Kicked Out
When our parent sinned in the Garden, God took a number of actions. One of the first things He did was banish Adam and Eve from the Garden. This was done for a very specific reason.
God had provided for man, Genesis 2:9.
9And out of the ground made Yehovah 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 knowledge of good and evil.
God provided a wonderful diet with only one restriction, Genesis 2:16-17.
16And Yehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But 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.
Some may ask, why did God tempt man by putting the tree in the midst of the Garden? It was not God that tempted man, James 1:13-14.
13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
We ought not to be confused about this issue. God was not the tempter. After man disobeyed, God stated in Genesis 3:22:
22And Yehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Man now knew good and evil as God did; however, that was not the principal concern. It was that man had access to the tree of life, Genesis 3:23-24.
23Therefore Yehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
God threw them out of the Garden and put Cherubims to guard the way. This prevented any access to the Tree of Life. God did this because if man had than eaten of the Tree of Life, man would lived forever in a fallen condition. Man would have been forever lost in sin with no way out. That was definitely not what God had intended from the beginning.
What we need to understand is how both God and man can know good and evil, yet God is good, yet man is a sinner. Man is lost and is going to die. Unlike man, God can handle the knowledge of good and evil, 1 Timothy 1:17.
17Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
God is immortal. God can know good and evil without being evil. Eternal life is not just quantity. There is a quality to eternal life, John 17:3.
3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Yeshua Messiah, whom thou hast sent.
Know refers to an intimate relationship with the Father and Yeshua who He sent. Without eternal life, one cannot handle good and evil. This is why God created everything good. God directed man to partake of food for living and food for living eternally. This was so that man could intimately know God and later on possibly God would let man know both good and evil. However, without eternal life first being implanted in our lives, one can not handle the knowledge of good and evil.
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