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Barred Eden and the Opened Way: From Exile to Access (Genesis 3:22–24) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reform Thinking. We're diving deep again today,
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  looking at Christian doctrine straight from the sources.
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  And today we're going right back to the beginning.
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  Genesis chapter 3 versus 22 to 24, The very first boundary
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  recorded in Scripture, the locked gate of Eden.
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  It's a pivotal moment, that expulsion more than just a story
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  point. The sources we've looked at
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  really frame this exclusion, this locked gate, as a kind of
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  doctrinal hinge for the whole biblical story about access to
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  God. OK, A.
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  Hinge. How so?
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  Well, our goal today is to unpack that, to see how this
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  locked gate wasn't arbitrary but established a necessary barrier
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  reflecting God's holiness and how that pattern gets repeated,
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  you know, in Israel's worship. Right.
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  And ultimately, how the problem represents how sinful people can
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  approach a holy God is solved and solved only by Jesus
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  Christ's work as mediator. That's the core thesis we're
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  seeing. Eden sets up this barrier of
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  divine holiness. It's then rehearsed in the
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  Tabernacle and temple structure for centuries.
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  And the question it raises, how do we get back in is answered
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  definitively when Christ deals with the penalty that very are
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  enforced. So let's start with Eden itself,
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  because to get the significance of the expulsion, we need to
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  understand what Eden was. Our sources argue it's much more
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  than just a pretty garden. Yeah, that's fundamental.
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  It's presented as the first sanctuary, God's earthly
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  dwelling place. OK, Sanctuary.
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  What does that imply functionally, not just nice
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  scenery? It means it was holy ground, the
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  place where God walked, you know, in the cool of the day,
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  where heaven and earth met in a sense.
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  So when Communion was broken, that holy space had to be
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  protected. The closure teaches us something
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  foundational about God's holiness.
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  His presence requires boundaries, especially after sin
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  enters the picture. And if it's a sanctuary, then
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  Adam's role changes, too. He wasn't just tending roses.
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  The sources talk about an Adamic priestly Commission.
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  Exactly. He was placed there to work and
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  keep it a bad in Shamar. Now work is straightforward
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  enough, but keep Shamar. That's where it gets really
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  interesting. Why Shamar specifically?
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  Because our sources highlight that shamar is a key verb used
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  later for the Levites and priests.
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  It means to guard, to protect, to keep watch over.
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  They were guarding the sanctuary, the holy things, the
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  boundaries from defilement or unauthorized entry.
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  So Adam's job description was basically first priest steward
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  of this sacred space. In essence, yes, he was the vice
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  Regent, tasked with guarding the holiness of God's drilling
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  place, keeping it pure. Reframes the fall completely.
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  He didn't just disobey an instruction about fruit.
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  He failed his core duty as guardian of the Sanctuary.
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  He failed to Jummar. He let the intruder in, he
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  failed to guard the boundary, and when he failed, he forfeited
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  that role and the access that came with it.
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  So what was lost wasn't just paradise in a geographical
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  sense. No, not primarily.
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  What was lost was proximity to God, That life with God, that
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  sanctuary life. The rest of the Bible, in many
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  ways, is the story of regaining lawful access to God's presence.
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  And this initial setup, this sanctuary design with its
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  boundaries, it becomes, comes the template, doesn't it?
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  The sources say Eden foreshadows the later Sanctuary blueprint.
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  Absolutely. The whole logic of the
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  Tabernacle and temple moving from the outer courts towards
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  the holiest place through layers of increasing sanctity reflect
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  Eden. Our notes explicitly state the
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  gardens arrangement foreshadows Israel's Tabernacle and Temple.
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  It sets the pattern for regulated access.
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  Right. It establishes from the very
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  beginning that approaching God, especially after sin, isn't
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  casual. It's dangerous.
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  It requires mediation. It requires following God's
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  specific instructions. The later system is basically an
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  object lesson in managing that danger and distance.
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  Almost like the blueprints were drawn up in Genesis 2 and then
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  formally implemented at Sinai, and the Temple served as a
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  constant reminder of what was lost in Genesis 3.
