and seek’… not ‘Marco Polo.’

It was a deep… stirring question… ‘Adam, where are you spiritually? Where are you in relation to Me?’

It’s not easy to betray love… and God is love… but so often mankind betrays love for selfish desire… for jealousy…

When they fall prey to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Which is exactly what happened with Adam & Eve.

We pick up today examining the ramifications of their disobedience…

And “ramifications” is such a perfect word because the definition for the word “ramification” can mean “consequences” but also means “outgrowth or offshoot or branched structure”…

In botany we would think of the process of a trees or plant life branching out.

In biology, we could think of branching patterns of cell structures… like nerve cells in the retina.

And with the issue of sin and the fall… the ramifications have indeed branched out… from the ground we walk on… to the animal and plant kingdoms… to our own suffering… and darkness in the world.

So… let’s continue in our study of origins… understanding the origin of the “The Curse of Man”… our message title this evening.

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage.

Gen 3:14-24 “So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” 16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Looking back to V11… God asked Adam… “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

And, as old as the earth… we see the blame shift game being played.

God asks Adam… did you disobey Me? And, Adam essentially replies “Yeah, but...”

V12… “… the man said, “The woman… … [and it gets worse…] whom You… … gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

“Before all these problems began… it was just you and me in Paradise. … And then YOU made the woman. … And then SHE gave me the fruit. I’m a victim here. YOU and HER need to go figure this out.”

Adam insinuates that he is not responsible… that it’s God’s and the woman’s fault.

And, remember… this is our gene pool…

This same game is played today. Someone goes out and sins against God’s word… they sin against light…

“… having loved this present world...” they depart…

And, then when major consequences arise… they find their reputation tarnished… they get a disease… they find themselves in legal trouble… financial trouble… their spouse leaves them…

Who do they blame? “Why is God punishing me?… How could God do this to me?”

It’s not God. He warns us through His word in many and various ways… to NOT run towards sin… that it’s a passing pleasure… to flee from it.

The Holy Spirit inside us… guides us and tell us the same.

If you talked to me or a trusted Christian friend… I and they would tell you, ‘Don’t do it.’

But.. when a person goes and sins anyway… and then there is consequence… they blame someone else.

This is what Adam did… and Eve did the same… she says in V13, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

People today say the same thing… “The Devil made me do it!”

And, notice God doesn’t doesn’t ask the Devil… did you disobey?”

That fact had already been established. Isa 14 and Ezk 28 testify of Satan being perfect when he was created as an anointed Cherub… UNTIL iniquity was found in him…

… in pride he wanted a throne above God and to be like God.

Therefore he was cast out.

So, God doesn’t need to ask Satan, “What did you do?”

He’s like the trouble maker in High School… who is known to the police… and when the police see a group of kids hanging out with him…

The police assume something is a awry.

And, when the police pull up… they don’t even question that one because they assume he’s up to no good.

They just start patting him down.

Now… in V14… with God being the perfect judge… He skips the pat down and arrest… and moves straight to sentencing…

Revelation 12:9 “… that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…”

And, notice this… God pronounces judgement in the same chronological order in which the sins were committed.

First Satan, then Eve, then Adam.

But, for Adam and Eve… and the rest of Creation… yet NOT for Satan… God subjected them under a curse, but “in hope.”

Romans 8:20 speaking about the natural world reads, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope…”

Upon Jesus’ return and all believers being glorified… creation will be liberated, in part, when Jesus ushers in His Millennial Kingdom… and in full when Eternity begins… as seen in Revelation Chapters 21-22… the New Heavens, the New Earth, the New Jerusalem.

God will eventually redeem saved mankind, the world and all in it…

… but for Satan there will be a different end… one where there IS NO hope… NO redemption… an irrevocable end in the Lake of Fire…

… for he not only rebelled against God, but also infected mankind with rebellion.

