A fallen world

Genesis 3:24 (NASB)

So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Have you ever been rejected, expelled, or otherwise told to get out and never come back?  Awful words to hear, awful actions against you, awful sense of separation and unworthiness.  That’s what this verse said that God did against Adam and Eve.  He kicked them out of the garden of Eden and never would allow them to return.  They went from an idyllic paradise to a world filled with thorns and thistles.  It is reasonable to assume that the first days after being expelled from Eden, they wanted to go back, but God made sure that could never happen.  He placed guards in the form of cherubim and the flaming sword that could turn in any direction to make sure that they could not return. 

Cherubim are found throughout the Bible (e.g. Exo 25:17-22, I Kings 6:23-25, II Chron 3:7-14, Heb 9:5, Rev 4:6-9), but their first mention is in this verse.  Cherubim are angelic beings, divinely created to worship and praise and protect the reputation of God.  Satan is described as “the anointed cherub” in Ezekiel 28:14, but who became unrighteous and rebelled against God.

The flaming sword may represent several images----lightning, fire, weapon, and the Word of God (Eph 6:17, Heb 4:12).  This sword turned in every direction to keep sinful people from the tree of life.  The tree of life represents eternity.  Because Adam and Eve disobeyed the command of God and partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this introduced sin into their lives and separated them from God.  This separation started with the flaming sword guarding the tree of life to keep them out and continued until Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and enable mankind to re-establish a relationship with God and have eternal life (John 3:16, John 14:6).  Since Adam and Eve, people have tried to have a relationship with God without allowing the flaming sword to cleanse them (i.e. follow what the Word of God says about salvation) and they always fail.  What Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 still applies today---“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

What happened to the garden of Eden?  Most probably it was destroyed along with everything else on earth during the great flood.  The only other plausible possibility is that it was a place in heaven that God brought to earth and then after Adam and Eve were expelled it was eventually taken back up to heaven. 

The banishment of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden produced a fallen world that has resulted in infinite suffering for all mankind since.  This curse will only be lifted with Jesus returns.  So while you may be in great suffering now, and everyone suffers while on the earth, we have hope that someday we will live forever without any suffering.  Are you assured within your own soul that you have eternal life through your believe in what God through Christ did to save you from eternal banishment (I John 5:11-13)?