Last time in Bible Understanding, God spoke harshly to the humans He had created and the crafty snake that took them down the wrong garden path. God meaded out what appears to be punishment after judging the man, woman and snake for their disobedience and deception. Next, we have Adam naming his wife Eve, the name means living and we see that God has given the couple the gift of continuance, as the original parents of the human race, Eve as mother. God makes garments for the man and woman from skins, clothing them. God stated this next: "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good from evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." Man is then banished from the garden with cherubim guarding the way to the tree of life. This sounds fantastical and yet, I find it vastly entertaining as a delightful explanation for the human condition, as we are born and from that day forward, we march toward death with nary a pill, surgery or fountain of youth to keep us alive forever. Man can search high and low, declare his strength power and might all he likes and yet, he has not a chance against death, the bell tolls for everyone, no matter how much they protest! I grin, loving the undeniability of human frailty and dependancy upon God, whether or not it appeals to human ego or logic. Whether the Garden of Eden is fact or fiction, part of historical mans beginning in life or a wisdom filled metaphor, some facts remain, death is one of them and for this to be true, life also must be a measureable truth, a fact. According to The Bible, God breathed the breath of life into His creatures, into man and woman~He could withhold this gift of life and yet, He allows continuance, procreation, and propegation through Adam & Eve, a give of organic nature combined with Godly grace. Until next time in Bible Understanding, when we meet two brothers, Cain and Abel...we also learn of the first recorded murder, a story of jealousy and rage indulged, and Gods response to man's dark side.