So let’s take a look at Satan’s curse… in the previous verses… God questioned Adam and Eve why they disobeyed Him… but in V14…

God does not question Satan… since Satan’s fate was sealed… whatever semblance of a figurative heart he had was hardened… there were no more lessons… no pearls of wisdom to cast before this swine.

God places part of the blame on the Serpent seen by the words “Because you have done this...”

We see God say to Adam in V17, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten…” … so some responsibility is also place upon Adam.

But in V16… to Eve… we don’t read about responsibility begin placed upon her. She receives punishment, but no blame seems to be attributed to her.

I take this as God putting the responsibility between Adam & Eve squarely on the shoulders of Adam… for it was his responsibility to lead…

In context of authority between man and woman… Paul clarified the role of authority was a given to man and wrote in 1 Timothy 2:13-14 “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

Paul backed God’s design going back to Eden.

Sadly… Adam then… and many Adams today… and many denominations today chose to be passive and silent leaders…

Forsaking God’s original design… for male leadership in the home and in the church.

The world loves an emasculated man… but this is NOT God’s ideal for how men are to lead their families and God’s church.

Had Adam just opened his mouth… just a kind and simple and loving word would have done much good… “Eve… let’s not do this. Remember what God said.”

9 simple words… and I’m sure he could have accomplished the same in less.

But, going back to the serpent… “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all the cattle… and beasts of the field…

More than any beast of burden or wild beast… the serpent … whom was the creature Satan used to bring the temptation…

Was perpetually cursed… physically changed as God declared, “On your belly you shall go...”

Difficult to imagine… but snakes as we see them are the result of the curse…

Prior… though difficult to imagine… it would seen they had legs similar to other creatures.

Today, when you see a snake… for most people there is a little trepidation and loathing… some more than others…

Certainly that is true for the ladies in my house.

When we see snakes, we should think back to the curse upon the serpent. God has placed natural reminders in the world to draw our minds back to His word.

God also said to the Serpent… “… you shall eat dust All the days of your life.”

Not in the literal sense, but figuratively portraying judgment and fall. God is telling Satan, “you shall be defeated. You’re going to fall.”

In the Millennial Kingdom… Isa 65:25 harmony is restored in creation… “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, [but for the serpent… ] And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, Says the LORD.”

That’s wild. Even when harmony is restored… there remains some semblance of the curse… snakes, the vessel used by Satan, will remain in a position of defeat and humiliation.

It’s interesting just how many phrases have been adopted that associate dust with a negative connotation.

In the NT… “Shaking the dust off one’s feet” was a phrase of contempt and dissociation.

The idiom "As soon as the dust settles" indicates a present state of confusion and chaos… and anticipates a future time of calm.

“Bite the dust”… stretches back to the 1700’s… indicating one fell from a horse. 

“Eat my dust!”… indicating losing a race… popularized in the 1970’s

"Lick the dust" means to be killed or die, or to humble oneself and grovel. 

And, there’s probably some others… but how interesting that phrases around dust carry themes of contempt… confusion… chaos… falling… and losing… dying… even in secular society.

People have used these terms… and often don’t realize the significance of dust tied to the curse.

V15 “And I will put enmity [hatred] Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

In the previous verse… the curse was upon the serpent… the vessel Satan used…

But we know the power behind the deception and temptation was Satan.

In a yet future time… at the mid-point in the Tribulation… Satan is cast out of heaven which is portrayed in Rev 12:9 which titles Satan… “… that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…” (c.f. Rev 20:2)

And, so here in Gen 3:15 Satan is personally addressed and cursed for his wrong doing.

Satan may have thought that with the fall of mankind… that all mankind would now follow him the “god of this age” (2 Cor 4:4)… and he would have a host of demons and fallen man to war against the one true God.

But, Genesis 3:15 tells a different tale. This is such an important verse that it even has a title. It’s called the “Protoevangelium” which in Latin means “first gospel.”

And this verse promises that a Redeemer will come and be victorious!

The “Seed of the woman” would conquer the “seed of the serpent.”

The Seed of the woman… points to the ultimate Seed… Messiah Jesus Christ.

