Genesis 3:24...where's the flaming sword?

[Wolfborne]

NASB

Genesis 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

So my question then becomes, why hasn't anyone seen the angel(s) and this flaming sword? Heck we have Google maps and other satellite imagery. You'd think by now someone would take notice. :angel2:

My guess is that the author used weaponry and the "fear factor" of that time period to make a point. In this day and age, if someone was standing there with a flaming sword and mean-mugging me, I'd have to bust some .45 caps in him. I'm just saying...

 

[idea]

It's symbolic - I think Eden is from another dimension.

[youtube]odT4u0fyRmo[/youtube]
Sagan on flatland - YouTube

That Adam and Eve were sent to a world that had become spiritually void, and that they ushered in a new era of understanding.


The finger writing on the wall seems to come from another dim...

(Old Testament | 2 Kings 6:17)
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

bright light / fire seem to surround many things from the spiritual dim.

 

[Shiranui117]

The flaming sword got outdated, and it was time for that angel to retire. The gate to Eden was recently upgraded by God to this:

One does not simply walk into Eden...

 

[M_Wm_Ferguson_MTh]

Cherub = imaginary creature from ancient Near Eastern mythology.

Flaming sword?

Where can I get what they were smoking?

 

[Pegg]

NASB

Genesis 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

So my question then becomes, why hasn't anyone seen the angel(s) and this flaming sword? Heck we have Google maps and other satellite imagery. You'd think by now someone would take notice. :angel2:

My guess is that the author used weaponry and the "fear factor" of that time period to make a point. In this day and age, if someone was standing there with a flaming sword and mean-mugging me, I'd have to bust some .45 caps in him. I'm just saying...

the garden of eden was destroyed in the flood therefore the angels were no longer required to guard the entrance

 

[CDWolfe]

the garden of eden was destroyed in the flood therefore the angels were no longer required to guard the entrance

And where is the textual resource for that idea? It's not in the Bible.

Don't assume anything.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Don't assume anything.

opcorn:

 

[Muffled]

the garden of eden was destroyed in the flood therefore the angels were no longer required to guard the entrance

If Eden was equivalent to Asia in Norse myth then it was most likely in the caucasus mountains and too high to be washed away by a flood which I believe only affected Mesopotamia.

However it does seem likely that Eden went the way of the gods. It just isn't there anymore.

 

[Harrytic]

As a Christian, my question... and I still haven't found a good answer for it yet... is why God didn't just place that angel with the flaming sword next to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That would have prvented a HUGE mess! Would have prevented Adam and Eve from being hoodwinked into eating from it. Why put the security in after the crime? Shouldn't God be smart enough to put the security in beforehand, especially knowing what was going to go down? God was clearly playing cruel games with Adam and Eve.

Having said that, it is possible that the account of Genesis is a fable. It could be just a series of "just so" stories about how the world got there. Adam and Eve could well have been real people, probably at the top of the family tree. Any person with a good imagination is going to conjure up possible stories about them and why they appear to have no one above them on the tree. How did they get there? Must have been the first two humans created, right?

 

[Desert Snake]

As a Christian, my question... and I still haven't found a good answer for it yet... is why God didn't just place that angel with the flaming sword next to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That would have prvented a HUGE mess! Would have prevented Adam and Eve from being hoodwinked into eating from it. Why put the security in after the crime? Shouldn't God be smart enough to put the security in beforehand, especially knowing what was going to go down? God was clearly playing cruel games with Adam and Eve.

Having said that, it is possible that the account of Genesis is a fable. It could be just a series of "just so" stories about how the world got there. Adam and Eve could well have been real people, probably at the top of the family tree. Any person with a good imagination is going to conjure up possible stories about them and why they appear to have no one above them on the tree. How did they get there? Must have been the first two humans created, right?

Great. I'm wondering why you're a Christian then.

 

[Harrytic]

Great. I'm wondering why you're a Christian then.