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  It kept the memory of that original communion alive, but
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  also constantly taught the means by which fallen people could
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  approach a holy God carefully, ritually, through prescribed
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  ways. No storming the gates.
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  OK, let's get to the moment the gate is barred.
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  Genesis 3.2222. This isn't just God saying
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  leave, it's described as a judicial act.
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  Yes, the sources are clear. The expulsion was a righteous
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  sentence. It had to happen to preserve
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  God's holiness. Sinful humanity and a holy God
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  cannot occupy the same sacred space without disastrous
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  consequences for humanity or God compromising his nature.
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  And the text uses specific language for the removal, right?
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  Two different. Verbs it does.
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  First Adam is sent out. She'll That sounds somewhat
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  administrative, like being dispatched to a new task,
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  working the cursed ground. But then the language
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  intensifies. God drove out the man Garash.
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  Garash. What's the weight of that word?
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  It sounds stronger. It is.
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  It has definite judicial force. It's a word often used for
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  compelled expulsion, like driving out enemies or wicked
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  inhabitants from a land. It's signals judgement.
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  It's the final, decisive closure of that holy space to
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  transgressors. Innocence is gone.
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  Open communion is over. Exile begins.
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  And ensuring that closure was absent.
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  God stations, guards at the east, the direction of
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  expulsion. We have the cherubim and the
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  flaming sword. Let's start with the cherubim.
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  What to do in there? They're not just decoration.
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  The sources identify them as throne guardians.
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  Think of Ezekiel's visions. These are formidable heavenly
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  beings associated with God's immediate presence and
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  sovereignty. So placing them at the gate
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  establishes 1. A secure perimeter.
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  They communicate two things simultaneously.
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  One, God's enthroned nearness. He's still King.
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  This is still his holy ground. 2 The clear hazard of unauthorized
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  entry. They are there to keep their
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  shamar. Again, effectively what Adam
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  failed to keep. They guard the way, ensuring the
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  boundary holds. Living symbols of the holiness
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  within. But then there's the sword.
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  The flaming sword. That imagery is intense.
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  The sources call it a full blockade.
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  It really is. The Hebrew is lahat haarev,
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  homothapicot. Lahat is this fiery blaze, this
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  flash think consuming holiness. Haarev is the sword itself, but
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  the crucial part is homothapicot, which means
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  turning every way or whirling, rotating.
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  It depicts ceaseless motion. It's not a static barrier you
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  could somehow time or sneak past.
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  It covers every possible angle of approach constantly.
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  A dynamic, impenetrable wall of fire and judgement.
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  Total impossibility of forcing entry.
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  What does this sword symbolize doctrinally?
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  Primarily God's active, vigilant justice.
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  It signals that the penalty clause of the covenant of works,
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  death for disobedience, has been enacted.
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  Life was conditioned on obedience.
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  Disobedience brings judgment. The sword is the visible sign of
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  that judgment. It says God's justice is not
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  passive. It confronts sin.
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  It's the question the rest of the Old Testament wrestles with.
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  How do you get past that? How can the guilty approach
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  without being consumed? Exactly.
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  The whole sacrificial system operates under the shadow, so to
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  speak, of that whirling sword. And yet.
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  Here's the counterintuitive part, our sources argue This act
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  of judgement, this terrifying barrier, was also an act of
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  mercy. Restraining mercy.
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  How did that work? Justice and mercy in the same
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  act. It's profound.
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  The expulsion wasn't just punishment.
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  It was also, as the sources put it, a severe kindness.
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  God acted to prevent something, even.
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  Worse. Worse than expulsion?
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  Yes, and God Himself tells us why Genesis 3.22 gives the
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  rationale quote. Lest he reach on his hand and
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  take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.
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  The guard wasn't just keeping them out of paradise, it was
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  keeping them away from the Tree of Life in their fallen state.
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  OK, wait, why would preventing access to eternal life be
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  merciful? That seems backward.
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  Because think about what Live Forever 1 la Yolam would mean
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  for them after the fall, the sources explain.
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  It would mean unending corruption.
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  It would mean immortalized rebellion.
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  Imagine eternal existence defined by sin, guilt,
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  separation from God, maybe even increasing wickedness, forever
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  fixed in that state. So mortality, the consequence of
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  sin, actually becomes a form of restraint, a limit.
