When God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, did He do so as punishment or did He do so because He is a merciful God? I had always assumed God banished them as punishment. My logic went like this. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God knew they disobeyed Him therefore, He punished them by banishing them from Paradise. This, in my mind, was reinforced when God told Adam he would struggle to scratch a living from the ground and He told Eve she would have pain in pregnancy and a desire to rule over her husband but that her husband would rule over her.
I experienced a major paradigm shift when I listened to a Hillsdale course taught by Professor Justin Jackson entitled, “The Genesis Story: Reading Biblical Narratives.” During one of the lectures, Jackson states that God showed mercy to Adam and Eve when He banished them from the Garden of Eden.
We know God is a just God so my assumption that their disobedience resulting in their banishment had made sense to me. Of course, influencing me, was my worldly view of the way things work. When I was young and disobeyed my parents, I was punished. If it happened while I was swimming in my Aunt’s pool, I was banished from the pool. If it happened at a family gathering at our house, I was banished from the activities and sent to my room. In society, when someone commits a crime, they are banished from society and sent to prison. It made sense to me then, that Adam and Eve were banished from the garden for disobeying God.
Once Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they immediately realize they are naked, and they are ashamed of their nakedness. Aware of their transgression against God, they are now separated from Him yet living in what should have been Paradise.
Can you remember enjoying yourself at a gathering somewhere? You do something wrong and a parent, teacher, or other authority figure calls you out and reprimands you. The rest of the event is miserable, and you are unable to enjoy the festivities. Now imagine you are Adam or Eve living in this Paradise God gave you and you can no longer enjoy it because your actions have separated you from God. Paradise is now Hell.
The tree of life also grew in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve disobeyed once. Would they disobey again? If they did and they ate of the tree of life, they would live forever. Separated from God, everywhere they went, everywhere they looked, they would be reminded of their fallen state. Instead, God removes them from temptation by banishing them from the Garden. He places a Cherubim along the east side of the garden and a flashing sword to guard the way to the tree.
This can be seen as an act of mercy by God. If an earthly parent will take action to protect their children from unpleasant situations a child may unwittingly bring on themselves, how much more so would God? We are His children and while He is a just God, He is also a merciful God who loves us.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
What do you think? I would love to hear your comments!
Have a blessed day!
– Paula –
Hillsdale College offers courses on a variety of subjects for free including literature, the constitution, theology, history, and more. The also offer a free monthly newsletter called “Imprimus.” Check them out at hillsdale.edu
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