Knowledge of Good and Evil
Gen 2:8-9 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat: for in the day that you eat of it you will assuredly die. “
This account in Genesis is well known; yet very poorly understood by sinner and saint alike. The theories and discussions have raged over this record of man’s beginnings. So-called science would discard the account entirely; substituting it with the utter foolishness of evolution – proving by action the truth of what is portrayed in the Genesis account – that man is spiritually dead.
It is of no consequence what the two trees specifically mentioned were botanically; but what they represented and achieved are what is of prime importance. If the other trees in the Garden of Eden were real trees; which are still around today, we have no right to suppose that the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil” weren’t real trees. It is however true that these two trees are not around for us to see and touch today.
Note that there was no restriction given to man to eat of the fruit of the “Tree of Life”. The other tree’s fruit was of such a nature that the Lord warned Adam and Eve of the dire effects it would have on their very future and existence.
The first question that arises here is: did man know what was “good and evil” – before eating of the fruit? The answer must be – of course he did. Man was made in the image of God – he was more “godlike” than we could imagine. God told him in effect that everything in the garden was “good for him”, but that one tree was “bad for him”. Death was not at this stage part of God’s creation. God wouldn’t tell man he would die unless man knew what “death” meant. They had never seen or experienced death, but knew what it was.
What then did this forbidden tree give man what he never had before? Why did the Lord give man the warning to avoid eating of its fruit? Why did the Lord plant this tree in the first place? Of course man plays down the importance of understanding what actually happened here by making out that the fruit was an “apple” – apples do not give any more knowledge than we already have! How ridiculous mans wisdom is!
What was the fruit this tree yielded and what its effect? It was not a tree of knowledge, but knowledge of good and evil – experimental and experiential knowledge. Satan’s temptation to our forbears is very pertinent here. A paraphrase of what he implied was this:
God is holding out on you. He doesn’t want you to experience everything. How else can you understand and know anything unless you personally experience it? God knows that when you’ve experienced everything you will be as wise as He is. You will “be a god” – self reliant and independent – who needs God anyway when you can “do exactly what you want”? You must look out for “number one” – you.
History has proved that the account in Genesis is valid and the absolute truth. Mankind is still trying to achieve and follow Satan’s “advice” – be independent. God gave man a choice – hence the reason for the presence of the tree.
Man is not God – nor is he a god – but a creation of God. Man made his choice in Eden as he still does today. “I do not need God to tell me what to do. I know what to do and what I want!” the Lords desire is for us to enjoy the best – which is only found in reliance and dependence on Him. The “tree of life” represented this. Eating from the “source of all life” would ensure that man enjoyed and experienced life – but man chose to experience death – from which there was no remedy or reversal. “And so death passed upon all men” (Romans 5:12)
The warning was ignored. Isn’t it noteworthy that even in this day and age we still ignore warnings? Smoking will kill you – and people still smoke. Taking drugs will “fry your brain” and make you addicted to the chemical substance – and people still take drugs. Alcohol will enslave you – and people still imbibe to excess and become enslaved. What about the warnings of contracting incurable diseases by not taking necessary precautions? Experiment! Try it out! If you don’t like it you could quit you know? Your experiences will be valuable to help others – bosh!
How many hurtful and dangerous experiences could be avoided if we rather made our dependence on Jesus – the tree of life? How much longer wouldn’t we live if we heeded God’s Word and lived under His direction?
The story is told of a calf who constantly tried to escape from the barn to the freedom outside. The barn was warm, safe and comfortable, but looking outside, the calf could see the beautiful white snow – it beckoned him to freedom. One day he broke loose – ran wild – “enjoyed” his freedom. The next day the farmer found him frozen to death. His “liberty” and supposed “freedom” had killed him.
Millions of people are like that calf. Dear ones; leave behind the world’s standards of liberty and independence. “Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thy own understanding.” Feed on the “Tree of Life” – Spirit and the Word. Lay aside independence and become God Dependant; and you will find and enjoy life to the fullest. Isn’t that what we all want?
Peter Crause
This is not copyrighted and may be freely used and distributed.
e-mail: crause.pd@shaw.ca
