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Originally Posted by Ohio
I think you make some good points, Trapped, if I could add some …
I believe the Genesis record describes literal physical events, and as a principle, the N.T., especially Revelations, describes a symbolic spiritual “figurative” reality. In other words the Tree of Life in Genesis was physical, visible, and it’s fruit could be eaten. The Tree of Life in Revelation, however, is not a physical tree, but a spiritual reality signifying God as the real source of life. Remember that the physical things that are seen are merely temporary, but that which is spiritual is unseen, real, and eternal.
A real good example of this is manna. Manna was actual food, visible, edible, providing for the survival of God’s chosen people, but real manna in John 6 was Jesus, the Son of God, as our heavenly spiritual food, coming down from heaven, giving us who believe eternal life as “food.”
The interpretation of the events in Genesis can be found in the NT. WL’s Tree of Knowledge “poison” interpretation should be rejected because it undermines Paul’s actual teachings in Romans 5. Adam transgressed God’s direct command, via his disobedience, hence “dying, you shall surely die.” If we consider Peter’s word, “a day to the Lord is a thousand years,” then Adam died on the same day he transgressed.
Concerning the New Jerusalem, I don’t believe any of these signs are physical. There are no physical streets of gold, etc. These are all descriptions of the coming spiritual reality. The city of NJ is not a physical place, but transformed people. She is our mother, and God is our Father.
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I've been wondering about this "spiritual" stuff recently. What got me thinking was that after Jesus' resurrection, He had what 1 Corinthians 15 calls a "spiritual body". But according to John 20 it was a body that could eat and drink and could be seen and could be touched, and yet also appear in a room with a locked door. I wonder if sometimes there is a more physical aspect to the spiritual things than we are used to thinking about.
Rather than try to organize my own thoughts, I googled the topic and this gotquestions article summarizes it well enough:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-physical-body.html
Trapped
P.S. I've heard the "day is a thousand years" explanation to make the "in the day you eat of it, dying you shall die" make sense since they didn't actually die in the same day. I think that's one good way to interpret it, given that Adam lived 900-something years (less than 1000).
I have just considered "dying, you shall die" to indicate that the dying process would begin, in the same way that someone who has a terminal illness is "dying" of that illness. The process of dying began that day because that was the day they lost the way to prevent their death. So "dying, they will die".
I think either are legitimate readings.