Some After Effects of the Fall (Genesis 3:20-24)

Genesis 3:20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Hopeful Glance

In the midst of all the pain of the fall and the curse, there are some emblems and words of hope. And one of them is found in the way the man called his wife's name Eve, which literally means "living" (20). He felt she would become the mother of all living (20).

It seems Adam had faith. Though they would die, God would let them live.

And life was required if God was going to fulfill His promise that her seed would crush the serpent's head. It's as if Adam accepts the chaotic and broken world, realizing his part in it all, and decides to move forward in trust that God had a plan. Life will go on. God will move.

Genesis 3:21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

God Covers

The garments of fig leaves were not sufficient, so the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them (21). As many have pointed out, the sin of Adam cost these animals their lives. It was important for God's people to be covered, so God took care of the responsibility.

"Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Hebrews 9:22)

Anticipatory of Jesus

There seems to be some anticipation of the animal sacrificial system Israel engaged in, but more completely, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Only through His blood can our sin be covered. We need Jesus to be the sacrifice whom all the lesser sacrifices of Scripture, including this one, point to.

Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23, therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Tree of Life

The interesting element of this passage is the tree of life (22). God suggests man would live forever if he ate of it (22). This tree appears again in Revelation 22:

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1–2, ESV)

But, though these references exist, the tree of life is never fully explained in Scripture.

An Act of Grace

The idea to banish us from contact with the tree of life, though, seems to be one of grace. God said: lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever (22). As I said in our last study, this might mean the tree of life would provide continual life through continually eating its fruit. Some have seen it as able to grant miraculous length of life, like Indiana Jones' holy grail.

Either way, God did not want us to live in the forever death of the curse. Chaos will not win. God wants to bring us to the tree of life in His new creation He's reserved for all who trust in Him.

To that end, God placed cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life (24). Israel learned about cherubim (plural for cherub, a type of angel), in the construction of their tabernacle. Here, though, the cherubim aren't mere images on the ark of the covenant but sent from God's presence to keep man from the tree of life.

The Stage Is Set

And now the stage is set for the rest of the Bible. God will work hard to make a way for humankind to experience a new existence with Him. He will turn the course of history to make a way for a new and unbroken, sinless creation. Let the story begin!