Understanding God: He is Quick and Dispassionate
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And 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 Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. – Genesis 3:22-24
The way God dealt with Adam and Eve on account of their fall, even after just attending to their welfare by clothing them, reveals another of His personality traits. He is quick in action and dispassionate in His dealings.
After ensuring that Adam and his wife were adequately clothed and protected from whatever hazard they could face by having their bodies exposed, God wasted no time in removing the couple from the garden immediately after. Why did He do this? Because He did not want them to go ahead and eat the fruit of the Tree of Life, as that would be more disastrous than them eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Eating from the fruit of the Tree of Life would make Adam and Eve, and perhaps their descendants, immortal. In their fallen state, this would have had far-reaching effects and distorted the agenda of God for humankind, as He had an ultimate plan of enjoying everlasting fellowship with humans in an innocent state, whereas no unholiness can stand in His sight.
Therefore, to prevent humans from self-sentencing themselves to a lifetime of impurity, God wasted no time banishing them from the Garden of Eden. He did not wait to legislate to see if they had really changed and might not repeat their mistake with the Tree of Life. He does not take such chances.
He also did not want to start considering the pros and cons of their remaining in the garden or being evicted from it. He knew what the odds were and so took a dispassionate decision to remove the couple from the garden, He also set an angel by the entrance to guard the garden in case they wanted to sneak in.
This scenario underscores the quick wit of God and His impassive disposition to matters, even when His love and affection remain unchanged. The way He dealt in the affairs of Adam and Eve was quick, decisive, and dispassionate. Leaving them in the garden could lead to unwanted consequences and He would not have that, so He did something about it.
That’s the God we serve.
Selah!
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