Thus far in our study, God Almighty has created the two spiritual kingdoms in spiritual day/age 1 and the physical realm with life in spiritual day/age 2.  God Almighty then created a garden.

And the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.  Genesis 2:8  NASB

God Almighty placing the man in the garden of Eden means that God Almighty brought the man into His presence by projecting His spiritual kingdom upon the man in the physical realm.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  Genesis 3:8  NASB

The story of the garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and 3 not only tells of the initial conditions for humanity, but, as we will see, it also contains symbolic prophecy of what lies ahead for humanity after Eden.  Divinely, some of the symbolism used in Genesis 2 and 3 is consistent with the symbolism used in the book of Revelation to tell of the spiritual future of humanity past 100 AD.  Thus, the Bible is bookended at the beginning by symbolic prophecies in Genesis 1-3 and at the end by the symbolic prophecies of the Book of Revelation.  In between, we have a historical record of the genealogical branch of humanity which begins with the man Adam and goes through Noah, Abraham, Jacob, David, to Jesus.

The garden of Eden is described in terms of rivers.

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.  The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.  And the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.  And the name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.  And the name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria.  And the fourth river is the Euphrates.  Genesis 2:10-14  NASB

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers start in the mountains of eastern Turkey and flow generally southward through Syria and Iraq and join before emptying into the Persian Gulf.  People who believe that Eden was/is a physical place have tried to locate it by using this scripture together with information from geology, archeology, and history.

A garden, such as Eden, is a place where desired plants are grown, whether for beauty or for food.

And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Genesis 2:9  NASB

The two spiritual kingdoms are each represented by a tree in the garden.  The tree of life, representing God Almighty’s kingdom, is also symbolic of Jesus nailed to a tree–the cross at Calvary.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE – in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.  Galatians 3:13-14  NASB

The apostle Paul cited the following scripture in his characterization of Jesus’ crucifixion.

“And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”  Deuteronomy 21:22-23  NASB

One receives healing from the tree of life.

…  And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  Revelation 22:2  NASB

Here is a scripture which connects Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary with healing.

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.  1Peter 2:24  KJV

The stripes from scourging which Jesus’ body bore while hanging on the tree/cross are for healing.

In addition, one gains eternal life when one eats of the tree of life.

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”–  Genesis 3:22  NASB

We are instructed to eat that which was hanging on the tree/cross at Calvary — Jesus’ body.

And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”    Matthew 26:26  NASB

One receives eternal life, if one eats of that which hung on the cross at Calvary.

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”  John 6:51  NASB

So, Jesus is the “fruit” hanging on a tree (the cross) that we are to eat in order to obtain eternal life.  Consequently, Jesus on the cross, as the source of healing and the source of eternal life, manifests the properties assigned to the tree of life.  Therefore, the tree of life in God Almighty’s garden represents Jesus on the cross of Calvary, the means for humanity to obtain eternal life.  The tree of life in Genesis prefigures that which will come to pass later; the tree of life in Revelation celebrates that which has transpired.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden represents the kingdom of darkness.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”  Genesis 2:16-17  NASB

The name for this tree appears to be a figure of speech whereby the combining of two opposites indicates an entirety.  With that perspective, the name would indicate the tree of the knowledge of everything.  Here then, we have the suggestion that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil offered new experiences to the original pair.  In fact, an experience not yet occurring for the couple in the garden and which is associated with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is death, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die (Gen 2:17).  Thus, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents knowledge and behaviors that will lead to death.  Yet, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not named the tree of death, a name that would be consistent with its counterpart, the tree of life.  That is so, because death is not a part of the garden realm.  Death comes from Satan and his spiritual kingdom.

Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;  Hebrews 2:14  NASB

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is symbolic of life in Satan’s kingdom of darkness with all its evils, including death.

Jesus told us the symbolic meaning of trees and their fruit.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the rotten tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits.”  Matthew 7:15-20  NASB

Here we are told that good fruits (behaviors) are only associated with good trees and that bad fruits (behaviors) are only associated with bad trees.  For the garden of Eden, bad behaviors are associated only with the bad tree (of the knowledge of good and evil) and good behaviors are associated only with the other trees, including the Tree of Life.  Therefore, the behavior of the man Adam or the woman, whether good or bad, is reveled by the tree from which they eat fruit.  Thus, in a spiritual sense, you are what you eat.

The apostle Paul identified the fruits of the good trees which the man was to “eat” in the spiritual realm of the garden.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23  NASB

God Almighty’s command to eat of the fruit of the good trees meant that the man was to produce the fruit of the Spirit in his behavior.

The apostle Paul likewise identified the fruits that grow on the bad tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  Galatians 5:19-21  NASB

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  Romans 1:28-32  NASB

God Almighty ordained death as the consequence of these behaviors, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die (Gen 2:17).

