2 Trees in the Garden of Eden - HEAR, O EARTH (Deut 32)

> [!title|noicon] **2 Trees in the Garden of Eden** ^top You are likely familiar with the account early in Genesis when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, in defiance against the warning of God and at the crafty instigation of the serpent. This event is commonly represented with an apple as the forbidden fruit. However, the Bible doesn't specify that the forbidden tree was an apple tree, nor does it focus on the type of fruit per se. Rather, the tree was given a peculiarly intriguing and important name: *The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil*. God created other trees in the Garden of Eden, all pleasant to the sight and good for food. But only two of the trees were called out by unusual names -- of course, the aforementioned Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and also the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden: > *And out of the ground made the LORD God 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.* (Genesis 2:9) Some shorten the name of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to "The Tree of Knowledge," but that doesn't accurately represent its meaning. To simply possess knowledge isn't the same as knowing good and evil, and there's a spiritual purpose in having given the tree its special name. Keep in mind that everything God had made in creation was initially *very good*. That means, in the beginning, everything God had created was good as there was no sin, evil or corruption found in the world as yet. So both the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil were very good trees. It is in this context that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden in harmony with God. In Genesis 2:15-17, we see God's curious statement to Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden except for this Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God explicitly commanded Adam not to eat of that single tree with the warning that he would die if he did so: > *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 shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.* From a purely instructional standpoint, this was a clear and simple statement. There is nothing confusing about it other than the fact Adam (and Eve) did not grasp the concept of evil nor of death in a creation where those did not yet exist. It's also interesting to note that God did not specify *why* they were not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil other than to issue the strict warning that he would die from doing so. Many times we like to know the whys and wherefores for a given rule, but in this case it was to be good enough that God gave them the deadly warning. We can safely conclude that Adam and Eve were at liberty to eat of the Tree of Life at this point in time. So for all intents and purposes, they had Life and Death presented before them, with the fruit from the Tree of Life providing life, and the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that would bring death if they disobeyed and ate of it. We see an example of this "Life vs Death" scenario in Deuteronomy 30:15-18. There, God presents to us, much like He did to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the path of life and goodness versus death and evil: > *See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it. But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that you' shall surely perish, [and that] you' shall not prolong [your] days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it.* (Deuteronomy 30:15-18) If we are in communion with God, who is the very Essence of Eternal Life, we live. Once we detach ourselves from Him and serve ourselves and other gods, we have departed from eternal Life Himself to a sure sentence of eternal death, as we have then left our Source of Life and His living Word that life for us. We read what happened next beginning in Genesis 3: > *1 Now the serpent was more subtil [crafty] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, you' shall not eat of every tree of the garden?* > > *2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:* > > *3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God has said, you' shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest you' die.* > > *4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You' shall not surely die:* > > *5 For God knows that in the day you' eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you' shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.* > > *6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.* The serpent, in speaking with Eve, impugned the character of God and the integrity of His intent. He implied that God was dishonestly withholding some greater good from Adam and Eve -- preventing them from becoming wise like God Himself -- through an empty threat of death. The serpent effectively turned the command of God, and thus His very Nature, on its head, completely upside down. In reality, the crafty serpent said this because he himself wanted to be like God and to rule over the human race. All he had to do was entice them to obey his word instead of God's Word and they would become his subjects by right of conquest: > *Do you not know, that to whom you' yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you' are to whom you' obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?* (Romans 6:16) So this was the ultimate test to see who Adam and Eve, and ultimately the human race, would follow and obey as subjects. And we see how quickly and easily Adam and Eve fell for the lie. Just one subtle, tempting sentence from the serpent and they were persuaded to eat the forbidden fruit. The serpent offered a fallacious response as to why God forbade them to eat of the tree, as though God had a sinister purpose to deprive them of something better. Like a scheming merchant or politician, he appealed to their base senses to trap them into his snare, making them believe they got a great bargain when they were actually duped into enriching him. Returning to Genesis 3, we see the consequences of casting aside God's Word to conspire with the serpent: > *7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.* > > *8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.* > > *9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [are] you?* > > *10 And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.* The relationship between Adam and Eve and God (and ultimately between the human race and God) fundamentally changed. They suddenly found themselves naked, afraid and ashamed, and they hid themselves from the voice of God, covering themselves with aprons made from fig leaves. Their consciences were radically and adversely affected. God, of course, already knew what they had done and shined a light upon it. Genesis 3 continues: > *11 And he said, Who told you that you [were] naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?* > > *12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.* > > *13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.* > > *14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you [are] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:* > > *15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.* > > *16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire [shall be] to your husband, and he shall rule over thee.* > > *17 And unto Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat [of] it all the days of your life;* > > *18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field;* > > *19 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you [are], and unto dust shalt you return.