The Cherubim Duration Mystery
The punishments God metes out to Adam and Eve (and the serpent who deceived them) are vast. We read in Genesis 3:22-3 that God not only kicked man out of the Garden of Eden, He specifically states that they must not be allowed to eat of the Tree of Life, which will cause them to become immortal again. Then in Genesis 3:24, God posts an angel with a flaming sword specifically to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
The serpent is made to crawl around on his belly. This of course implies he had legs before this incident. One person remarked recently that it hardly seems fair to punish all snakes forever this way. Others pointed out that we, as humans, also continue to suffer because of what Adam and Eve did – (Romans 5:12).
We suppose if Eve had resisted the serpent’s temptation, there would be no more people. Of course, then there would be no more snakes either. We suppose this is not unlike considering a world in which we had never been born.
One of the more interesting questions is “How long did the Angel guard the way to the Tree of Life?” We know in some sense the Tree of Life will show up again in Heaven (Revelation 2:7, Revelation 22:3, Revelation 22:14). We also know that Solomon in his proverbs uses The Tree of Life metaphorically (Proverbs 3:18, Proverbs 11:30, Proverbs 13:12).
Different views exist on this. Some say the angel went away after Adam and Eve died. Most seem to think the flood destroyed the Tree of Life and the angel went away. A few even think the angel is still there, arguing the tree and angel could have been protected from the flood, because all things are possible with God.
The Bible does not answer the question of how long the angel was there. We do not know for sure. This question falls squarely in the category of fun things to think about, but not really necessary to answer. We do have confidence that we will know the answer one day.
What do you think? Compose and post your comments below:
You mentioned that Adam and Eve were prevented from eating from the tree of life to become immortal again but they were not immortal to begin with. The image and likeness of God simply means that Adam resembled his Creator, (Christ). Genesis 5:3 stated that when Adam was 130 years old he begat a son in his likeness and image, the same words in Genesis 1:26. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 speaks of Adam not being a spiritual man but a natural man, earthly, carnal.
Think about this. How did Noah manage to get all of the animals together in the same place and at the same time? They had to have already been there. The Garden of Eden! Noah had to have built the ark either in or near the garden. As for the Cherubim guarding the entrance to the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:24; So 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.
I believe that the tree of life represented Christ and the law. The pages of a book are called leaves. There may be a parallel between the Book of life and the tree of life. Makes for some interesting research!
We do agree with almost all of this post, and we do concede that the debate over whether Adam and Eve were actually originally created mortal or immortal is real. However, we find it interesting that you cite Genesis 3 but start in verse 24 when according to verse 22 the whole reason the Cherubim was posted there was to keep them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever. The point of the original blog post was simply to consider how long the Cherubim was standing there.