Jesus told us of another symbolic meaning of eating.

But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  The disciples therefore were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.”  John 4:32-34  NASB

Here Jesus characterizes doing the will of and accomplishing the work of God Almighty as eating spiritual food provided by Him.  This association of eating food with doing the will of the provider of the food applies to the trees in the garden.  That is, if the first couple eats fruit of the good trees, food approved by God Almighty, then they will have obeyed God Almighty, done His will, and accomplished His assignments.  On the other hand, if they eat the fruit of the bad tree (of the knowledge of good and evil), the food offered by Satan, then they will have disobeyed God Almighty by doing the bidding of Satan.  In the garden, there will be a temptation for the first couple represented symbolically in terms of what fruit to eat, and we will know whose work they accomplish by which tree(s) they are described as eating from.  When we know what fruit the first couple has eaten, we will know whom they obeyed.

There are other symbols in the garden which we need to identify, and we start with the symbol having the speaking part – the serpent.  We have already noted that John in his revelation twice tells us that Satan was symbolically represented first as a serpent in the story of Genesis 3 and later in Revelation as a dragon.

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  Revelation 12:9  NASB

And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,  Revelation 20:2  NASB

Next, we consider ground and dust which have symbolic meanings consistent with an understanding of the natural.  Dust is part of the ground; but dust is not limited to being only on the ground, for wind will cause dust to raise and to enter the expanse above the ground.  Dust cannot rise on its own accord; it must be lifted up by the wind.  Furthermore, airborne dust without the wind will settle back to the ground.

As there is a natural wind, there is a spiritual “wind.”

“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is every one who is born of the Spirit.”  John 3:8  NASB

Of course, we have the famous incident from the New Testament.

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.  Acts 2:1-4  NASB

So the Holy Spirit acts as a spiritual wind.

Humanity, which was formed of dust from the ground (Gen 2:7), is naturally associated with both ground and dust.  Ground symbolically represents the physical realm, and dust on the ground is humanity in the physical realm.  The Spirit of God Almighty, like a violent, rushing wind, lifts humanity (dust of the physical realm) into the spiritual realm of the kingdom of God Almighty, just as the natural wind lifts dust into the air.  Dust in the garden of Eden is humanity lifted up by God Almighty’s spirit to the garden realm with the spiritual senses enhanced and heightened by the projection of God Almighty’s kingdom and His presence.

Having established the symbolic meaning of items in the garden, we now consider the first couple while there.

The Old Testament begins with God Almighty creating a man, and then He took the man and without a woman created a woman.  The New Testament begins with a third instance of divine creation of humanity when God Almighty took a woman (virgin Mary) and without a man created a Man (Jesus).  Beyond these three instances of direct, divine creation, all the rest of humanity have been created by the partnership of a male and a female.

Because of their direct, divine creation, the man Adam and Jesus lack a natural father and therefore are true sons of God Almighty.

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.  Luke 3:38  NASB

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Mark 1:1  NASB

Both these sons of God Almighty were called Adam.

So also it is written “The first MAN, Adam,             BECAME A LIVING SOUL.”  The last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.  1Corinthians 15:45  NASB

Both of these sons were the image of God Almighty.  The man Adam was in the image of God Almighty when created and placed in the garden of Eden.

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Genesis 1:27  NASB

At Jesus’ baptisms in the River Jordan, He was adopted as a son and became Christ, the image of God Almighty.

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.  Colossians 1:13-15  NASB

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  2Corinthians 4:4  NASB

Therefore, we have Jesus during His ministry to inform us of what it meant for the man Adam to be in the image of God Almighty while in the garden.

To begin, Jesus had dominion over the physical realm.

And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  Mark 4:39  NASB

Likewise, the man Adam, after being created, was given dominance over the earth.

And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  Genesis 1:28  NASB

Jesus also had dominion over spiritual beings

Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan!  For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ”  Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.  Matthew 4:10-11  NASB

And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.  Matthew 17:18  NASB

Granting dominance to the man Adam over the animals is expressed in more detail in Genesis 2.

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  Genesis 2:19-20  NASB

In ancient times, one naming another was an indication of dominance.  For instance, some of the captives taken from Judah to Babylon, including Daniel, were renamed by their captors (Dan 1:7).  Animals are often representations of spiritual beings.  Satan is represented as a serpent in the story of the garden and as birds in Jesus’ parable of seed upon different soils (Matt 13:4-23).  So, the man Adam naming beasts and birds suggests that the man Adam was granted dominance over spiritual beings

Humanity, as we have discussed, is a trinity of a living being/soul with a body to interface with the physical world and a spirit to interface with the spiritual world.  Each of these components of humanity was enhanced while in God Almighty’s presence in the garden.

