Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #34 of Genesis, chapter 3 and we are going to read Genesis 3:24:

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.

I will stop reading there. In our last study we saw that the word “drove out” is also used in association with the wrath of God. Here, man has sinned and come under the wrath of God and has been driven out from God’s kingdom and God “placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims.” We mentioned that the direction “east” in the Bible relates to the kingdom of God. Man was in the kingdom of God in his original state when he was good, but then he fell into sin and came under God’s wrath.

In order to reenter he must go by the way of the east gate to the tree of life, but the tree of life is protected by Cherubims “and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” The word translated as “keep” is translated as “watch” or even as “watchmen.” The Cherubims and the flaming sword are watching the way. They are guarding the way of the tree of life and not just anyone can come meandering down the road and, unimpeded, make his way to the tree of life. That was no longer possible. When man was in his original good condition and without sin, he had access to the tree of life, but now access has been restricted and the tree of life is placed off limits and God Himself watches over it. Actually, that is where the “Cherubims” come in because they identify with the Person of God.

If you look up this word “Cherubims,” it is Strong’s #3742 and it is used well over 50 times in connection with the Ark of the Covenant and with the Holy Place, the Holy of holies. For instance, it is used in Exodus 25:16-22:

And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

We see that the Cherubims have everything to do with the Holy of holies and the Ark of the Covenant. God said He would meet with His people above the mercy seat. What was above the mercy seat? It was the Cherubims. They are closely related to God Himself and we know that in the Holy of holies God established this representation of Himself and His holiness and the Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments or the Law of God, the Word of God. It is that Law that man has broken and, therefore, it is the Law that condemns mankind. The Ark of the Covenant was really a container that carried the condemnation of man, the unsaved people of the earth that have broken the Law. When it was laid inside the Holy of holies, it had a mercy seat covering it and the mercy seat was over the ark and covering the testimony – the Law of God was inside the ark. The Law condemned man, so once a year the high priest of Israel would enter into the Holy of holies with much incense of smoke that made it so cloudy he could not see well, but he would make his way to the ark and take the sacrificial animal that had been slain on the Day of Atonement and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat covering the ark wherein was the Law. The figure of the sacrificial animal was the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His atoning work that He had performed from the foundation of the world. And the blood covered over the ark on the mercy seat; it was satisfaction regarding the Law’s demand that the one violating the Law die. There must be the shedding of blood or there can be no remission of sin. The Law demanded death: “The wages of sin is death.” The sprinkling of blood indicated that one had shed blood. It was an animal sacrifice but it was pointing to Jesus who gave His life for the sins of His people. He atoned for them, so it covered the Law and the Law no longer condemned the people of God. This is what it pictured. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

Below the mercy seat we had the ark with the Law, but above the mercy seat were the Cherubims and they were facing inward toward the ark and they are a figure of eternal God. They are a figure of an offended God, the God who had created man in His image and gave man the Law and when man failed to follow it, they transgressed and offended the Holy God who gave it. Thus, the Cherubims are a picture of God and, yes, it is plural, but remember that God gave Himself a plural name, “el-o-heem.” “El” is singular for God, but “el-o-heem” is plural for God. The word “Cherubims” is plural, but they represent the God of the Bible. In Hebrews, chapter 9 we find a reference to the Cherubims in Hebrews 9:2-5-7:

For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

In this passage God speaks of the “cherubims of glory” shadowing the mercy seat. They were above it and, therefore, cast their shadow upon the mercy seat. In calling them the “cherubims of glory,” He is picking up language from Ezekiel, chapter 10 and it is mentioned several times, but we are going to cut in toward the end of this chapter. It says in Ezekiel 10:18-19:

Then the glory of JEHOVAH departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of JEHOVAH'S house…

Remember in Genesis 3, where were the Cherubims positioned? They were on the “east” of the Garden of Eden and, here, it is the east gate of JEHOVAH’S house. Then it goes on to say in Ezekiel 10:19-22:

… and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

Being moved by God’s Spirit to write these things, Ezekiel mentions his earlier encounter with the cherubims at the river Chebar and that account is found in Ezekiel, chapter 1. Again, we could read many things about them in this chapter, but we just going to read the last verse in Ezekiel 1:28:

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 JEHOVAH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

This is the vision God gave Ezekiel concerning the “four living creatures” that He identified in Ezekiel, chapter 10 as the “cherubims.” They are the “likeness of the glory of JEHOVAH,” so when we read in our verse in Genesis 3, verse 24 that the Cherubims are placed with a flaming sword turning every way to keep the tree of life, we can understand they are a representation of the glory of JEHOVAH, God Himself or the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. As we mentioned in our last study, that is why Jesus said, in John 14:4-6:

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.

