A reflection on Genesis 3:21-24

Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made garments of skin, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. Now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever--' therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of pleasure to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He cast out Adam, and made him dwell opposite the garden of pleasure. He then stationed the cherubim and the fiery sword which turns every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:21-24)

Many pious Christians have wondered, "why would God withhold the Tree of Life from mankind and allow us to experience death? Wouldn't it be more loving to allow us to correct our sins without having to experience death?" It is interesting that God seems to be in a hurry to put man outside of the Garden to make sure that he does not eat of the Tree of Life. At first glance, this passage seems to be a straightforward story of a severe punishment for a serious offence. We call to mind Hebrews 12:6 that says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." But we must ask, "how is it loving, that God has kept us away from the Tree of Life?" It is difficult for us to see love when we experience the death of our loved ones today.

We must think of the consequences that the alternative action, of allowing man to eat of the Tree of Life, would have had. The Fathers of the Church teach that man would have gone on sinning forever, never becoming what God had purposed for him. Our view of life in this fallen world is critical in how we understand God's actions recorded in our passage of Scripture. Do we see this life as all there is? Do we think of eternal life in Heaven with God and the Saints and Angels? Do we trust that God hates death more than we do? Do we trust that God is doing everything in the wisest and most loving way possible, working to bring about our salvation?

With a proper view of God's will and eternity, we can see why God swiftly took action to keep us from further harming ourselves. We can see that He lovingly gave us garments of skin as a reminder of our mortality and fall from an angelic way of life, where we were once clothed with a heavenly garment. We chose to leave God spiritually. And in His wisdom, God has allowed us to experience life separated from Him to a degree, not totally, because our God is not far off from us as Scripture says. It is in this period of life outside of God's garden, that we must learn repentance, humility, and all other virtues characteristic of citizens of heaven.

We can all relate to a familiar story where an older son, who still lives at home, begins to live a sinful life that is harmful to himself and his family. After refusing loving guidance to correct his life, the father is forced to kick the son out of the house. The father caringly provides the son with essential goods to be able to make it on his own. He even checks in on him once and a while, to see how he is doing and to provide him with more essential items when he sees fit. We see that the father wills the best for his son, but because of his harmful sins, must allow him to taste the bitterness of life outside the loving family, where he will not meet anyone that loves him the way that his father does. In his immaturity, the son needs to learn the hard way, that life in sin, out on your own, is the most cruel and depressing state to be. The son had two choices while living at his father's house, whether to obey his father's commands put away sin, or to continue in his harmful way of life. Out on his own, he has two choices before him again, whether to look at his dire condition, recognize the error of his ways, and return to his caring father in repentance or to be angry with his father for his casting him out and to stay in his miserable station in life.

We all have the same choice right now. Will we be angry at God forever for allowing us to experience suffering and death, which when we come to understand it, was our own creation or will we acknowledge the error of our ways, see God's love in allowing us to experience suffering and death as a means to cleanse us of all sin and return to God with repentance.

Let it be our aim to put away the garments of skin, the fleshly thoughts of the old man, and put on the uncorrupted garments of virtue of the new man created according to God. Let us return to the garden, no longer having the serpent as our guide, but only the loving commandments of God. Let us cast aside the taste for evil and partake only of the pure and unmixed good which has no share in iniquity. Only then will we be worthy to partake of the Tree of Life that has come down from heaven, present in Orthodox Churches around the world, the Holy Mysteries of our Lord's Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Amen.