First we consider the spirit.  Jesus was given the Spirit of God Almighty without measure.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness.  Luke 4:1  NASB

“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.  John 3:34  NASB

Full of the Holy Spirit or having the Spirit without measure is the same as being in God Almighty’s presence as suggested by the parallelism of these scriptures.

Do not cast me away from Thy presence,  /  And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Psalms 51:11  NASB

Where can I go from Thy Spirit?  /  Or where can I flee from Thy presence?  Psalms 139:7  NASB

The first couple hiding from God Almighty’s presence after their disobedience (Gen 3:8) implies that they had previously been in the presence of God Almighty and therefore full of the Holy Spirit.  God Almighty’s presence/Spirit heightens the spiritual senses and spiritual input to the soul.

Next, we consider the soul.  Of course, Jesus, the unblemished Lamb of God Almighty, was without sin.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Hebrews 4:15  NASB

Ezekiel tells us about the man Adam when he was created in the image of God Almighty and placed in the garden.  (We established previously [p. 2-5] that Satan was a murderer/liar from the beginning, that Satan is not a fallen angel, and that Satan cannot be the one described in these scriptures.)

“You were blameless in your ways / From the day you were created, / Until unrighteousness was found in you.  Ezekiel 28:15  NASB

This is speaking of the soul and heart of the man Adam.  In addition, the man Adam was covered or protected by nine precious stones.

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; / Every precious stone was your covering; / The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; / The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; / The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; /  And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, / Was in you.  On the day that you were created / They were prepared.”  Ezekiel 28:13  NASB

The man Adam’s heart/soul was covered by nine stones, which are suggestive of the nine beatitudes (Matt 5), the nine fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), and the nine gifts of the Spirit (1Cor 12).  So, we may surmise that these nine stones covering the heart represent divine nature.  Furthermore, since gold is symbolic of the divine nature, God Almighty’s presence with the man Adam is reinforced by the gold  …  was in you.

The third component of humanity is the body.  Though it was only displayed at his transfiguration, Jesus had a body of light.

And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.  Matthew 16:28-17:2  NASB

And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.  Luke 9:29  NASB

God Almighty’s presence overpowers the physical body and creates a body of light.

An event with Moses is another indication of the effect of the presence of God Almighty on the human body.

And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he [Moses] called upon the name of the LORD. … And it came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.  Exodus 34:5,29  NASB

But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?  2Corinthians 3:7-8  NASB

The human body shines or glows as a consequence of being in the presence of God Almighty.

The anonymous author of the booklet “The Shining One” published by Bill Britton provides insight regarding the effects upon the man Adam’s body when in the presence of God Almighty.  The author considers the following description of the man Adam in Ezekiel.

…  “You had the seal of perfection, / Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.”  Ezekiel 28:12  NASB

The author also considers this description of Jesus.

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;  Hebrews 1:3  KJV

The author connects these two scriptures when describing the man Adam’s enhanced body.

To grasp fully the meaning of “perfect in beauty” and being “full of wisdom” we must understand the meaning of Hebrews 1:3 which reads, in the King James version, “(The Son is) the brightness of (the Father’s) glory and the express image of His person…”

Kenneth Wuest gives us the meaning of the original Greek for this word “brightness” as being “out-raying”.  The sense of the Greek here, he writes, is that there are “rays of light coming out from the original body and forming a similar light-body themselves.”  (See Hebrews in the Greek New Testament, Wuest)  What it means, literally, is that “the Son is the out-raying of the divine glory, exhibiting in Himself the glory and the majesty of the divine Being.”

When the writer of Hebrews, therefore, stated that the Son is the “brightness of the Father’s glory” he meant that the Son is so indwelt by the Father that the glory of the Father’s nature SHINES FORTH from within him, thus CLOTHING the Son with Himself to the extent that the Son is the express image of His person.

The evidence of this “forthshining” was manifested on the mount of transfiguration, where Jesus was transformed before His disciples.  He was, at that point, “putting on” the light-body, which was literally the Father shining forth from within Him.  …  Jesus Christ was “perfect in beauty” and had attained the end of holiness; glorification.

To be “perfect in beauty”, then is to be clothed in the “light-body” that is produced by the OUT-RAYING of the INDWELLING Spirit.  “The Shining One,” debibleschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/the-shining-one.pdf, pages 7 and 8

The author of the booklet argues that the man Adam in the garden, because he was described as perfect in beauty, had a light-body that was the same as what Jesus had during his transfiguration.  Therefore, the man Adam, when in the garden realm, is referred to in Isaiah as shining like a star.

