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When God removed Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, it is often assumed that it was punishment because of their disobedience to God. But is that really the case? We see in Genesis 3:16-19 that God does indeed pronounce curses upon Adam, Eve, and the earth itself. Not only was death the result of disobedience to God, so were decay, suffering, and pain. Then, towards the end of the incident, God removes them from the garden. But why? He had already punished them. Fortunately, God tells us. They had already eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result they were going to die. They were now in a state of separation from God in need of a redeemer. Their nature had changed. That’s what God is saying in v. 22. What would have happened if they had eaten from the tree of Life? God says that they would have lived forever. Isn’t eternal life the gift that God has for us through Jesus? Yes it is. However, if Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of life in their separated, unregenerate, unredeemed state, they would have lived forever in that state, unable to be redeemed, unable to be regenerated, and unable to be restored to a right relationship with God. So it would seem that God wasn’t angry and kicked them out of the garden. Instead He was trying to protect them from themselves and any possibility that they would never be able to be in His presence again. I wonder how often we perceive what God is doing as punishment, when it is really protection from ourselves.