“You Will Surely Die”

Genesis 2:15-17 

In the selected passage God tells Adam, “In the day that you eat from it (the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil) you will surely die.”  The difficulty concerning this passage involves the fact that Adam did eat of the fruit of this tree but he did not die the day he ate of it.  We are left wondering why Adam and Eve did not drop dead the same day they disobeyed God.  Adam, in fact, lived to be 930 years old (Gen. 5:5).

There is much under consideration here.   What was the tree of knowledge of good and evil?  What is the meaning of the phrase, “in the day you eat of it?”  What did God mean when he told Adam, “You will surely die?”  This article is too limited to explore all of these in detail but we must consider them briefly in order to have a clearer understanding of the passage.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil was, no matter what else it was, a test of Adam and Eve’s obedience to God.   The tree, according to Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., “represents the possibility that creatures made in God’s image could refuse to obey him.”

As to the phrase, “in the day,” we must consider what it is most likely to mean in the Hebrew language rather than force our own understanding upon it.  The thought being conveyed to the reader is that if Adam and Eve ate of the fruit their actions would lead to a certain inescapable consequence: they would surely die.

Finally, When God said, “you will surely die,” what did He mean?  Scripture refers to three types of death, physical death, spiritual, and the second death.  In the context of Genesis 2 we can be certain that spiritual death was the foretold outcome of Adam’s action.  Again Kaiser explains, “Spiritual death was the immediate outcome of disobedience demonstrated by a deliberate snatching of real fruit from a real tree in a real garden.  Death ensued immediately.”  Physical death, while not an immediate result of the first couple’s sin, was inescapable.  Their sin separated Adam and Eve from God who, in turn, barred them from the garden and the tree of life.  When they ate of the forbidden fruit they set in motion a set series of actions that would lead to their deaths, both spiritual and physical.

There is no escape from physical death but spiritual death is far more devastating.  Spiritual death is complete and permanent separation from God and His glory.  From this death too we are powerless to escape.  Praise be to God then that He has made for us a way to eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son.  Our hope and salvation is found in Him.  He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father through any other.  Let all give thanks who have believed and obeyed.

Love,

Thomas Sneed

Pond Church of Christ