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  Yes, a tragic limit, but a limit nonetheless.
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  It curbed sins reach. It prevented rebellion from
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  becoming eternal and unchangeable in humanity.
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  So the expulsion demonstrates both God's rectitude, His
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  justice, upholding holiness, and His benevolence, His kindness in
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  preventing an eternally fixed state of misery and sin.
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  It was a necessary, just, and ultimately merciful act of
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  divine governance. Wow.
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  OK, so that sets the stage. God is holy, humans are sinful,
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  separation is necessary for both justice and mercy, and access is
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  now lethally guarded. This pattern then gets embedded
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  into Israel's entire worship system.
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  That's the clear linkage the sources draw.
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  The Tabernacle and later the Temple essentially repeat the
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  gardens. Logic in wood, fabric, and gold.
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  The whole system serves as a kind of tutor, constantly
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  teaching Israel about the seriousness of approaching God.
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  It keeps sinners from just, you know, barging into His presence.
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  Let's trace that repetition you mentioned.
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  The architecture reflects Eden. Right.
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  Think about the orientation. Adam and Eve were expelled east
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  of Eden. The cherubim were placed at the
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  east. And where did Israel enter the
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  Tabernacle and Temple? From the east?
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  Always from the east. So the path of worship was
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  always westward, moving back toward the symbolic presence of
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  God, away from the direction of exile.
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  And the structure itself had layers.
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  Graded zones of holiness. The outer court accessible to
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  Israelites, the Holy Place only for priests performing duties,
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  and then the Most Holy Place, the symbolic throne room,
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  entered only by the high priest, only once a year on the Day of
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  Atonement, and only with blood. That mirrors Eden's status as
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  exclusive boundary to holy ground, increasing restriction
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  as you get closer to the center. Precisely, it constantly
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  reinforced the lesson nearness to God is perilous and requires
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  mediation and adherence to God's specified protocol.
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  In the most direct visual call back to Genesis 3.24 was the
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  veil. Wasn't it the curtain separating
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  the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place?
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  Absolutely the clearest link. This thick, heavy curtain,
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  according to Exodus 26, was embroidered with cherubim, the
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  very guardians placed at Eaton's gate.
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  Our sources say this veil visually recites Genesis 3.24.
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  It was a constant, tangible reminder of the barred way every
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  priest working in the Holy Place saw it.
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  It was the closed door. Which brings us back to Adam's
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  failure. The sources talk about this as
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  the priestly failure transferred.
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  Well, Adam failed to keep Amar the Garden sanctuary.
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  That duty of guarding holy space didn't disappear.
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  It was taken up first, symbolically, by the cherubim at
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  the gate. They keep without lapse what
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  Adam forfeited. And then practically by the
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  Levitical priesthood. Yes.
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  Later, the Israelite priests are explicitly commissioned to keep
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  and to guard the sanctuary using those same verbs.
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  Look at numbers 3.7 to 8. They inherit Adder's original
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  forfeited task of managing the boundary between the holy and
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  the common under God's strict regulations.
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  And the consequences for failing that priestly duty were severe.
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  Immediate and lethal. The system wasn't theoretical.
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  Native and Abaihu, Aaron's own sons, priests themselves.
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  They offered unauthorized fire, something God hadn't commanded
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  in Leviticus 10, and fire came out from the Lord and consumed
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  them. A Stark object lesson.
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  A terrifying one. It underscored for everyone,
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  priests included, that access was deadly serious.
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  It was granted only with blood, only as God prescribes.
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  You don't innovate, You don't improvise.
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  You don't presume the entire system emphasized the need for
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  proper God ordained mediation to survive God's holy presence.
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  So. The temple system managed the
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  problem, it taught the lesson, but it couldn't ultimately solve
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  the problem of the Bard gate, could it?
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  No, it could only manage the tension, maintain a kind of
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  temporary ritual proximity while pointing forward.
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  It highlighted the need for a final answer, a mediator who
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  could actually satisfy the justice represented by that
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  sword and permanently open the way.
