RaptureChrist Newsletter

There are many people nowadays who say that what God told Adam and Eve regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not happen as stated, since Adam physically died 930 years later, therefore either God was wrong or the Bible is in error.

Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

The scriptures cited above refer to Adam's physical death and Christ's physical death, so God was talking about physical death when He warned Adam of the consequences of eating of the evil tree.

2. Is the Bible in error about when or how Adam died?

First we need to learn a few things about the Hebrew language.

Hebrew is read/written from right to left.
The word for day in Hebrew is: (יוֹם)
which is pronounced "yom."
If used with a preposition (ב) in the form (בְּיוֹם)
it would be pronounced "beyom," and it would mean "in the day."
(Remember to read/pronounce it from right to left)

The same Hebrew word  "day" (בְּיוֹם) is used in Genesis 2:17 and in Genesis 2:4.

Genesis 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 

The creation lasted 6 literal days, not one day, so from reading Genesis 2:4 we realize that the Hebrew word (בְּיוֹם), pronounced "beyom" could also mean "when."

The phrase “you shall surely die” Genesis 2:17 can be literally translated from the Hebrew Biblical text as “dying you shall die.” See answers in genesis. 

Adam died 930 years after eating the forbidden fruit. It was a degenerative process that started within his body when he PHYSICALLY ingested the fruit. It produced sickness and disease, aging, wrinkles, sagging skin, atherosclerotic arteries. Each day he lived, Adam became closer to the death that he reaped by eating the wrong type of food. It took him 930 years. Today it takes us less time, but aging is something that none of us escapes, and the culmination of this process is death.

God is talking about something physical. If Adam had eaten of the tree of life, it would have reversed the process, and he would have lived forever.

Genesis 3:22-24 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard {keep} the way of the tree of life.

We know there is a physical substance in the fruit of the tree of life that reverses the senescence (aging) process. This fruit can restore a person physically, but not spiritually.

God placed an angel to guard the garden of Eden, to prevent Adam from eating of the tree of life. God does say to us:

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Let us work hard to overcome. God will not give of the tree of life to those who live in sin.

Conclusion:
1. God said, Genesis 2:17 "when you eat of it, dying you shall die." What God meant was that death was an ongoing PHYSICAL process within Adam, which then spread to ALL of his offspring. (All humans die.)
2. The original biblical text shows this interpretation is correct. The use of the same Hebrew words in other parts of the Bible substantiates our translation of Genesis 2:17.
3. God did NOT lie, does NOT lie, will NOT lie. He is incapable of lying. That is why we trust Him.
4. The Holy Bible is NOT in error.