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It will be observed that the word "generation" is used in the plural of each except
the last. The generations refer to the descendants, as may be seen by an isolated
generation like that of Ruth 4: 18-22; the generation of Jesus Christ however refers to
his human ancestry not to His descendants, for He had none. In the generations of the
heavens and the earth, are recorded the following features:
(1)
The forming of man from the dust, and his becoming a living soul.
(2)
The planting of the garden eastward in Eden.
(3)
The prohibition concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(4)
The naming of the animals and Adam's conscious loneliness.
(5)
The formation of the woman as a help meet for him.
(6)
The temptation and the fall, the curse and sorrow.
(7)
The promise of the seed of the woman and ultimate victory.
(8)
The return of man to the dust from whence he had been taken.
(9)
The expulsion from Eden and the placing of the sword and cherubim.
(10)
The two seeds as manifested in Abel and Cain.
(11)
The appointment of Seth instead of Abel.
Fuller details could of course be included, and the reader must remember that there is
no significance in the number that we have indicated. In view of the balancing feature in
the book of the Revelation, we can write over this period the words "Paradise Lost",
without borrowing any ideas from Milton, even as we can write over the closing chapter
of the Revelation "Paradise Restored". The book of the Revelation does not reach as far
as "The end" of I Cor. 15: 24.
Two main themes commences in Gen. 3: that continue to the end of time, and
which constitute the conflict of the ages. These are (1) The promise of the woman's
Seed, (2) The continuous enmity between the two seeds until ultimate victory is
achieved. For long after the New heavens and earth, death will still be an enemy
(I Cor. 15: 24-28). The loss sustained as a consequence of the Fall is symbolized in the
expulsion from the garden with the consequent denial of access to the tree of life, but
restoration is pledged by the placing of the cherubim together with a flaming sword to
keep the way of the tree of life. In the sequel, when the intervening gap is filled by the
fruits of redemption, we are taken by a series of steps back to Eden and its blessedness, as
is made manifest by the following extract from the close of Revelation.
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are
passed away . . . . . and he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life . . . . . and there shall be no more curse
. . . . . that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates
into the city" (Rev. 21: 4; 22: 1-3, 14).
Here is the complete reversal of the consequences of the fall of man in Eden, and we
have surveyed yet another "fullness", the fullness of Redemption that spans the ages and
their burden of sin and death. One feature demands a somewhat fuller treatment here,
and that is the cherubim and their purport. The several occasions when the cherubim are