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Genesis 3:20–24 — Exile from Eden · A Tithe of Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to a tithe of time, verse by verse.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Today we begin reading from the ESV, Genesis 320-24, Exile from Eden.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's look closer.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Adam names his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: That name looks forward.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Even after judgment has been announced, the story is still moving toward life in future generations.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Then God makes garments of skins for Adam and Eve and clothes them.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier they had sown fig leaves together for themselves.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now God provides a more substantial covering.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And notice what is happening here.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve have just disobeyed God and are facing the consequences of that disobedience, yet God still cares for them.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: He does not remove the consequences, but he does provide for them.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Even in judgment, the passage shows an act of grace.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: God himself closed the people who had just rebelled against him.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then God says, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: That raises two obvious questions.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Who is us and who is God speaking to?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: The text does not tell us.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: What we can say for certain is that the verse uses plural language, but it does not identify who us refers to or who God is addressing.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we should notice the wording without claiming more than the passage itself gives us.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: The serpent had earlier said their eyes would be opened and that they would be like God, knowing good and evil.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now the passage confirms that something real has changed, but the result is not the freedom the temptation made it sound like.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: God then prevents access to the tree of life.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: The reason is stated directly, so the man will not take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Their removal from Eden is therefore not just about leaving a location.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Access to the tree of life is being cut off.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Adam is sent out to work the ground from which he was taken.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: That connects directly back to Genesis 2, where he was formed from the dust of the ground and placed in the garden to work it.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: He still works the ground, but now he does so outside Eden and under the consequences already described.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then the passage says God drove out the man.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: At the east of the garden, he places the cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Cherubim are heavenly beings connected with God's presence and holiness.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible does not simply identify them as angels, so it is better to understand them as a distinct kind of heavenly being rather than assume they are the same thing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The ending is striking.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 2 showed humanity placed inside a garden prepared by God.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 3 ends with humanity outside that garden and the way back to the tree of life guarded.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: This concludes Genesis 3 2 24.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll move to the recap of the fall, covering Genesis 3 1 to 24.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, tithe your time.