ENTERING “THE WAY OF LIFE” AGAIN

Genesis 3:1-12  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Genesis 3:22-24  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

• It is to give the reason and foundation for our need of being saved by Jesus.
• It is to show that God wants to return us to the original place that he created man to dwell.

• It’s a path.
• And God wants us to walk in that path and to dwell there.
• And this way of life is spoken of throughout the Bible.

John 14:1-16  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

• He begins by speaking about trusting in Him.
• Believe in Him.
• And then He speaks about places in the Father’s house.
• He said they knew the place and they knew the way there.
• That way was Himself.
• He is the way.
• That is the reason that He began by saying they must believe in Him.

Matthew 7:13-14  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

• And keeping in mind the imagery of the Garden, we find it is no wonder that we read these following words immediately after the above.

Matthew 7:15-20  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

• God wanted the people to eat of the fruit of life but did not want them to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
• And Jesus warns us, when speaking of the way of life, that we watch out for false prophets who will be known by what fruit they offer you!
• If they offer the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil to you, then you will no more enter in by eating that then Adam could stay in the Garden when he ate of it.
• The devil wants to keep you out of the way of life!

• And here Jesus connected the way of life with fruit also.

Hebrews 10:19-20  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

• The way of life.

The way of the tree of life is a protected way.

• Cherubims and a flaming sword were said to KEEP the way of the tree of life.
• To KEEP means to PROTECT and GUARD.

• They are guardians.
• But they are not guardian angels.
• No angel ever looked like this:

Ezekiel 10:1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Ezekiel 10:14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

They were fearsome looking creatures.

• They actually represent the church, which we have studied elsewhere in our studies already.
• But these were the appearances of the cherubims.
• It is important we study this because this is part of the entire story that explains why we need to be saved today.

• They guard this way and protect it.

• It’s a flaming sword that turns every way.
• And it stands in the entrance of this place where God put man in the beginning to live.
• And later in the New Testament, it is no coincidence that when we also read about a “rest” in which God wants us to enter and dwell, that there is also a sword.

Hebrews 4:11-12  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

• They protected it.
• And this note in Hebrews 4 helps us understand in just what manner the sword protected the way.

• Its saying the same thing.
• This is where God wants you to come.
• And the WORD OF GOD is like a sword at the entrance that cuts and divides our souls from our spirits.
• We are told to labour to enter into this rest for the distinct reason that the word of God is like a sword that does a perfect job of spiritually cutting into our lives.
• It sounds odd and perhaps gruesome if you do not get the idea Hebrews is actually saying.
• The reason we are to labour to enter because the word will cut perfectly is because the labour this is speaking about is the labour found in this verse:

Hebrews 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

• You are supposed to take God’s word and mix it with faith.
• That is the labour.
• Immediately before this we read the following:

Hebrews 3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

• Israel failed to do that.
• Getting the Word mixed with our faith will help us enter the rest.
• We must commit this labour because the word acts like a sword and will cut away all unbelief that keeps people out of the rest!
• This explains verses 11 and 12.

• It preserves “the way” from the defilement of doubting God.
• It keeps it holy.
• It keeps it pure and undefiled.
• So, if you do not believe, then you will are therefore defiling.
• You will therefore be excluded by the sword.

Isaiah 35:8-10  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

• Notice that wild beasts cannot walk there.
• Those who walk on this highway are safe!
• Since the way of life is protected by the sword and the cherubims, we see now that the people who walk on it are therefore protected also!
• The reason God protected the way of life from evil is not keep mankind out, but for mankind to be cleansed by God from sin and to walk in this way and thereby be safe in His care!
• He doesn’t protect a road just to protect a road.
• He protects the road so that those who walk on it are protected!
• Adam could not tread upon it because he was sinful.
• He was unclean, and the way was protected from uncleanness.
• Its a privileged place of walking.

• We return to the Garden!
• And notice this!

Hebrews 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

• This means that they must have walked the protected highway of holiness!
• It’s a highway of holiness because it s a protected way.
• Its separate from all other ways.

