the term “a thousand years” is simply a number meaning “ultimate perfection” (10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000). Wiersbe, Warren W., The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states as follows: God counts time differently than does man. People see time against time; but God sees time against eternity. In fact time only seems long because of man’s finite perspective. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. Other commentators regard a thousand years as simply “a very long time”.
The creation of man is documented as follows: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them…. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” see Genesis 1:27-31 for a full account). However . beginning with Chapter 2, God apparently recounts the creation of man in more detail. Some see a conflict between chapters 1 & 2 for a variety of reasons too numerous to mention here. However all that can really be said is that Chapter 1 speaks for itself and Chapter 2 begins the line of man that ended in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Messiah.
In Chapter 2 God creates Adam from the dust of the earth and later Eve from the body of Adam. The pair is born into an earthly paradise which resembles the Kingdom of God which is to come (see Revelation 21-22). There was as yet no death in this paradise. To God His creation was “very good” in that no imperfection existed. The pair, man and woman, was free to partake of every blessing in this paradise but were sternly warned not to partake of the fruit of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”; the penalty for offending this commandment would be death. (Gen. 2:16-17).
Chapter chronicles the deception which was propagated against Adam and Eve which would throw the entire creation into a state of futility which would plague man for the next millenniums. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” The serpent was Satan himself. Revelation 20:1-3 says in relevant part “And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years”. The serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Indeed has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die”. Eve was well aware of God’s commandment which made her choice later to eat of the fruit a willful sin, even though she was deceived by one more crafty than she.
“The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!” This is a direct contradiction to God’s word. The devil went on: “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate”. How often are we deceived by something that looks innocent and desirable?
This is one of the oldest tricks used on man by Satan. He told Eve that is she ate she would be like God. Man always wants to exalt himself above God and establish his own kingdom on earth. Satan himself wanted to be like God. Isaiah 14:12-14 says of Satan: “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning [shining one, Lucifer] son of the dawn!.. “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Genesis 3:1-6). Satan has challenged God’s word ever since using the deceptive phrase “has God really said”. This assault of Satan which amounts to unbelief hits directly against man’s faith as Satan makes a mockery of God’s word.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 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. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Ge. 3:8-13).
Adam and Eve’s response to their sin is the same as ours. We are guilty, we know it, and we try to hide our sin. The Lord responded angrily: “who told you were naked?” Adam and Eve confessed but God had no choice but to punish them. If he allowed them to live on in the garden of paradise in a sinful state, with the tree of life still available to them, they would have perverted the world even more that it was cursed by God’s punishments. They would have had eternal life in a garden of sin. God said: “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:22-24).
The bottom line was that He expelled them permanently from the garden into a cursed world dominated by futility. The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 8:20-21: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God”. In other words God did not subject creation to futility willingly. His hand was forced by Adam and Eve. Placing creation under a curse was a better alternative than allowing sin to invade paradise forever. His acting as he did was actually an act of mercy because it set the stage for the redemption of man to come in the form of Jesus Christ.
God’s hope is expressed in his judgment of the serpent: ”The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen. 3:14-15). What He is saying is that the seed of the woman (Jesus Christ) will eventually crush the head of the serpent, defeating Him. Of course that was fulfilled by the virgin birth of Jesus through the woman, which was the defeat of Satan.
Subjecting the earth and creation to futility has had far reaching effects. Since that day in Paradise, the world has been under the curse of futility until now. Futility is variously described as: useless, fruitless, unimportant, vain, abortive and worthless. One need only look around to see the nations rise and fall, leaders come and go, happiness is fleeting and no matter what is attempted it doesn’t produce true happiness. Man lives in a world dominated by futility, death, destruction and unpredictability. Solomon said: Vanity of vanities, [futility of futilities]” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is futility” What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever…. All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-9).
Although man was cast into a world of sin upon his fall from paradise, evidence of that sin is immediately manifested in the first family.