My understanding was that God was walking with Adam in the cool of the day in the physical realm that he (God) had created.
The cool of the day seems to be a reference to the rotation of the planet in relation to the sun. The physical universe.
Would there be a reason to do that in the spiritual realm? To escape the heat of the day? Caused by what?
God is spirit and not a man. He doesn't physically walk. Just as He doesn't actually breathe. These are the kinds of associations I'm referring to when I talk about spiritual things that we can't describe apart from tagging unfamiliar spiritual concepts to familiar physical things. Technically it's called anthropomorphism, and it's the way we have to think about things that can't be described in any other way. It can be done also by assigning human characteristics to non-human elements, objects, animals and so forth. We do it all the time, and we do the opposite as well. He's dumb as a post.... and we also engage in zoomorphism in it's many forms-- Innocent as a lamb, gentle as a dove, ferocious as a lion.
It's not physical. As I said-- you can look at one or the other. If you want to understand the spiritual side-- then you have to dwell there a minute and consider that spiritual realm as the only context. The physical reflection, while similar- is not the same. On earth "like" it is in heaven-- but that has to be considered separately. So forget about the rotation of the planet or the sun for the moment. God walking with Adam at 'the breezy time' in the garden God planted is all heavenly. It's neither earthly, nor out in space. It's spiritual. It's not bound to our understanding of physical nature, rather we have to consider it in the context of something almost entirely unfamiliar-- the spiritual nature. For Adam to be conversing with God-- Adam has to be in His presence. In spirit. It's not that God became a man and walked with Adam in a physical garden. Purge that idea for a moment.
Furthermore, God spoke to Moses and others in this earthly realm. What would prevent him from speaking with Adam?
Especially before the Fall?
God spoke by means of the spirit. Spirit through spirit. Some call these spirits- angels, or messengers-- Like the angel of the Lord that spoke to Moses through a burning bush. Good dream bro.
Before the fall-- "Adam" was a spiritual being in a spiritual realm that included a garden for God (who is spirit) to repose and where Adam could commune directly in the breezy time.... why breezy? It's
ruwach.
Let's also discuss the significance of the trees. The text doesn't seem to indicate that Adam was aware of the Tree of Life.
Which does appear again in Revelation. Plays a MUCH more important role there. Leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Not sure what's up with that. God didn't want Adam to eat (inferring fruit) from the Tree of Life after the Fall.
Then in Revelation it is the leaves (medicine) that is significant. ??? Say what?
Here's a difficult part, and this is why I insist you have to be mindful of the setting. This understanding is layered.
In that spiritual realm- God is the Father- Adam the son. Both are spirit. (Spirit gives birth to spirit). We are not considering the flesh (physical) at all here or yet. It's spiritual in a spiritual sense and realm. God is spirit, Adam is spirit, the garden is in that same spiritual realm-- everything is spiritual. It's from this realm that Adam (and Eve) are eventually banished for a specific offence--- but first the trees.
Recall that the whole purpose for this spiritual man (Adam) was to work this spiritual garden and care for these spiritual trees. Really think about that. God created a spiritual son whose purpose was to take care of, and protect the trees. He was to work the soil, maintain the trees, make them fruitful (fruit producing) and to attend to these spiritual trees-- to attend to them, maintain them, and to protect them. That was his assigned job.
What's a spiritual tree? Well, we have spiritual fruit defined for us in this way (Galatians 5)
The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.
It's spiritual fruit from a spiritual tree. And you have to consider it as such-- not physical in this understanding.... spiritual. The whole setting.
If you are ready to discuss the physical realm-- then this spiritual tree has a physical counterpart. What would that be?
Ask-- What kind of physical tree is it that can produce
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance?