In Genesis 3:22, What Does God Mean "Like One From Us"
Question:
Remember when we said that Adam and Eve didn't get the knowledge of good and evil by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but instead, they were to achieve/demonstrate their knowledge of good/evil by judging and killing the snake? In Gen 3:22, however, God seems to confirm that Adam and Eve did get that knowledge of good/evil through the fruit: "And the LORD God say, 'The man has now become one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’" How would you interpret this verse?
Response:
This is a good question. First, I should give you my “literal” interpretation of Genesis 3:22: The Lord God said, “Behold! The Man has become like one FROM amongst us, knowing good and evil and now lest he reach out his hand and he take also from the Tree of Life and eat to live forever…” I recognize that the common translation is “like one of us,” but with all due respect to the various translators I think this is an incorrect translation which a basic Hebrew Grammar would affirm. More accurately, God is saying that the Man (notice: not the Woman) has become like one FROM amongst us. This is a critical distinction.
The Man is not like God and His heavenly counsel, but rather like one FROM God and His heavenly counsel. Who else is FROM God’s heavenly counsel? Satan! In fact this word FROM, when used with actions of motion is used to describe a) descent from a mountain, b) a fall from a roof, or c) a fall from heaven. Hence, this is really the Fall in action. The Man has become like Satan, like one FROM God. And God is sending him out (3:23). Interestingly, this exact form of the word FROM is used in 2:17: “… Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat FROM it. For in the day you eat FROM it you shall surely die.” There is definitive and purposeful use of this word to connote that Adam’s sin in eating FROM the tree has made him like one FROM amongst God, rather than one like WITH God.
At this juncture, I would like to point out that one of Jesus’ names is Immanuel. This name comes from the Hebrew and means “God WITH us.” This is in fact opposite of the Man. The man is no longer like “one WITH us,” but rather like “one FROM us.” On a certain level, this does add to the Messianic foreshadowing of the coming work of Christ, since Christ is the perfect Adam, like “one WITH us,” rather than like “one FROM us.”
Is the Man like God knowing good and evil? In other words, was Satan telling the truth? My point was that God purposed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to enable the Man to know the difference between good and evil. Hence, Satan was brought forward to be judged by Adam, the divinely appointed King of the Earth. However, instead of judging evil, Adam became evil himself, in his disobedience of God. The point is that God’s purpose was not so much to test the Man, but rather to judge Satan. As you read the rest of the Bible, you will clearly see that although Adam failed to judge Satan, Christ does successfully and in the world to come, we, the Church, will judge angels, so that God’s purposes will ultimately succeed.
As for the issue of reaching out and taking the fruit of the Tree of Life… if the Man had also done that, his transformation into a demon-like being would be complete. He would be like one FROM God and unable to die. However, God in His mercy has enabled death so that it may facilitate our process of salvation. I think that we will talk about this in the Cain and Abel narrative where the idea of afterlife is introduced into the Genesis text. So, stay tuned! I hope this is helpful.
In Christ, Marty
Remember when we said that Adam and Eve didn't get the knowledge of good and evil by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but instead, they were to achieve/demonstrate their knowledge of good/evil by judging and killing the snake? In Gen 3:22, however, God seems to confirm that Adam and Eve did get that knowledge of good/evil through the fruit: "And the LORD God say, 'The man has now become one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’" How would you interpret this verse?
Response:
This is a good question. First, I should give you my “literal” interpretation of Genesis 3:22: The Lord God said, “Behold! The Man has become like one FROM amongst us, knowing good and evil and now lest he reach out his hand and he take also from the Tree of Life and eat to live forever…” I recognize that the common translation is “like one of us,” but with all due respect to the various translators I think this is an incorrect translation which a basic Hebrew Grammar would affirm. More accurately, God is saying that the Man (notice: not the Woman) has become like one FROM amongst us. This is a critical distinction.
The Man is not like God and His heavenly counsel, but rather like one FROM God and His heavenly counsel. Who else is FROM God’s heavenly counsel? Satan! In fact this word FROM, when used with actions of motion is used to describe a) descent from a mountain, b) a fall from a roof, or c) a fall from heaven. Hence, this is really the Fall in action. The Man has become like Satan, like one FROM God. And God is sending him out (3:23). Interestingly, this exact form of the word FROM is used in 2:17: “… Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat FROM it. For in the day you eat FROM it you shall surely die.” There is definitive and purposeful use of this word to connote that Adam’s sin in eating FROM the tree has made him like one FROM amongst God, rather than one like WITH God.
At this juncture, I would like to point out that one of Jesus’ names is Immanuel. This name comes from the Hebrew and means “God WITH us.” This is in fact opposite of the Man. The man is no longer like “one WITH us,” but rather like “one FROM us.” On a certain level, this does add to the Messianic foreshadowing of the coming work of Christ, since Christ is the perfect Adam, like “one WITH us,” rather than like “one FROM us.”
Is the Man like God knowing good and evil? In other words, was Satan telling the truth? My point was that God purposed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to enable the Man to know the difference between good and evil. Hence, Satan was brought forward to be judged by Adam, the divinely appointed King of the Earth. However, instead of judging evil, Adam became evil himself, in his disobedience of God. The point is that God’s purpose was not so much to test the Man, but rather to judge Satan. As you read the rest of the Bible, you will clearly see that although Adam failed to judge Satan, Christ does successfully and in the world to come, we, the Church, will judge angels, so that God’s purposes will ultimately succeed.
As for the issue of reaching out and taking the fruit of the Tree of Life… if the Man had also done that, his transformation into a demon-like being would be complete. He would be like one FROM God and unable to die. However, God in His mercy has enabled death so that it may facilitate our process of salvation. I think that we will talk about this in the Cain and Abel narrative where the idea of afterlife is introduced into the Genesis text. So, stay tuned! I hope this is helpful.
In Christ, Marty
So, where did evil come from? I ask this because it says that God created everything, and He said it is (all) good. So, what is evil and where did it come from? I have some understanding about this, but having difficulty reconciling certain passages of scripture to my understanding.
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