Mercy and Judgment (Gen 3:21-24)

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 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 of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Gen 3:21-24

garments of skin The first sacrifice in the Bible is done by God Himself. The fig coverings were not sufficient to cover Adam and Eve. If the wages of sin be death, then death was necessary. God said that in the day that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and bad that they would die. They ate but did not die that day. Something else died in their place. What animals were slain to provide the skins for Adam and Eve? Scripture does not say. It's a small point though I'm sure there's lots of speculation about it. But the point is that blood was shed to cover over their sin. Blood atoned for their sin. Their sins were covered over. And their wearing of the animal skins served as a reminder that a living being was sacrificed so that they didn't have to die. What mercy God showed for Adam and Eve.

And the Lord God said... like one of us Who is this "us"? God has said "us" before in creating mankind and will say it again when men make the Tower of Babel. There are several theories as to who the "us" refers to. Christians see this as a reference to the Trinity. Others have said that the us is like a "Royal we". For example the Queen may say "we are not amused" when referring to herself. Some have said that the us refers to angels. I confess to not knowing. Those who like to argue for a triune God use this verse as a prooftext. However, as interesting as this trail may be, it can get us sidetracked very easily.

knowing good and evil. Before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, what knowledge of good and evil did Adam and Eve have? Was there any distinction? Was everything all good? I think the presumption is that Eden was a paradise. Gan Eden (Garden of Eden) is a mystical paradise in rabbinic literature. It's all goodness and light and joy and happiness. With wisdom, however, comes heartache. Like God, mankind now knows that there is evil. There is wickedness and sin and shame and guilt. And like God, mankind will have to make distinctions between what is good and what is bad, between sacred and ordinary, between clean and unclean. And this will no longer be done in the Garden of Eden.

tree of life God would not allow Adam and Eve to reach out and eat from the tree of life and live forever. Why not? Again, an act of mercy. Mercy? Aye. And I learned the following from me mother in law (z'l) For if man stretched forth his hand and ate from the tree of life, he'd be forever in a state of sin. But I think that the fact that God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins signifies that their sin was atoned for and forgiven.

To be continued...