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  Which means the guarded way itself, paradoxically becomes a
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  kind of summons. It points towards the promise
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  made right after the fall in Genesis 3.15, the promise of the
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  seed of the woman who would crush the serpent.
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  Yes, the locked gate creates this theological problem that
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  demands a solution beyond human capacity.
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  The sources are emphatic. The answer isn't found in human
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  bravado, or trying harder, or even in ritual ingenuity.
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  No amount of self improvement gets you past the cherubim and
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  the flaming sword. The solution has to come from
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  God Himself. It requires a mediator.
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  A mediator who can deal with the fundamental issue, the justice
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  symbolized by the sword. And this brings us to Christ.
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  Christ answering the sword. How did the sources describe
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  this? He doesn't just bypass it.
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  No, that's critical. He does not slip past the sword,
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  He stands under it. The cross isn't an evasion of
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  the justice enforced at Eden, it's the satisfaction of it.
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  Christ willingly takes the full force of the judgment
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  represented by that sword. There's a prophecy in Zechariah
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  that seems incredibly relevant here.
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  Zechariah 13.7. Awake, O sword, against my
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  Shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the
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  Lord of hosts, Strike the Shepherd.
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  That prophetic command, the sources say, meets its hour as
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  the shepherd is struck at Calvary.
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  God directs the sword of his own justice against His own Son, the
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  appointed Shepherd. So the same divine judgment that
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  resulted in Adam's expulsion is now focused entirely on the
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  second Adam. Perfectly and completely.
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  He bears the curse. He absorbs the consuming fire of
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  justice in his own person. And by doing so, he satisfies
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  its demands. This isn't just another
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  temporary sacrifice. No, this is the once for all
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  oblation. His perfect life and
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  substitutionary death fully satisfy the claims of God's
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  justice against sin. Reconciliation is achieved and
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  eternal inheritance is purchased.
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  The core messages. Justice is satisfied, access is
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  granted. He didn't just appease justice
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  for a moment, he fulfill it. And the moment he completed that
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  work on the cross, there was this dramatic public sign that
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  the barrier was removed, the tearing of the temple veil.
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  Matthew 27.51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn
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  in two. From top to bottom.
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  The direction is key from top to bottom.
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  God did it. It wasn't ripped by human hands
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  from below. What does that tearing signify?
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  Connecting back to Eden. Our sources call it the descent
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  of answer to the enigma posed at Eden's Gate.
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  Remember that veil embroidered with cherubim was the visual
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  recitation of Genesis 3.24 when it tore at the moment of
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  Christ's death. It signaled that the old system
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  of separation, the guarded way managed by priests and rituals,
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  was over. The cherubim's job of blocking
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  access was finished because the penalty was paid.
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  Guarded way is replaced by what the book of Hebrews calls the
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  new and living way. Exactly.
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  Hebrews 10.11020 is the commentary.
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  We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of
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  Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us, through
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  the curtain, that is, through His flesh.
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  Notice the language there way. Is that intentional?
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  Highly intentional. The Greek word is hodos, which
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  corresponds to the Hebrew Derek used in Genesis 3.24 for the way
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  to the tree of life that the cherubim guarded.
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  So the Derek that was guarded? He becomes the Hodos, the Derek
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  that is now opened in Christ. The guarded way of Genesis
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  becomes the opened way in Christ.
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  And it's not just new replacing the old system, but living.
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  What does living add? It speaks to its permanence and
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  efficacy. The old way involved dead
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  animals and repeated sacrifices. This way is living because
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  Christ himself is alive. Access isn't just opened.
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  It's sustained because he ever lives to make intercession for
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  us. Our high Priest is perpetually
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  ministering in the true sanctuary, guaranteeing our
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  access based on his finished work.
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  It's secure, it's permanent. It's lawful.
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  So the whole biblical narrative traces this ark from exclusion
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  and hiding in a garden. To a garden tomb, significantly,
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  from which the second man, the victorious Christ, rises, the
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  place of death becomes the place of resurrection life.
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  And the final image that confirms the complete reversal
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  is the Tree of Life itself. It reappears.
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  It does beautifully brackets the Canon barred in Genesis.
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  It reappears in the New Jerusalem in Revelation.
