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NASB | Genesis 3:22 ¶ Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 3:22 ¶ And the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever"-- |
Bible Question:
Ok, so maybe I'm thinking too much about this, but in this paraphrased version it's almost like God is concerned that if they stay in the garden they may eat from the tree of life? So, why is the fact that they(we) would live forever such a concern? Especially since God offers us this through salvation in Christ Jesus. I can think of reasons like our human bodies weren't meant to live forever, and/or that it wasn't part of God's plan (I can accept I won't know why God does things the way he does all the time). This just seems like an odd thing to throw into the scripture. So, why would this have been included. Maybe to give us an answer why Adam and Eve had to leave? But then I still think there must be more meaning here than I'm grasping. I can't believe some times how many layers there are to scripture. |
Bible Answer: Hi, Jody... I suggest that God was incredibly gracious to prevent humans from living forever in their fallen state. For the saved, we look to living with God in a resurrected bodies (see Revelations 22:14). For the lost, God graciously prevents them from lives of even greater condemnation. By the way, Scripture doesn't have "layers" of meaning. That's a false a view of Biblical truth promoted by those who deny the doctrine of sola Scripture. Any given text only means what it originally was meant to mean when it was written. May I suggest you read through the thread #156916, it contains a number of brief notes on how to properly interpret Scripture. In Him, Doc |