Because I don't want to suffer God's wrath. Best be on the safe side, right? Or do I have to believe the same as you to be considered a "true Christian"?

 

[Wayfaring Stranger]

The tree of life is in the Eze:47 passage and at that time the Dead Sea has enough new water that fresh water fish can survive. Ge:2 gives an area that is the Garden and it alone was without water (moisture) so perhaps the 'sword' is the sun that turned the garden back into a desert until that river is flowing and the 'house' is the House of Prayer that will exist for the 1,000 year reign.

Zec:6:12:
And speak unto him,
saying,
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts,
saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH;
and he shall grow up out of his place,
and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec:6:13:
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD;
and he shall bear the glory,
and shall sit and rule upon his throne;
and he shall be a priest upon his throne:
and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Isa:56:7:
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer:
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar;
for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Eze:47:1:
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house;
and,
behold,
waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward:
for the forefront of the house stood toward the east,
and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house,
at the south side of the altar.

 

[Wayfaring Stranger]

Because I don't want to suffer God's wrath. Best be on the safe side, right? Or do I have to believe the same as you to be considered a "true Christian"?

Neither, if reading the Bible doesn't swing you and the end times happen to come in your lifetime, the last 3 1/2 years will offer 'proof' in some form. The concept is based on the verse below. If you are a believer when the 7th trump sounds you will be alive for the 1,000 years, if not then you come alive at the Great White Throne and God welcomes you into the kingdom of God as described in Re:21. The ones alive for the 1,000 years end up living inside new Jerusalem and all the rest live outside the city as described in the Isa:65 new earth verses. That is the greatest and the least and all of mankind is in one or the other.

Joh:20:29:
Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas,
because thou hast seen me,
thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen,
and yet have believed.

 

[Desert Snake]

do I have to believe the same as you to be considered a "true Christian"?

What is your definition of a true Christian?

 

[Muffled]

As a Christian, my question... and I still haven't found a good answer for it yet... is why God didn't just place that angel with the flaming sword next to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That would have prvented a HUGE mess! Would have prevented Adam and Eve from being hoodwinked into eating from it. Why put the security in after the crime? Shouldn't God be smart enough to put the security in beforehand, especially knowing what was going to go down? God was clearly playing cruel games with Adam and Eve.

Having said that, it is possible that the account of Genesis is a fable. It could be just a series of "just so" stories about how the world got there. Adam and Eve could well have been real people, probably at the top of the family tree. Any person with a good imagination is going to conjure up possible stories about them and why they appear to have no one above them on the tree. How did they get there? Must have been the first two humans created, right?

I believe the answer is obvious: It was God's intention for man to fail the test.

This is easy. I believe procreation and eternal life leads to a world with too many people.

God knew what He was doing and it appears to be kindness not cruelty to me.

That is possible but unlikely considering the Norse Myths contain a similar story.

I believe Adam was cloned from existing DNA and Eve cloned from Adam. I believe It is the top of the tree for Adams regeneration but not the beginning of the creation of man.

 

[Muffled]

The tree of life is in the Eze:47 passage and at that time the Dead Sea has enough new water that fresh water fish can survive. Ge:2 gives an area that is the Garden and it alone was without water (moisture) so perhaps the 'sword' is the sun that turned the garden back into a desert until that river is flowing and the 'house' is the House of Prayer that will exist for the 1,000 year reign.

Zec:6:12:
And speak unto him,
saying,
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts,
saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH;
and he shall grow up out of his place,
and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec:6:13:
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD;
and he shall bear the glory,
and shall sit and rule upon his throne;
and he shall be a priest upon his throne:
and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Isa:56:7:
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer:
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar;
for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Eze:47:1:
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house;
and,
behold,
waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward:
for the forefront of the house stood toward the east,
and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house,
at the south side of the altar.

I believe the text states that the trees are for food and healing not for eternal life which has already been provided by God.