And, the seed of the serpent… is not simply snakes…

The seed of Satan are the agents of Satan, which include demons and anyone following Satan in his evil kingdom… like Anti-Christ, the False Prophet, Satan worshippers.

In John 8:44 Jesus said to Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

And, they did hate Jesus… even to the point that they crucified Him… just like their murderous father the devil.

And, weren’t they dirty rotten scoundrels? Yes… they were!

But, on a personal note… before we came to Christ… have you ever considered that so were we?

In Eph 2:2 Paul in addressing Christians in Ephesus wrote, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience...”

Wow! For many of us… there was a time in our lives that we didn’t stand with Jesus… and therefore we were against Jesus.

Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me...” (Matt 12:30, Luke 11:23)

It’s easy for us to throw stones at the agents of Satan… but truly anyone who refuses to harvest with Jesus… is just scattering grain abroad… as the verse says.

By not trusting in Jesus… as Paul said… we once walked according to the prince of the power of the air… Satan himself.

And as we read in Gen 3… in the curse to Satan… God said there will enmity or hatred between the seed of Satan (his agents) and her Seed (Jesus Christ).

And, look… we all are either for Jesus… or against Jesus… and if you’re against Jesus… by default you’re a seed of Satan.

There’s no middle ground.

No one can sit on the sidelines and be silent… and be without an opinion on Jesus…

Indecision is a decision.

And, so… I would encourage you… If you have not trusted and committed yourself to Jesus… do so today…

… because being aligned with Jesus is the only winning team.

As we see when we continue to read V15… “He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

NOW Satan himself is pictured. Satan’s head will be bruised by Jesus. In return Satan bruises the heel of Jesus.

The picture here is as the heel of Jesus comes down upon the head of Satan… the serpent, who is low to the ground, simultaneously strikes or bites the heel of Jesus.

And, Jesus deals a death blow to Satan… specifically to his head… which is a picture of authority.

But in biting the heels… the serpent also deals a blow of suffering and death to Jesus (which happened during Jesus’ passion and crucifixion).

BUT Satan’s blow to Jesus was not victorious, for Jesus conquered death during His resurrection.

Hebrews 2:14 declares… "… through death He [Jesus] might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”

Satan had the power of death… but Jesus stripped Satan of that authority.

In fact in Revelation 1:18 Jesus declares, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

If you have the keys… you have the rights to open the door. You have the authority.

Gen 3:15 is fulfilled. Christians stand on the side of Jesus… on the side of authority. On the winning team.

In the end… what happens to Satan at the end of Jesus’ 1000 year reign on earth? Revelation 20:10 declares, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

The devil loses in the end.

We can look around this world today and see so many Satanic influences that are outrageous…

Murder of the unborn, who are created in the image of God… an abomination which parallels the worship of Molech.

Gender fluidity… a delusion that defies God’s original design of male and female.

Homosexuality… which Paul clearly denounces in Romans 1.

Open Anti-Semitism like I’ve never seen… yet if you love Israel… you’re a Nazi. Explain that one.

Logic is not in the mind of the unbeliever.

Isaiah 5:20 declares, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Woe to those! They follow in the footsteps of their father Satan… and their end will be as his.

It has been prophesied… right here in Gen 3:15.

Now… continue to V16… God now turns His attention to the woman…

V16 “To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

The consequence of Adam & Eve’s sin… reversed God’s blessings… the benefit in God’s original design… now becomes a burden in the fall.

The curse for Adam and Eve… took things that would have been a blessing and turned them upside down into a curse.

Men so often find identity in their line of work, and work would become part of the curse.

Women… who carry children… would now experience sorrow and pain in childbirth.

And for both… there would be tension in marriage.

Eve was the mother of the entire human race, and she would have to carry for the entirety of her life the reality that for all the women who came after her… it was her sin that led to pain in childbirth.

Even up to the early 20th century, before modern procedures and medicines… childbirth was one of the leading causes of death in women.

