The Kindness of God
November 18, 2008
22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [a] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Right after the hard words, the outlined consequences of sin, God cares for Adam and Eve. Eve is given a name, “mother of all living”, and then God makes garments for Adam and for Eve. I see the way of things here. This is not the way it is supposed to be, yet in this fallen world, God is caring for them, loving them. In this act, God is entering the fallen-ness of humanity already. And in this we see the pre-figuring of Jesus Christ.
So this day, I consider how in an imperfect, fallen world, God is expressing his love and care for us. Even in the midst of our stubborness, our self-centredness, God shows his love.
Some questions from the text as well … There seems to be another instance of the trinity in focus here in verse 22 “the man has become like one of ‘us’”. Aside from the notes on the knowledge of good and evil, this is interesting in and of itself. Indeed, there is a lot packed into these three verses.
There were some good thoughts here. As I thought about Adam and Eve leaving the garden, in my mind I had always focused on the negative…the consequence of sin. I don’t think I’ve ever focused on God’s care and love for them right after they left the garden.
God has not abandoned us in this screwed up world…he continues to live with us in this mess. He loves and longs for us to be with Him in relationship…just as they were after the garden.