The Fall of Man

Today I read Genesis 3-5; Matthew 2.

The scriptures covered the topics of the Fall of Man in the garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, and the family tree of Adam (which later becomes the line to Christ) up until Enoch and then Noah.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Genesis 3:24 "After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." I haven't noticed the importance of this verse up until now. The commentary I read talked about how this verse is an indication of "worship now established to show God's anger at sin and teach the mediation of a promised Saviour as the way of life, as well as of access to God. They were the same figures as were afterwards in the tabernacle and temple; and now, as then, God said, "I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims" (Exodus 25:22) I thought it was really neat how God reminds us here that Christ is our only way of life and access to God. -----I actually have a question here: Does the flaming sword flashing back and forth symbolize the cross? What does the gree of life ressemble?

2. Genesis 5:24 "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." In the Bible, we see that God only took Enoch and Elijah directly from the Earth to heaven because in Hebrews we see that Enoch pleased God with his faith. Hebrews 11:5-6 "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." We can see here that God rewards those who are pleasing in his sight. A lot of times, I feel its hard to do so though. With earthly temptations and hardships, it is extremely easy to neglect the importance of pleasing God and obeying Him. However, I need to realize that all earthy things will eventually pass away, ultimately, it is the rewards in heaven that we need to look to.

3. In Ch. 2 of Matthew, time after time, we can see the prophecies in the Old Testement being revealed: v. " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' " v. 15: "where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'" The passage above is my favorite. For God called the Israelites out of Egypt for they are God's chosen people. v. 23 "and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'"

Time and time again we can see that God keeps his promises. We can see the history of disobedience from the Israelites, but God still keeps his promises that were translated through prophets time and time again throughout the Bible. Please let me know what you guys think!

Love,Dawn