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  The very thing humanity lost access to is restored.
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  And its location in Revelation is significant.
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  Very It's not hidden away. It stands on either side of the
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  river of the Water of Life, which flows from the throne of
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  God and of the Lamb. It's central, abundant, freely
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  accessible, right at the heart of God's presence.
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  Life flows from the throne through the Lamb to the people
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  via the tree. But the absolutely crucial,
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  crucial detail, thinking back to Genesis 3.24, is there a guard?
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  Is there a flaming sword in the New Jerusalem?
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  No, conspicuously absent. The sources are clear.
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  In the New Jerusalem, the tree of life is not guarded by flame
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  because the sword is sheathed. Why is this sheathed?
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  Because the Lamb has borne wrath.
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  The justice it represented has been fully satisfied by Christ's
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  sacrifice. Its purpose is fulfilled.
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  Its threat is removed forever for those in Christ.
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  So exile is over. Seeing God's face is now life,
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  not death. Exactly.
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  And the redeemed Revelation 22.14 says have the right to the
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  tree of life. It's not just permitted access,
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  it's a right secured by the Lamb.
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  The closure of Eden is totally finally reversed.
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  The Bard Gate becomes the open city.
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  Now let's tie this all back to our confessional standards, the
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  Westminster Confession. This whole story problem penalty
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  provision access lines up perfectly, doesn't it?
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  It really does. You can trace the logic through
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  the confession. Start with WCF chapter 2 on God
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  himself. His essential holiness and
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  justice required the expulsion. I just God must uphold his
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  standards. He couldn't just overlook the
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  transgression in the covenant of works.
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  Separation was necessary because of who God is.
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  Then the consequences of that fall and the need for a solution
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  are laid out in chapter 6 and 7. Right.
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  Chapter 6 outlines the fall, Adam losing communion, coming
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  under God's wrath, transmitting sin and misery, the expulsion
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  physically enacted, that penalty clause of the covenant of works.
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  And because humanity is now totally unable to merit, favor
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  or regain access, chapter 6, four to six, it necessitates the
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  covenant of grace described in chapter 7.3 to 5.
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  God Himself provides the way back, promised through the seed.
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  The locked gate points inextorably towards grace.
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  And the mediator of that covenant of grace is the focus
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  of chapter 8. Precisely.
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  WCF chapter 8 is all about Christ the Mediator.
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  It affirms he's the only mediator and that He fully
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  discharged our debt, satisfying divine justice through his
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  obedience and once for all oblation.
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  WCF 8.5. This secures eternal redemption
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  and access for His people. WCF 8.8 The whole theological
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  structure, justice demanding closure, grace providing the
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  mediator, Christ satisfying justice to grant access, is
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  mirrored perfectly in the narrative from Eden's gate to
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  the torn veil. OK, so wrapping this up, we've
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  traced the theme from Genesis three.
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  The core problem was access to a holy God blocked by divine
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  justice, symbolized by the cherubim and the flaming sword.
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  That problem wasn't solved by human effort or ritual, but only
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  when Christ satisfied that justice through his death.
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  The Bard gate wasn't just a punishment, it was a kind of
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  tutor pointing relentlessly towards the need for this
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  Redeemer. And the outcome for us now,
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  because the veil is torn, because the sword is sheathed by
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  the work of Christ, The command isn't to keep our distance.
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  It's the opposite. Hebrews 10.22 tells you to draw
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  near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.
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  We don't approach timidly or uncertainly.
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  We have lawful access secured forever by Christ, our Mediator.
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  We belong in God's presence through Him.
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  It may be a final thought to leave with you, the listener.
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  Remember how we talked about the exposure being a severe kindness
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  God restraining humanity from immortalized rebellion?
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  Think about that principle. If God's first major act of
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  governance after the fall involved restraint, A boundary
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  set ultimately for restorative purposes to limit sins, reach,
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  and make redemption possible, how might that pattern of divine
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  restraint continue today? Even God's judgments, His
• 20:00
  boundaries, His nose and history, and in our lives might
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  ultimately serve His larger, wholly restorative purpose.
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  Preserving us for the final welcome made possible by the
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  Lamb.