How you have fallen from heaven,  /  O star of the morning, son of the dawn.   /  You have been cut down to earth,  /  You who have weakened the nations!  Isaiah 14:12  NASB

This shinning forth of the physical body for the first couple in the garden is described as nakedness without shame.

And the man and his wife [the woman] were both naked and were not ashamed.  Genesis 2:25  NASB

This shinning forth is a reversal of what we know as the normal physical function of the body, because the body, rather than receiving light from the physical world, is sending out light to the physical world.  Thus, in the presence of God Almighty, physical senses are diminished as they are overcome by the spiritual.  Note also that because there is life in God Almighty, there can be no death of a body which is indwelt by this “shining forth” from God Almighty.  On the other hand, when the overpowering life force of the indwelling of God Almighty is removed, death of the body is then possible.

So when the man Adam was in God Almighty’s presence in the garden, he had dominion in the physical and spiritual realms, he was full of the Holy Spirit, his soul was blameless, and he had a marvelous light-body.  These attributes of being in the image of God Almighty were lost by humanity when the first couple sinned and were banished from His presence.  Divinely, humanity still retains aspects of the image of God Almighty.

For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.  1Corinthians 11:7  NASB

In the garden, God Almighty gave the man three assignments.  Here are the first two.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden (1) to cultivate it and (2) keep it.  Genesis 2:15  NASB

The first commandment was that the man Adam was to cultivate the garden.  An alternate meaning of the word translated as “to cultivate” is “to serve.”  The man was later given the command to cultivate the ground.

therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.  Genesis 3:23  NASB

Whenever the man is in the garden, he is to cultivate or serve the garden where trees grow, and whenever he is on the ground, man is to cultivate or serve the ground, which yields shrubs and plants.

Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was no man to cultivate the ground.  Genesis 2:5  NASB

The second commandment was that the man was to keep the garden, and the Hebrew word translated as “keep” is Strong’s H8104.

H8104: a prim. root; prop. to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; gen. to protect, attend to, etc.: – beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

Therefore, God Almighty’s command was that the man Adam was to protect the garden.

Now, let us look at Ezekiel 28 where the king of Tyre is addressed as the “anointed cherub who covers” (v. 14) and as the “covering cherub” (v. 16).  Strong’s Concordance tells us that the same Hebrew word was translated in verse 14 as “covers” and in verse 16 as “covering”:

H5526: – cover, defence, defend, hedge in, join together, set, shut up.

So these honorific titles could also be translated “anointed cherub who defends” and “defending cherub.”  Cherubim occur in several places in the Bible.  The first instance is when the man Adam is banished from the Garden of Eden and cherubim were placed there to defend and protect it (Gen 3:24).  Statues of cherubim defend and protect the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the Mosaic tabernacle and cover the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant (the presence of God).  Most of the other mentions of cherubim are in the Book of Ezekiel.

Now, from the booklet “God’s Glory and Cherubims” by Roy Ralph, we have the following excerpts (my emphasis added with bold).

Gen. 2:15 says the Lord put Adam in the garden “to dress it and keep it.”  …  He [Adam] had been anointed and commissioned by God to cover, guard, and care for the garden.  He had been the one with the authority of God to protect the garden and keep sin out.  Instead, he gave up his place of authority and allowed sin to enter.  This meant that he and subsequently all mankind fell from this place of authority and the Cherubims were placed there to pick up that responsibility.  They are there to keep the way of the tree of life.  …  (p. 2)

Adam was the one who had been anointed with the presence of God as he walked in the garden.  He had been given the responsibility to cover or care for that garden.  He was the one that was originally created in the image of God,  …  (p. 8)

We see that Cherubim were given the responsibilities of defending, guarding, and covering the garden of Eden after the man Adam’s banishment.  So, the man Adam before his fall and cherubim after Adam’s fall were given the same responsibility concerning the garden of Eden, i.e., to cover or defend it.  Thus, when we read in Ezekiel 28 the honorific titles anointed cherub who covers and covering cherub we recognize a reference to Adam’s responsibilities in the garden of Eden in his pre-fall state.

God Almighty’s third commandment stated what the man could and could not eat in the garden.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”  Genesis 2:16-17  NASB

We previously cited the lists of the bad, spiritual fruits (behaviors) associated with the forbidden tree.  These bad fruits—including disobedience, unfaithfulness, and sin–are what the man Adam was to keep from occurring in the garden, and he was to take appropriate action whenever the garden was threatened.

Combining the first and third commandments and the discussion in the last section, we have God Almighty’s purpose for humanity:  to cultivate, to produce, and to eat spiritual food offered by God Almighty, which means that humanity is to do God Almighty’s will, to accomplish God Almighty’s works, and to produce only fruit of the Spirit in their lives. 

With this background in place, we now move to the events in the garden.