The Long Exile (Part 1)

Eden and the First Banishment

Introduction

The theme of exile appears throughout the biblical texts but is often overlooked or misapplied. Beginning in the expulsion of the first man and woman from the garden of Eden, scripture presents exile as the driving out of a covenant people from the presence of God because of covenant disobedience. Exile is not just a theme confined to the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Israel, but, as Nicholas Piotrowski argues, exile is a drama that begins with Adam and Eve and continues to echo through the scriptures.[1] In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve are driven from the garden and barred from the tree of life (Gen 3:22–24). Their removal from God’s presence introduces death into the human experience, since life is found only in communion with God. As Nicholas Piotrowski observes, exile from God’s presence can therefore be understood as a form of death because it separates humanity from the source of life.[2]

When exile is framed correctly and understood in its totality, the redemptive plan of God becomes much clearer, as it shows a people who constantly break covenants, but a God who is constantly restoring them. Further, it helps the New Covenant people of God to orient themselves within the plan of God. As Edmund Clowney writes, the New covenant believer lives today as a sojourner, having been restored from the kingdom of darkness, and having no abiding city here, they look for the ultimate restoration to come.[3] From Eden’s expulsion to the welcome into the New Jerusalem, exile functions as the judicial removal of sinners from God’s presence because of covenant breaking, and through successive redemptive revelations, God unveils a plan to reverse this exile.

This paper argues that the theme of exile provides a central framework for understanding the biblical narrative, tracing humanity’s expulsion from God’s presence in Eden, Israel’s historical exiles, and the ultimate reversal of exile through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Method

Biblical themes can be traced according to the order of canonical books, the order in which events occurred, or the sequence of covenants. However, for the theme of exile, the chronological event‑order approach will show the clearest view of how exile climaxes in Christ. Geerhardus Vos argues that this approach allows revelation to be organic and progressive, as each epoch builds on the previous one, the “acts of revelation accompany acts of redemption”.[4] To be clear, this approach does not completely abandon other approaches. As articulated by Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum, covenants form the backbone of the biblical narrative, establishing and defining the relationship between God and his people and thus providing the plot structure for Scripture and a frame in which the events operate.

A canonical approach highlights how later books interpret earlier ones and is useful for tracing themes as the readers encounter Scripture. However, a chronological order of events emphasizes how God’s acts of redemption and judgment unfold over time. It recognizes that Moses wrote about events centuries after they occurred and that the prophetic books interpret earlier history even as they look forward. Using event order allows a flow to begin with creation and fall, moves through the call of Abram, exodus, kingdom, exile, restoration, incarnation, and finally new creation.

Theme Development

The theme of exile originates in Eden, where God places the first humans in a garden and in His presence. He commands Adam there, as Michael Morales explains, to enact the work of a prophet, priest, and king by speaking the word of God, doing the work of God, and protecting the place of God.[5] However, Adam transgressed this command, and upon that transgression, he is cursed and banished from the garden, and driven eastward (Gen 3:22‑24)

Even as these events unfold, humanity is not left without hope. In the midst of judgment, God promises that restoration to His presence will one day come through the obedience of a promised seed (Gen. 3:15). Yet the narrative also makes clear that such restoration cannot be achieved by human effort. At the entrance to the garden, cherubim with a flaming sword guard the way back, and as Derek Kidner observes, the flaming sword “actively excludes the sinner,” preventing any return by human initiative.[6] As Nicholas Piotrowski argues, exile from the presence of God is ultimately an exile unto death.[7] To be driven from God’s presence is to be separated from the source of life, and thus death enters the world as the inevitable outworking of exile.

What begins in Genesis 3 as expulsion becomes a trajectory in Genesis 4. After murdering Abel, Cain is driven further away from the presence of the Lord (Gen 4:16). The narrative shows humanity increasingly claiming authority over moral and judicial matters that belong to God alone. Dale Ralph Davis notes that Adam grasped moral autonomy in Eden, while Cain extends this rebellion by seizing authority over life and death.[8] Cain takes the life of his brother Abel (Gen. 4:16) and is sent out of the presence of the Lord towards the east (Gen. 4:18). Where his parents had grasped at moral autonomy, Cain grasps at judicial autonomy, and both result in exile from the presence of God. This same pattern continues as exile from the presence of God becomes a deliberate movement away from the presence of God, as civilization moves to a plain in Shinar to make a name for themselves at Babel. If they cannot regain access to God, they will attempt to climb towards Him, a move that ultimately ends in a mass exile and confusion of languages.

The story does not stop with Adam.

Exile spreads eastward through the opening chapters of Genesis, but in the midst of judgment, God begins to reveal a plan to reverse the banishment. That plan begins with a man called out of the nations.

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[1] Nicholas G. Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025). 42.

[2] Ibid., 19

[3] Edmund P. Clowney, The Message of 1 Peter, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 75.

[4] Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1975), 6.

[5] L. Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Hill of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015), 235

[6] Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 72.

[7] Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People, 19.

[8] Dale Ralph Davis, Ezra & Nehemiah: The Quest for Restoration, Focus on the Bible (Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2014), 206.