I believe it is not likely that the sunwould guard a passage on earth. I believe it is more likely a laser as is most likely the flaming sword Jesus uses to destroy his enenmies in the last days.

 

[Muffled]

What is your definition of a true Christian?

I believe a true Christian is one who has The Holy Spirit within. I believe The Spirit of God does not speak one thing one time and another thing another time so there should not be a difference. I believe different beliefs are due to man's thinking as opposed to the truth provided by the Holy Spirit.

 

[skinker]

Neither, if reading the Bible doesn't swing you and the end times happen to come in your lifetime, the last 3 1/2 years will offer 'proof' in some form. The concept is based on the verse below. If you are a believer when the 7th trump sounds you will be alive for the 1,000 years, if not then you come alive at the Great White Throne and God welcomes you into the kingdom of God as described in Re:21. The ones alive for the 1,000 years end up living inside new Jerusalem and all the rest live outside the city as described in the Isa:65 new earth verses. That is the greatest and the least and all of mankind is in one or the other.

Joh:20:29:
Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas,
because thou hast seen me,
thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen,
and yet have believed.

I guess it's time to pass along the Armageddon has come information so we stop getting the Bible believers posts like above thrown at us Christians who think and are not blind faith robots swallowing myths just because they've been packages and sold for over 2000 years to gullible believers. Hoary with age is meaningless if what's inside is just dead men's bones and all uncleanliness.

The Bible can no longer be used as spiritual authority. It has been exposed by God through his archeological agents resurrecting the historical truth about the people who wrote the Bible that most of you Christians use as foundational to your Christian beliefs. Their findings show the people who wrote the Bible wrote the stories for political expediency to meld three different Canaanite groups together into one. All the major Torah stories and characters are fictional, merely Jewish myths of origin that would have been outed long ago as such except for the protection from historical scrutiny by Pauline Christians and Zionist Jews. At least that was the case up until Israeli archeologists and historians themselves were willing to look without prejudice at the findings of over a century of combing the Holy Land for archeological evidence confirming major event reported in the Old Testament. There can be no real spiritual authority in mythical events and personages. The Bible no longer has spiritual authority and cannot be used to back up one's "Christian" beliefs, or Jewish beliefs, or Islamic beliefs all based on Bible stories being true.

Since God put me on the Gnostic Christian path at the beginning of my Christian walk the news about the Bible's dethronement doesn't affect my Christian beliefs which, like most all Gnostic ones, was never dependent on believing the Bible stories. And it turns out we Gnostics were led right by God while Pauline Christians now face their End Times. I will explain why as we go along.

 

[Harrytic]

What is your definition of a true Christian?

I could define what I believe to be a true Christian, but it will be a simplistic one and it will be leaving out all the fine print that most Christians can never agree on. Basically I see a true Christian as someone who believes in Jesus; that he is the son of God and died for our sins. It's someone who does their best to live by God's rules. Oh and don't forget the worship! If God doesn't get enough of that... well let's not go there.

I believe I am a true Christian, but no doubt there will be many Christians here who think I'm not. But then fortunately they aren't the ones who will be judging me come Judgement day.

PS: If we were to eliminate every Christian who ever claimed that another person was not a true Christian, there would be no Christians.

 

[Harrytic]

I believe a true Christian is one who has The Holy Spirit within. I believe The Spirit of God does not speak one thing one time and another thing another time so there should not be a difference. I believe different beliefs are due to man's thinking as opposed to the truth provided by the Holy Spirit.

True a Christian will have the holy spirit within. However it's impossible to tell who has the holy spirit in them. There are the fruits of the spirit, but most Christians do not exhibit them all, which leaves doubts as to whether they have the holy spirit in them at all.

Many Christians claim to have the holy spirit and that the HS led them to certain "truths". But what is the "truth provided by the holy spirit"? It's impossible to conclude because all the "spirit-filled Christians" cannot agree on what it is.

It's very frustrating.

But I should be careful. Risking taking this thread way off track.