As we conclude chapter three in our study of the Book of Genesis, we find that the Lord slew an entire species of animal (Genesis 3:21) in order to show the need of life paying for life, the ‘innocent’ for the guilty. This, of course, points to the coming of the Savior, who was promised to the woman (Genesis 3:15). Nevertheless, the image of the crucifixion is more than simply life for life. Rather, it is, as the slaying of Genesis 3:21 suggests, it is kind for kind or species for species. In this, we get a picture of what Christ did to save us, but if this isn’t clear, it becomes clearer by what we read in Numbers 14. There, the children of Israel believed the bad report of the spies, who were sent into the Land of Promise, vis-à-vis they believed evil of God’s purposes. They wanted to slay Moses and return to Egypt, vis-à-vis they were about to rebel against God. What happened as a result?
The Lord said he would destroy all of them and raise up a better nation through Moses. How did Moses react? He asked the Lord to consider what the nations would say, the Lord is powerful to save, but too weak to keep the people. He asked the Lord to forgive them, just as he had done ever since bringing them out of Egypt. The Lord granted Moses’ request! However, how is this an image of the salvation Christ has brought to mankind?
In the context of Jesus being our Savior, he was righteous, sinless, vis-à-vis innocent, just as the animals the Lord sacrificed to cloth Adam and Eve. However, Jesus, if he had a mind to, could have rejected Adam’s race, because, after all, we rejected him. Jesus could have destroyed mankind and married a woman (or created one) and raised up a better race than that of Adam! Thus, the rejection of Jesus is similar to Israel’s rejection of Moses, whom they wanted to slay. Nevertheless, Jesus didn’t reject Adam’s race in order to raise up a better physical race through himself. This is also similar to Moses’ prayer to forgive Israel for their rebellion, instead of creating a new people through Moses. So, Jesus forgave the rebellion of men who rejected him, and he permitted men to slay him as a sacrifice, life for life (kind of kind). In doing so, he forgave Adam’s race and rejected the prospect of creating a better race in its place, and he invited us to take part in the Tree of Life, vis-à-vis Christ’s Life, and live forever.[1]
In the context of Genesis 3:22-24), there seems to have been a danger, despite the fact that mankind had been given a physical, corruptible body, for him to still reach out to the Tree of Life and live forever in his present state of rebellion. Mankind had not been thoroughly taught the two sides of good and evil by God. All they knew at this point was one side of the coin (Genesis 3:22). It wouldn’t be wise to live forever in such a state. Jesus needed to come to teach us more thoroughly about God and his spiritual Kingdom. Therefore, the man and his wife were cast out from the presence of God to live out the curse that they brought upon themselves. The Lord prevented their return to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:23-24), and this is symbolized by the veil between the Most Holy Place of the Temple of God and the Holy Place. The first is the Garden, and the second is Eden. The veil is the flesh of Christ, which once torn from top to bottom (Christ’s death), reentry into the Garden and to the Tree of Life/Christ is permitted.
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[1] What the Lord does here is clothe mankind with skin, a body, which reflects being clothed with Christ the Robe of Salvation (Romans 13:14; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10-11; cp. Psalm 132:9, 16; Isaiah 61:10)
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