In third world countries… pregnancy-related complications remains a primary cause of death in young women.

And, just imagine what childbirth would have been like had the fall and curse never occurred?

Women would have just popped babies out.

There could have been drive-through delivery stations.

But now… childbirth has become painful… and it has been observed that compared to other creatures… there seems to be more pain for women in childbirth.

I watched my dog give birth to 8 pups… she didn’t demand certain foods leading up to the delivery… she didn’t have mood swings… she didn’t squeeze my hand when delivering the pups… and she didn’t even need to rest afterwards.

Not that my wife did any of those things… I’ve just heard stories about other men’s wives.

But, isn’t that interesting how painful and draining it is for women compared to pretty much any other creature.

Is that a testimony of the curse?

This chapter is not all about the curse… it’s also about hope of a Messiah who would come and one day eliminate the curse… to restore creation back to it’s original design.

If you peer out over time… it’s a fact that for women in Israel… they hoped that they would be the one to carry the Messiah.

So much so that if they were barren, they were considered cursed.

Men… who were to work the land that was cursed… if it produced… it testified to them of God’s grace.

God would still provide and bless despite the curse.

The curse itself instilled in them hope of that future time when Messiah would come.

And, Jews and Christians today… are still looking forward to that time when our planet and our bodies are redeemed.

The second part of the curse is that the woman will ‘desire to control her husband, but he will rule over you.’

I feel like I need to put a safety helmet on before proceeding. Fortunately, you all are a conservative bunch of Christians…

Pastors in liberal churches have a liability issues teaching verses like this… therefore they just skip them.

That’s truth.

But, what this curse declares is there is a design of authority… and at one point there was harmony…

… both in how Adam led… and how Eve followed…

Adam loved well… Eve respected her husband.

But, in the fall Eve and women today “want to control their husbands” (which is the NET bible translation)…

But, he will “dominate” (one translation reads)… he will “be master over you” (another translation reads).

I think it’s timely for me to quote a Female scholar who wrote, “As a result of the fall, man no longer rules easily; he must fight from his headship. Sin has corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. The woman’s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship), and he must master her, if he can. So the rule of love founded in paradise is replaced by struggle, tyranny and domination.”

And, look… if you’ve been married for any length of time… you know this to be true. Husband and wives both fail in their roles.

It is work to overcome the curse.

I recently saw an ad for a FREE Focus on the Family Marriage retreat… free for Pastors that is…

And, they had 5 topics to choose from… we narrowed it down to two… one dealt with conflict resolution… and the other on loving one another better.

To me it was like… do we want to focus on getting better when the negative happens?

Or do better loving one another and maybe conflict will happen less?

My wife said ‘either’ so I picked loving better… because…

Paul taught “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” (Eph 5:25)

And again, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter towards them.” (Col 3:19)

I’m trying. I haven’t landed that plane yet… I’m still in process. Pray for us… end of June we embark on the retreat.

And, many of us men know and you women know… we all can do better in the calling God has given us in our roles in marriage…

But, the struggle testifies of the curse.

Continuing on… in V17 God curses Adam for ‘heeding the voice of his wife… and eating from the tree God forbade...”

This is not saying Adam was cursed for taking Eve’s advice. It was for choosing her voice over the voice of God.

Whenever you listen to the voice of anything over God… or love anything over God… the Bible calls this idolatry.

And, there is a sense here that Adam had a high place in his life and that was Eve.

Worshiping the creation over the Creator. And, many people are guilty of this today… even within the appropriate confines of marriage.

And, men… don’t go down the road of thinking you would do any better than Adam…

“Well if I was there… I wouldn’t have listened to her… I wouldn’t have eaten of that tree. Honey… if that snake comes up to you and tells you to eat… I’m not eaten… I’m not gonna heed your voice… if you eat… you’re gonna be alone…

God could just cast you out and I’ll stay in Eden… He can knock me out and take another rib and make a new woman… I can spare another rib.”

If you believe that… you’re delusional.

