God said, “The man (humankind) has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never – this cannot happen!” So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they’d been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life. Genesis 3: 22-24, MSG.
Heavenly Parent, our perception of good and evil has become so faulty, that we cannot recognize things for what they really are. Today we pray that You will open our eyes, and help us to see blessings where we never saw them before. This we pray in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
When we think about our first parents being “expelled” from the Garden of Eden, it is quite a challenge to see that as a blessing. There in the garden, they enjoyed face to face fellowship with God. It seems as if there was nothing to disturb their peace. They lived in a garden, with all the healthy, delicious, wonderful, food they needed. They had dominion over the animals. Their work was to take care of the garden. They did not even have to water it, because “(the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)” (Genesis 2: 6, MSG). There was the Tree-of-Life, from which they could freely eat and live forever. Life seemed pretty good!
The first “blessing in disguise,” that I would like us to talk about, is the prohibition to eat from the “Tree-of-the-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.” At the end of creation week, God pronounced everything that He had made, “very good.” I believe that a “very good” from God, signifies: complete; there is nothing lacking; perfect. In the beginning God created humankind in His “image” and “likeness.” After humankind sinned, God said, “The man (humankind) has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil.” Had God forgotten, in the beginning, to include in them the capability to know “everything, ranging from good to evil? I do not think so.
Notice our first parents’ change in behavior, after they ate of the fruit and their “eyes were opened.” Their first reaction was to “hide.” Hide their nakedness from each other, and hide from God. Prior to that episode, Scripture states that, “The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame” (2: 25, emphasis provided). We ususally hide, when we are not happy with what others may see, if they looked at us. The Bible calls it, “shame.” Perfect beings, fresh from the hands of their Creator, feeling shame in the presence of each other. It seems that shame was not one of the experiences our Heavenly Father wanted our parents to have. Every time I think of this scene, I think of the movie, “A Few Good Men,” when Jack Nicholson says to Tom Cruise, “You can’t handle the truth!” It would appear as if Adam and Eve, were not created to know the whole range “from good to evil.” They obviously, could not handle it! God, in His infinite love, mercy, and wisdom, had not intended it for them. His exclusion of this knowledge, was obviously, a blessing in disguise.
What makes Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden a blessing? According to Scripture, God says, “What if he (humankind) now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never – this cannot happen!” Can you imagine humankind living under the curse of sin, “forever“? Can you imagine a little child being abused, forever? Can You imagine someone suffering from cancer, forever? Can you imagine someone living, with Alzheimers disease, forever? Can you imagine AIDS destroying people’s lives, forever? God, in love, said, “Never- this cannot happen!” “Not while I am in control!” Hallelujah! By not allowing our first parents to remain in the garden and continue to eat from the Tree-of-Life, and live forever; God, in love, cut short the effects of sin in our lives. So, even when we see someone we love, give-in to death, just consider, it could be, a blessing in disguise! The end of their suffering. And thank God, one of these days, soon, sin, with its deadly effects, will be expelled from the universe, forever!
My regrets for the late publishing of our devotional today. Also, see an explanatory note on yesterday’s devotional.