The story of Adam and Eve sinning against God in Genesis 3 is no doubt the saddest (and most universally devastating) story in all of the Bible. God let the woman (3:16) and the man (3:17-19) know what their physical punishment would entail.
Then the text says that “God sent him out of the garden…So He drove out the man” (3:23-24). I remember as a child being captivated by that verse and wondering what God was driving. I always figured it was a rugged, army green Jeep, and that He put them in the back, drove them out to the edge of the garden and then dropped them off. It was not until later that I realized that this was the true punishment for their sin. In the grand scheme, the punishment of verses 16-19 was merely temporary. But, being driven from the presence of God and experiencing that separation from Him—that was the real punishment. And it could last forever (Matt. 25:46). If you’ve been driven from God’s presence by your sin, please, please repent and find your way back to Him!