As we pointed out last time, Jesus is the “way” and the “life” and no man can go to the Father but by Him. The “way” that is Christ is the only way to reach the Father in the kingdom of God. In other words, when we look at this picture that God is giving us back in Genesis 3, verse 24 of the Cherubims, they represent God or the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see the “way” to the tree of life the “way” also represents the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we see the tree of life that is found in that narrow “way” that leads to eternal life, it, too, represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything here represents the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the like the “shadow of things” as represented by the Holy of holies. The ark represents the Lord Jesus Christ. The testimony inside the ark represents the Lord Jesus Christ. The mercy seat covering over the ark represents Christ. The cherubims above it represents Christ because God is all in all. And it is the same case with our verse in Genesis 3. Even the flaming sword that keeps the way of the tree of life is also a picture of Christ.

The word “flaming” is a word that is translated as “set on fire” or “burneth up.” It appears in Deuteronomy 32, verse 24. It is also in Psalm 97:3:

A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

The word translated as “burneth up” is the same word. It is in Psalm 106:18:

And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

It is the word “burned up” here. It is also used in Malachi, chapter 4 in regard to Judgment Day and burning up the wicked as stubble. It has everything to do with the judgment of God and in order to obtain life and live forever, God is really saying that you must “die.” God is indicating that the way of life is a way in which one must first “die.” They have to be killed with a sword. They have to be burned up in order to get past the watchmen, the Cherubims, to reach the tree of life and enter back into the kingdom of heaven. Of course, that is why salvation is impossible with man. It is not possible for man to successfully make his way past the flaming sword and the Cherubims that are watching the way of life because the flaming sword will kill him. Whenever it sees the least transgression or the least sin against God, it will slay him. His religion cannot get him through and neither can anything else in this world. And, certainly, his own works cannot get him through to the tree of life. It will always kill the natural man and burn him up and he will be no more. He will never get to the tree of life and eat and live forever.

So, yes, Jesus is all these things, but He is also the one who died and experienced the “flaming sword.” He was burned up and He experienced the fires of “hell” or death at the foundation of the world. He was the Lamb slain with the sword of the Word of God. He was the one whose blood was shed in order to make a way past the flaming sword. Jesus died for the sins of all the elect that were predestinated by God to salvation and that sword that should have destroyed the individual elect persons targeted Christ and He was smitten and afflicted on our behalf and He was wounded for our sakes as the fire burned and consumed Him. Now when one of God’s elect comes the way of the east to the kingdom of heaven and there is the “way” that is laid out for him and there are the Cherubims, but the Cherubims do not stop the child of God. The flaming sword has nothing it can hold against him and it does not strike him dead or burn him up. The child of God is able to pass because Christ had made the way. He has granted entrance and it is really as if the fire goes out and the sword disappears and there is nothing that will kill God’s people. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life for His people and we go to the Father by Him and we enter into God’s kingdom and we become citizens of heaven. We have access to the tree of life. We can eat of it today because God has already saved us. In our perfect resurrected soul we live forever already and we will eat of that tree for evermore. It has been restored to us. God has restored our souls and He has restored our ability to live forever and, therefore, we are greatly blessed.

So, here is one of God’s elect and he passes on the way and he goes down that path that no one else can travel. Then another person that is unsaved comes along and he says, “He made it, so I can make it,” but he is struck dead and the next one is burned up, and so forth. There has been no “way” made for those that are not elect. Christ did not die for their sakes, so they must die for themselves. They have to pay the penalty, but they cannot get by the flaming sword to the tree of life. Once the natural man is killed, he has no ability in himself to overcome death and rise from the dead in his own strength. Only God can do that kind of thing. Only Jesus could resurrect from the dead and come back to life, victorious over death. Man cannot do this. Man does not have power in the day of his death to rise again.

Let me just give you a couple of verses to look at and they are Hebrews 4, verse 12 and Revelation 19, verses 13 and 15, where we see that Christ is the Word and the Word is related to the sword, so Jesus also is the “flaming sword.” He is every aspect of the picture that God is drawing for us in our verse in Genesis 3, verse 24.