• Many people want to go to heaven, but they do not want to lose some things that the sword must cut away from them.
• The sword cuts away desires that are sinful and unholy.
• It cuts away adultery and fornication.
• It cuts away attitudes against people, and gossip and grudges.
• It cuts away self exaltation and self-centredness.
• It cuts away bad feelings towards others and hatred.
• It leaves all that is good and right.
• It protects the road from the kind of people who are wicked and unforgiving towards others.

At this time let us turn back to the reference of the voice of God that came towards Adam after he sinned.

• I used to think this was simply God walking through the Garden whistling a tune or speaking softly.
• Then I realized that the COOL OF THE DAY in which they heard this voice actually means SPIRIT OF THE DAY, or CLOUD of the day.
• SPIRIT and CLOUD and WIND all come from the same Hebrew idea.
• God was often spoken of as dwelling in a glory cloud in the Bible.

Exodus 16:10  And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

Exodus 40:35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Ezekiel saw God’s glory and cherubims were associated with it in Ezekiel 1:4; 10:1.

Ezekiel 1:22-28  And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

• And the Hebrew word for VOICE in the reference to the VOICE of God moving in the Garden is NOISE or SOUND.
• Adam was not hearing God whistling or softly speaking, but rather was hearing thunderous noises, or rushing waters, or a marching army, etc.
• And that is why he hid himself because he was afraid.

And because there were cherubims associated with this NOISE, if you compare the rest of the Bible to this picture, this was the entity that stood at the entrance of the Garden as well!

Remember the Exodus story and the part in which God came down in a cloud and stood between the Egyptians and the Hebrews at the Red Sea, protecting the people from the armies.

• He caused darkness on the side of the Egyptians, but she forth light on the Hebrews.

• It can speak of judgment and blockage, as well as covering and protection.
• That is the reason that the VOICE or NOISE of God that came in the CLOUD of the day, or the WIND or SPIRIT of the day, came in judgment against Adam but also protected the way of the tree of life.

Genesis 1:1-3  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

• And the word MOVED UPON in Hebrew means FLUTTERED, like a dove.
• This was the glory cloud of God.
• The same cloud that allowed the Hebrews to experience light in the darkness.
• This cloud covered the earth and then God’s Word spoke forth light into that earth.
• It caringly and gently brooded over the earth.
• And light came forth.
• That is the reason that Genesis 3:8 calls it the SPIRIT OF THE DAY, or the CLOUD OF THE DAY.

Deuteronomy 32:10-11  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

• This is describing the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.
• God caringly found Israel in a WASTE, WITHOUT FORM, desert, and fluttered or moved upon Israel.
• And He guided them.
• He protected them from trouble beneath His wings.
• The wings are not the wings of God as though he were a bird.
• But this glory CLOUD had cherubims in it, whose wings sounded like rushing waters, etc.
• Those are the wings that God fluttered with, because we read that He rides upon a cherub.

2Samuel 22:7-12  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

• The Hebrew word for PAVILION also means TABERNACLE, BOOTH or COVERING.

• So this glory cloud was a sort of TABERNACLE or PAVILION.
• It covered the WAY of the tree of life.

Isaiah 4:4-5  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

• The word DEFENCE also means COVERING, DIVINE PROTECTION or CANOPY.

• And in John, where we read Genesis notes of the beginning, the light, the word, a series of days, the Spirit of God coming down upon Him in baptism like a dove, we also read this:


John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

• The Word "DWELT" literally means "TABERNACLED".
• And the TABERNACLE of God was His pavilion or GLORY CLOUD.
• And John said we beheld HIS GLORY.

• You need to get inside of this pathway!
• In Him is protection.
• In Him is Joy.
• As the Spirit Cloud of God’s glory gently covered the wasted earth and spoke forth light where there was darkness, Jesus is the word and is the light of the world.
• And as that cloud came in judgment against Adam and drove him out of the Garden, and protected the garden from uncleanness, He will guard you and keep you in His cherubimic wings from all harm.
• He gently covers those who are His, but on the outside looking on, He is a fearsome guard and protector against sin and evil.

Matthew 23:37-38  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

• Get in Christ and stay inside Him.