And, look… men… God gave us a wife as a helpmate… that doesn’t mean she is to cook and clean for you… AND HAVE NO VOICE.

This doesn’t mean that your wife, and you are to not listen to her.

In Hebrew, the word “wisdom” is in the feminine form and wisdom is personified as a woman. Isn’t that interesting?

So, men… don’t forsake the voice of your wife. She was given as a blessing and a helpmate to you.

Proverbs 18:22 declares, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.”

The next part of God’s curse on Adam, at the end of V17 entails the cursing of the ground…

Prior to the fall all the ground would have produced was good… it was fertile… fruit bearing…

But after the curse… while the ground still produced God said, “you shall eat the herb of the field [it’s grains]”…

Now… thorns and thistles were introduced… and they would produce faster and more plentiful than the desired fruit.

If you’ve had a garden… you know how weeds can quickly take over and it’s frustrating.

And, this made Adam’s work a toil… the NLT reads, “All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.”

This is the reverse of God’s original design… prior to the curse work was all joy…

… and in some semblance we feel that same curse in our labors, but in eternity…

… that burden will once again be lifted. We look forward in hope.

And then in V19… God said Adam would sweat to eek out a living until the day he died.

And, that curse of death would be passed to all mankind.

Adam would make a living from the ground in which he came. He came from dirt. He will make a living in dirt. He will return to dirt.

And, that’s encouraging… right guys? Men you are dirt… you’ll work in the dirt… and when you die you’ll become dirt.

We’re all about positive and encouraging.

This is not encouraging… but this should cause our hearts to yearn for our Savior to come.

And, it’s not just us…

On Sunday mornings we just read… Rom 8:20-22 “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him [the Father] who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

And, that is a message of hope. The very world we live in longs for and looks for the day it will be freed from the bondage of decay.

And, we will be. Genesis chapters 1-3 is about how God created it all… and how we messed it up.

The rest of the book is about how God will redeem it.

And, redemption makes a much better story… then being in Eden… and moving to eternity.

How much better will worship in heaven be because of struggle and suffering?

It’s not enjoyable, but it works a good work in us.

V20 “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”

Formerly Adam called his wife “woman”… which means “woman.”

But that wasn’t very creative… nor PC… so now he changes her name to “Eve” which means “life.”

And, in this we see another picture of redemption… in faith, Adam believes there is hope.

That Eve would be the mother of all who live.

So, he changes his wife’s name from ‘woman’ to ‘Eve.’

Guzik wrote, “Adam named her in faith, trusting God would bring forth a deliverer from the woman, because God said He would defeat Satan through the Seed of the woman. (Gen 3:15)”

The typology of redemption in this chapter is thick… so many things point to Jesus: suffering, conflict that brings salvation, thorns from sin and the fall compared to the crown of thorns,…

… sin brought sweat, sorrow and death… and Jesus sweat drops of blood, was a man of sorrows, and tasted death… all for our salvation.

Lot’s of typology in this chapter.

V21 “Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”

Here we see, the first time blood is shed on the Earth…

To have tunics of skin… an animal died… and it’s widely accepted that this is when God demonstrated a sin sacrifice for Adam and Eve.

God is teaching them that in order to cover their sins… to atone for their sins…

It would not be by the work of their hands using fig leaves.

The covering would be by a blood sacrifice… also pointing to ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

This was part of the problem of Cain… he offers an offering by his own hands… by his own work… by his own standard, but not by blood… not by God’s standard.

And, this is the Fountainhead of religion… Cain offers the work of his hands. Even if it was sincere… it’s not God’s order.

God’s order is substitutionary atonement.

It’s not gonna be through fig leaves that you’re covered. It’s gonna be by the death of animal that Jews were covered… and by the Messiah Jesus Christ that we are washed clean once for all … and by faith, not by works.

There is a contrast to how Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves vs how God demonstrated a sacrifice for the covering of sin.

And, they would obey. Never again to we read about fig leaves being used to cover their exposure from sin.

