Paradise lost (Stage 4)

Genesis 3: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5;  ''Now the serpent was more subtle [cunning] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods [God], knowing good and evil.''

Well, we all know what happened next:

Genesis 3: 6 & 7;  ''And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant [a desirable thing] to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons [girding coverings].''

One thing that the serpent (Satan) said was in fact technically true - ''...man is become as one of us'' - read on:

Genesis 3: 22, 23 & 24;  ''And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep [guard] the way of the tree of life.''

So, man's new knowledge led to his expulsion by decree as a logical necessity; eternal life is fellowship with God and is more than just an eternal existence - it is an everlasting and personal relationship with God.  This everlasting personal relationship, Adam (for and on behalf of mankind) had now repudiated and must now be separated from God - banished from Eden - in short - Paradise Lost!  The point is re-emphasised in the phrase''...the ground from which he was taken.'' and to where he will return:

Genesis 3: 19;  ''In the  sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.''

The Cherubim with its ''flaming sword, turning every way'', actively excludes the 'sinner'.  For Adam and for Man the way back to Paradise is more than hard, it is to be actually resisted!

What are Cherubim - (plural of cherub)?  Good question - the best answer I can suggest is that Cherubim are ministering spirits, manifesting God's invisible presence and, in this case, assigned to guarding the tree of life. 

A similar function was credited to the golden cherubim, which were placed at either end of the 'mercy seat' (cover) of the ark of the covenant for they were thought of as protecting the sacred objects which the ark housed (the two tablets on which recorded the 10 commandments, Aaron's rod and a pot of manna), and providing, with their outstretched wings, a visible pedestal for the invisible throne of God. 

Representations of those winged cherubim were also embroidered on the curtains and veil of the tabernacle and the walls of the Temple. 

At Christ's death this veil, which separated man from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies (the inner most sanctum of the Temple), was rent in two and the way back to God was once more thrown open. 

But more on this  - and the crucial role which the Holy Spirit plays in enabling each of us to find our way back to Paradise - in a few weeks' time.