God’s plan that all the earth be Eden came to a screeching halt almost as soon as it began. The nachash arrogantly sought to be the Most High. His transgression succeeded in undermining the fulfillment of God’s original intention for humanity but failed to result in human destruction. The rebel inserted himself into the role of Most High, casting himself as God’s mouthpiece, but wound up as lord of the dead.
In some respects, the nachash took humanity with him when Adam and Eve were barred from the presence of God and the tree of life, imagery that telegraphed the theological message that humans are mortal and that everlasting life in God’s presence could come only through God’s grace and mercy. Without saving grace, humanity was now the rightful property of death and its lord.
God, the Life-giver, forgave Adam and Eve. They were not destroyed. Humanity would survive. They would bear children to perpetuate their line and, with it, keep God’s original intention alive. The rule of God would someday return to earth—in his time and by his methods. Evil would impede, but not defeat, God’s purpose. This new circumstance—this gracious good news —would demand that humanity make the choice rejected in Eden. From this point forward, dwelling forever as a member of God’s family-council requires choosing loyalty to him above any other divine voice.
Free-will rebellion didn’t end with Eden. It was only the beginning—for both divine and human imagers. Transgressions before (Gen 6:1–4) and after (Gen 11:1–9; Deut 32:8–9) the flood are cases in point, as well as points of reference. They set the stage for the rest of the Old Testament.
Yahweh’s portion would be Israel. He cast off the other nations and assigned them to lesser gods. Those gods become divine rivals, not servants, of Yahweh. Their rule is corrupt (Psa 82 ). The rest of the Old Testament pits Yahweh against those gods and Israel against their nations. To make matters worse, the residue of Genesis 6 lived among the inhabitants of those nations, on the ground that Yahweh had promised to Abraham. Yahweh’s chosen portion of land would be contested. War loomed.
But first Yahweh’s portion, his people, would have to take root. Yahweh would initiate a relationship with Abraham, and that required a meeting. That presented a fundamental problem for God. He is so unlike anything in human experience that his pure presence cannot be processed by the human senses. It would, in fact, be lethal. God’s solution was to veil himself for human protection and detection. This was necessary even in Eden, where the writer casts God as a man, walking through the garden, searching for his fallen imagers (Gen 3:8). That, too, will emerge as a pattern hidden in plain sight.