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The Beginning of the End
diminish until life would become extinct. It was Satan’s plan that
Adam and Eve would eat of the tree of life and thus prolong an
existence of sin and misery. But holy angels were commissioned to
guard the tree of life. Around these angels flashed the appearance of
a glittering sword. No one from the family of Adam was permitted
to pass that barrier; this is why there are no immortal sinners.
Is God Too Severe?
Most people regard the tide of misery that flowed from the trans-
gression of our first parents as too awful a consequence for so small
a sin. But if they would look more deeply into this question, they
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might recognize their mistake. In His great mercy God did not give
Adam a severe test. The very lightness of the prohibition made the
sin exceedingly great. If some great test had been given to Adam,
then those whose hearts incline to evil would have excused them-
selves by saying, “This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular
about little things.”
Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon us urge
that it is impossible to obey its precepts. But if this were true, why
did Adam suffer the penalty of transgression? The sin of our first
parents brought guilt and sorrow upon the world, and had it not been
for the goodness and mercy of God, would have plunged the race
into hopeless despair. Let no one deceive themselves—“The wages
of sin is death” (
Romans 6:23
).
After their sin, Adam and Eve begged to remain in the home of
their innocence and joy. They pledged that in the future they would
yield strict obedience to God. But they were told that their nature
had become depraved by sin. They had lessened their strength to
resist evil. Now, in a state of conscious guilt, they would have less
power to maintain their integrity.
In sadness they said goodbye to their beautiful home and went
out to dwell on the earth, where the curse of sin rested. The atmo-
sphere was now subject to marked changes, and the Lord mercifully
provided them with a garment of skins as a protection from the cold.
As they witnessed the first signs of decay in the drooping flower
and falling leaf, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply
than people now mourn over their dead. When the beautiful trees