Genesis 3:22 shows that man"s happiness (good) does not consist in his being like God as much as it depends on his being with God (cf. Psalm 16:11). [1] "Like one of us" probably means like heavenly beings (God and the angels; cf. Genesis 1:26). [2][source]
Cherubim in the Old Testament surround and symbolize God"s presence. They are similar to God"s bodyguards. Ancient oriental iconography pictured them as human-headed winged lions guarding holy places. [3] Moses pictured them here defending the tree of life with a flaming sword. They guarded the ark of the covenant later as they earlier guarded the tree of life in the garden ( Genesis 3:24). The laws contained in the ark were a source of life for the Israelites. The golden lampstand in the tabernacle represented a tree of life and the presence of God. [4][source]
As people moved east from the garden they settled in Shinar and built Babel (Gr. Babylon, Genesis 11:2). When Lot departed from Abraham he moved east to Sodom ( Genesis 13:11). When Abraham came back from the East he returned to the Promised Land and the city of Salem ("peace," Genesis 14:17-20). Thus God"s presence continued to reside in the garden (Promised Land?) in a localized sense, and movement to the east from there typically involved departing from Him. [source][source][source]
"No matter how hard people try to do away with male dominion, agonizing labor, painful childbearing, and death, these evils will continue because sin is present. They are the fruits of sin." [5][source]
Rebellion against God results in suffering and death, but confession secures His gracious provisions. This section explains why human beings toil and agonize all their lives and finally die. Sin is responsible, and only the removal of sin will end this condition. God is a savior as well as a judge in this pericope. Moses introduced the way of covering sin, namely, through the death of an innocent substitute. Consequently there is hope in the midst of tragedy. [6][source]
"The chapter simply does not support the concept that one finds fulfillment and bliss in liberating oneself from subordination to God"s word, his permissions and his denials. Man is not suddenly metamorphosed from a puppet to a free and independent thinker. In fact, he never was an automaton. If man had lacked the ability to choose, the prohibition from God not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would have been superfluous. One is not told to abstain from something unless he has the capacity not to abstain." [7][source]
Thus Genesis 3introduces us to the fact of human freedom as well as reminding us of divine sovereignty. [8][source]