Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 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.“
(Genesis 3:23-24)

Because the will of God was to be conjoined with humanity, He drove them out of where the Tree of Life was so that they would not eat it and be trapped in separation from Him. This was the second greatest MERCY that God has EVER shown humanity (Jesus’ sacrifice being number one). It was a BLESSING, and NOT a curse. It is action based in COMPASSION. We know from Genesis 4 that God remained with them and continued to speak to them. They were cast out of the garden, not His presence.

“sent him out” the Hebrew word for sent (shalach {shaw-lakh’}) has connotations of being CONDUCTED. To conduct is to lead from a position of command. To bring by or as if by leading. To act as a medium for conveying or transmitting. It means to direct or take part in the operation or management of, especially in directing the performance being performed (all this from Merriam-Webster). God did not kick them out, barely clothed, and let them suffer through figuring it out by themselves. He guided them, walked with them hand-in-hand (spiritually speaking), and directed their steps. He brought them from the garden and back out to where they had been created (the reverse of Genesis 2:8). This was not abandonment. This was SHEPERDING.

“till the ground” in the garden they could COMMAND and DIRECT. Now, they had to work physically. Nothing had been hard in the garden. Here, things were hard. It was the CONSEQUENCE for rebellion. They were not operating at the BEST, they were operating based on how much they CHOSE. Things would work well when they CHOSE to obey and follow God’s directions. Things would not work as well when they CHOSE to go their own way. But even in this scenario, they were getting the BEST they could get. We know this because when Cain sins, part of the consequences he has to endure is to no longer get the best out of the Earth (Genesis 4:12). Yes, humanity had to now till the ground and do hard work, but the Earth was still responding to them and giving them the very best for their efforts – they were STILL blessed by God. Another proof of His GOODNESS and MERCY – even in judgment.

“So he drove out” the word for drove is ‘garash’ (gaw-rash’) and it means to be divorced from or surely put away. This was a permanent severance. In the Law when it deals with divorce (also not something that was God-approved, even though it was permitted), it’s VERY clear that once you are severed from each other there is no legal way of going back. Once you chose to separate, you were separated forever. In this same way, humanity was divorced from the garden. They were NEVER going back. The garden will not be experienced again until we are able to walk freely in Heaven and all things are restored to the original plan (Revelation 21).

“he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden” They were placed OUTSIDE the garden in the east. Humanity was so divorced they couldn’t even get NEAR the garden. It is traditionally taught that these cherubim were angels of destruction. The sage Chizkuni writes: ‘הכרובים “the cherubs;” who were these cherubs? They were creatures whose very appearance frightened all those who merely looked at them. They carried gleaming swords in their hands. המתהפכת, “these swords exuded flashes of lightning from either side of the blade.”’ Everyone who looks at that spectacle is reminded forcefully of death. It is quite a deterrent. Perhaps God’s intention was to create an atmosphere which would discourage the pursuit of the tree of life and the attainment by man of an infinite life span on earth. Humanity would be rehabilitated only through a death to make the punishment for Sin to become null and void. Since the rebellion (bringing Sin) was from a sinless human, the payment had to be made by the same (a sinless human). Only Jesus was sinless, so only Jesus could pay that price. Until Jesus came – which provided a way to an eternal state of life – the garden was protected so that Sin could be made null and void, removed entirely, instead of sealed in sinful humanity.

In an interesting interpretation, the sage Radak writes about the cherubim and the sword this way: ‘They were beings who appeared to the onlooker just like cherubs, in order to put fear into Adam, to discourage him from attempting to return to Gan Eden, this is why it continues with the words לשמור את דרך עץ החיים ואת להט החרב המתהפכת, the revolving sword blades held by the cherubs were meant to frighten Adam. Seeing that the sword was not real, but only appeared so to Adam, the Torah speaks of the להט החרב, “the blade of the sword,” and not the sword itself. The word להט does not describe something of substance but something imaginary, flashes of the spectacle being what is frightening to behold. When this “fire, flame” keeps revolving around itself, as described here, this increases the fear inspired in the person watching such a spectacle. In Ezekiel 32,10 we have a similar expression עופפי חרבי, when G’d is described as frightening people by “brandishing My sword.”
There is an additional element in this, i.e. the spectacle is meant to inspire feelings of remorse over what he had done in Adam. Once Adam felt remorse, the way would be paved to full repentance.’ It is interesting that the angels and the sword might have been placed not only to forbid entry (clearly stated) but ALSO in order to get in Adam’s heart what seems to have been missing so far: remorse. Remorse enables us to repent. Repentance is needed to accept Jesus. Perhaps the sword and these cherubim were there to kickstart the process that eventually led to the fulfillment of God’s prophecy about Jesus and the total and utter defeat of Sin and the devil.