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Adam and the Tree of Life

Some folks may miss the important of the tree of life if they're quickly reading the Bible. (It's also very difficult to find a public domain image of it.) This tree first mentioned in Genesis 2:4, along with the one we've heard about quite a bit more, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam sinned, death entered the world (Gen. 2:16-17, Rom. 5:12, 1 Cor. 15:22). There are people who will agree with Satan and charge God with lying, because we read in Genesis 2:17, "...for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die", and Adam lived 930 years. That's one of the problems we have with translation, especially ancient Hebrew to modern English: meanings are difficult to communicate and still make the text readable. More literally, it reads, "dying you shall die". Adam and Eve were not going to die, but by eating the forbidden fruit, they began the dying process.

After Adam and Eve sinned and death entered the world, God would not let them eat from the tree of life. This was actually a tremendous act of mercy.
Image credit: Pixabay / OpenClipart-Vectors
God did not want Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life after they had sinned, and stationed a guard to keep them out (Gen. 3:24). (If you study on it, you'll realize that Eden must have still been there, guard and all, for mankind to see up until the Flood happened.) The tree that was mentioned in the first book of the Bible is also discussed in the last book at the restoration of all things (Rev. 22:2). But what was the big deal? Adam ate from the forbidden tree, why not from the tree of life? This was actually a tremendous act of mercy.
In Genesis 2:9, we are told that in the midst of the Garden of Eden, God placed the Tree of Life as well as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam was permitted to eat of every tree in the garden except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned that if Adam ate of its fruit, he would surely begin to die. (See this article for an explanation of why that is the best understanding).

In Genesis 3, the Bible describes the fall of mankind and how sin, death, and suffering entered the world when Adam disobeyed God’s commandment and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
To read the rest, click on "Why did God prevent Adam from eating from the Tree of Life after he had sinned?"