Yet, we do read about Able, a keeper of sheep, in Chapter 4 offering the firstborn of his flock.

The Lord respected Able and his offering.

And, we see the Israelites receive and follow the law’s instruction on the sacrificial system.

Sin is never forgiven by works… but through faith in the blood.

V22 “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”…

Us… not God and the angels. The same “Us” in chapter one… Us in my NKJ bible is capitalized.

This is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… the trinity.

God’s original design was for the people of God to live in the place of God in the presence of God… but now He had to drive them out… because He is holy… and just… and He would compromise His own character had He let them stay…

… and they would take of the Tree of life.

The Tree of Life… here in Gen 3:22 promises immortality… and never again will be tasted on this side of Eternity.

But, it will be tasted again.

It’s promised to overcomers in Rev 2:7… it’s a tree of healing in Rev 22:2… A right for those who do God commandments in Rev 22:14.

In some regard there is mercy here to drive Adam & Eve out of Eden for had they eaten from the tree of life… in a sinful fallen state… they would live in this state forever.

… With a rift between them and God.

That rift from sin is SO bad, that it is better to die in faith and be redeemed back to God…

… then to live forever in a fallen state where our face to face interaction with God cannot be. In Exo 33:20, God declared “No man shall see Me, and live.”

Much better to return to glory and the presence of the Lord.

V23 “...therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Notice V23 states God “sent him out” meaning God ‘bade him farewell”… but then in V24 God “drove out the man” meaning ‘cast out.”

What kind of conversation is not recorded here that they must’ve had?

“Can we have another chance? Can we stay here until Messiah comes? We don’t want to go!”

Any one of us would have pleaded with God so.

And what a contrast that Adam and Eve would’ve entered into in a fallen world in a place where death now exists… disease suffering… the curse…

… what a difficult thing for them to have to compare where they came from… to what life was now.

This is all we have known… our comparison will be a joy filled relief upon entering glory.

Dr. A.E. Wilder-Smith believed… that it was here that God drove Adam and Eve out of Eternity and into time.

That’s a profound thought.

He also believed the question of ‘why is there suffering in the world’ originated here.

To keep mankind from getting back into Eden and the Tree of Life… Cherubim (plural) guarded the entrance to Eden…

Which is interesting because this was the same order of Satan came from.

The Cherub in Ezekiel 1 is described as having four faces… “…the face of a man…the face of a lion on the right side…the face of an ox on the left side…and the face of an eagle…” (Ezek 1:10).

In the OT, the faces of the Cherubim were used on the banners of the four major tribes as they camped around the Tabernacle in the days of Moses…no doubt prophetic to Christ.

The early church used an image of a Cherub to secretly indicate where they met, in lieu of persecution.

The Gospels are also portrayed by the faces of the Cherub… as the faces of the Cherub reflect Jesus Christ, and the Gospels also reflect Jesus Christ.

Matthew portrayed Jesus as the King… thus the Cherub’s face of a Lion, as the lion is king of the animals, and Jesus is the King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Mark wrote to the Romans and portrayed Jesus as a Servant, thus the Cherub’s face of an Ox, the beast of burden, a servant willing to serve and work.

Luke wrote to the Greeks and portrayed Jesus as a man, thus the Cherub’s face of man, as Jesus is God incarnate and His humanity is seen in Luke’s gospel.

John wrote to either to all people or to the Church, and portrayed Jesus as God, thus the Cherub’s face of an Eagle, as the Eagle symbolize the majestic and divine, soaring and transcendent.

So much symbolism in this Chapter.

Worship team please come.

It’s not a hopeless chapter… it tells us the origin of the curse, BUT also lays the plan of redemption and the promise of a victorious Savior.

To which we say Hallelujah! Let’s pray!

In Eden, there was one tree to not eat from.

We look out into the world and there are many trees… many temptations against the command of God.

Take a stand… keep your eyes on Jesus. And don’t lose hope. God is with you.

Forget that not and be blessed as you wrap up this week.