Session 3: Week 4
Genesis 3:20-24
20 Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. 22 The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ, חַוָּה: כִּי הִוא הָיְתָה, אֵם כָּל-חָי. Verse 20
In English it doesn’t make sense why Adam would call his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living, but in Hebrew it makes more sense. Chavah (Eve’s Hebrew Name) (Chai = Life). Chavah essentially means giver of life.
In verse 21 we read something I’ve never seen before. It was the Lord God who made Adam and Eve clothing out of skins. Now I have heard it taught that this showed the necessity for an animal to give of its life to cover mankind, which is a foreshadow of the Son of God giving of His life for the final atonement of our souls. It is interesting that in Hebrew the word for atonement is actually Kipur.
כִּפֻּר |
To help you understand the word atonement think of at-one-ment. It’s a process by which our relationship (at-one-ment) with God is restored.
How else would you describe atonement?
In Genesis 3 it shows us that atonement is made by God Himself. He is the one who covers mankind. In this case in the garden God makes כֻּתֹּנֶת Kutonet for Adam and Eve. Kotonet are tunics, undergarments or long shirt like garments usually made of linen. It’s interesting that in Leviticus 19:19 God commands the children of Israel to not wear any clothing with mixed materials. I wonder if this is because God wanted us to remember that it was He that provided the covering and we need add nothing to it.
| יט אֶת-חֻקֹּתַי, תִּשְׁמֹרוּ–בְּהֶמְתְּךָ לֹא-תַרְבִּיעַ כִּלְאַיִם, שָׂדְךָ לֹא-תִזְרַע כִּלְאָיִם; וּבֶגֶד כִּלְאַיִם שַׁעַטְנֵז, לֹא יַעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ. | 19 Ye shall keep My statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed; neither shall there come upon thee a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together. |
It’s also interesting that part of the biblical dress for the priests included a linen undergarment, or tunic. I’ve never thought about this before but this was probably a reminder of their role in making atonement between God and the people of Israel through the sacrificial system.
Exodus 28 39 “You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash. 40 Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty. 41 Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests. 42 Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist[s] to the thighs. 43 These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.
In Genesis 3:22 God affirms that man had become like the Elohim, knowing good and evil. For those new to this study I encourage you to visit the teachings of Dr. Michael S. Heiser specifically his Divine Council teachings.
This gives greater understanding to the Scripture saying “man has become like one of Us knowing good and evil.” Next God sends Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden so that they don’t eat from the tree of life and live forever. In Genesis 2 we read about this tree when God talks about making the trees.
| ט וַיַּצְמַח יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, כָּל-עֵץ נֶחְמָד לְמַרְאֶה, וְטוֹב לְמַאֲכָל–וְעֵץ הַחַיִּים, בְּתוֹךְ הַגָּן, וְעֵץ, הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע. | 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. |
It’s interesting that when God gave Adam the commandments about the trees He didn’t mention the tree of life.
| טז וַיְצַו יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, עַל-הָאָדָם לֵאמֹר: מִכֹּל עֵץ-הַגָּן, אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל. | 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; |
| יז וּמֵעֵץ, הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע–לֹא תֹאכַל, מִמֶּנּוּ: כִּי, בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְךָ מִמֶּנּוּ–מוֹת תָּמוּת. | 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ |
What do you think would have happened to Adam and Eve if they would have eaten from the tree of life before they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
God was sending man out to work the ground from which he was taken. Every day of his life Adam would be reminded that God had created him from the ground and now in punishment he was having to work that same ground in order to provide food for himself and his family.
The last sentence in Genesis 3 is quite a fascinating picture to see in your imagination. Think about this:
He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
This is the first mention of cherubim in the Scriptures. It seems that we can say that the cherubim were symbols of the mercy of God. While the flaming sword in the Garden of Eden symbolized God’s justice and power, the position of the cherubim, to keep them from re-entering the Garden, and living forever knowing good and evil was a sign of God’s mercy.
Why do you think God didn’t want us to live forever knowing good and evil?
In Exodus 25:22 we see the cherubim being involved with the restoration of God’s relationship with man in the tabernacle in the holy of holies. “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all My commands for the Israelites”
Interesting that now there’s a picture of 2 cherubim. FYI, cherub is singular and in Hebrew cherubim is plural.
Cherubim were also embroidered into the veil in the tabernacle as we read in Exodus 26:1. “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and crimson yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.”
Here too is a reminder of the cherub being a guard between God’s presence and the people of Israel. It’s amazing that when Yeshua died that veil was torn down symbolizing the restoration of our relationship with Almighty God. What followed was once of my favorite scenes from the New Testament.
Here it is from Matthew 27. 50 “Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.51 Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.”
So while the first Adam was sent from the garden to experience death as an exile from God’s Presence, the second Adam’s death restored mankind’s ability to enter God’s Presence and allowed mankind to experience life. Truly a reason to rejoice. Yeshua brought us resurrection life and a restoration into God’s Presence. HalleluYah.
As I close with this thought and I declare my praise to God I want to remind us that studying God’s Word is truly an act of worship in and of itself. Remember this as you go through your week studying the word of God. As we study we worship the One we are studying about.