* Adam pointed to Eve, who, in turn, pointed to the serpent. God then responded to the serpent, then to Eve, then to Adam, pronouncing the curses upon them for their conspiracy to eat from this special but reserved tree. Genesis 3 concludes: > *20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.* > > *21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.* > > *22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:* > > *23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.* > > *24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.* Adam and Eve were now banished from the Garden of Eden, ultimately from communion and fellowship with God Himself. They no longer had access to eat of the Tree of Life from which they could live forever. Even the very fig leaves they had sewn to cover themselves were insufficient. God instead made coats of skins to cover them, which spiritually represents the covering of Christ that God must give us for our sins, for our spiritual shame and nakedness. It required the shed blood of an animal, such as a lamb, provided by God Himself to be properly clothed, in a figure. One might argue here, "Well, wasn't the serpent right after all? Adam and Eve did not utterly perish that day. And their eyes were indeed opened to know good and evil, God said so Himself. God then cursed them for disobeying His command not to eat of the tree, banishing them from the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. That sounds like the serpent was right and God just reacted by kicking them out." It seems that way at first blush, but once we consider what these two special trees in the Garden of Eden represent we will have a fuller picture of what actually happened on a spiritual level. Looking at what the Garden of Eden itself represents in the Bible, it always points to being in a right relationship with God, with walking according to the spirit of His Word in communion with Him. Once we are saved, for example, we, spiritually speaking, collectively become the Garden of Eden. The word "Eden" means *pleasant*, so another way of saying it is that we are God's Pleasant Garden, or the Garden of His Pleasing. Following are a few verses to illustrate this: > *For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.* (Isaiah 51:3) > > *And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.* (Isaiah 58:11) > > *Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause [you] to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are become] fenced, [and] are inhabited.* (Ezekiel 36:33-35) > > *Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.* (Song of Solomon 4:16) > > *For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, [ye are] God's building.* (I Corinthians 3:9) This is the same idea as with the Vineyard. Remember Jesus said that He is the Vine and we are the branches? It's the same idea with the Garden of Eden. Likewise, the Tree of Life in the midst of this Garden ultimately represents Christ Himself. It represents salvation and eternal Life in Him through His Word: > *Blessed [is] the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.* (Psalm 1:1-3) > > *Happy [is] the man [that] finds wisdom, and the man [that] gets understanding....She [is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retains her.* (Christ personified as Wisdom, Proverbs 3:13,18) > > *The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that wins souls [is] wise.* (Proverbs 11:30) > > *A wholesome tongue [is] a tree of life...* (Proverbs 15:4) > > *He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.* (Revelation 2:7) > > *In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bore twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations. ...Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.* (Revelation 22:2,14)  So what about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? What was so bad about eating from this tree? Remember it wasn't actually an evil tree, it was created very good. Yet God declared that Adam and Eve could not eat of it lest they die. How was something that was created good made death to them? God tested Adam and Eve with a very simple command not to eat of this tree, but it was for a very good reason: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the Law of God. And we cannot obtain eternal life with God by keeping the Law, by our own righteousness. And it is in that sense that we become "like God" to know good and evil, but we have failed to truly be like God because we cannot become righteous as God of ourselves, apart from God Himself. We cannot usurp His position as God in that He is eternally holy and righteous, and any attempt to be like God of ourselves is self-worship on our part, it is a contradiction in that we immediately fall into wickedness by the very act of attempting to be self-righteous. So in an ironic sense, God gave Adam the command not to eat of this tree because, in so doing, it represented casting his lot with the Law of God, and yet he immediately broke the very command of God by eating of the tree. Once Adam and Eve ate of the tree at the instigation of the serpent, they were now on their own, separated from God, who is the Essence of Eternal Life, and subject to eternal death at any time. Like the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Law of God is itself good and holy. But the Law of God declares that the wages of sin is death, that is, it sentences us to eternal death because of our sins. With the breaking of the Law comes the sentence, and it is death. We can never become perfectly righteous before God and obtain eternal life thereby because we are sinners. We can only find eternal life through the righteousness of God, through faith in Christ, the Tree of Life. So feeding from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was an action to indicate Adam and Eve, and the entire human race, would subject themselves to the demands of the Law of God (and be thereby condemned by it through our unrighteousness) rather than live according to the Tree of Life, which is Christ. The Bible underscores that the Law does not, and never could, provide eternal life, but rather enhances the sting of death due to the sinful nature of the human race. That is, because we are all sinners by nature, we cannot hope to become right with God by keeping the letter of the Law. It simply highlights our sinfulness and condemnation before a Holy God. Notice in the following passages how the Law is spoken of as the Law of sin and death, and as a curse for those who do not walk perfectly in it (which none are able): > *Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.* (Romans 3:20) > > *What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin [was] dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me]. Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.* (Romans 7:7-13) > > *For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:* (Romans 8:2-3) > > *The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.* (I Corinthians 15:56) > > *For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.* (Galatians 3:10) > > *Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;* (I Timothy 1:9-10) > > *Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.* (I John 3:4) Thankfully, while Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life, today there is access to the Tree of Life through Jesus Christ, who paid the demands of the Law -- that is, the sentence of death -- for those who trust in Him. That is, Christ was born under the Law, took on our sins and died on our behalf (we who deserve the death-penalty due to sin) that we might have eternal life in Him, since we cannot become righteous on our own through the Law as perpetual sinners. Christ was then resurrected, to live and reign eternally, that we also might be resurrected and reign in and with Him forever free from the curse of eternal death. > *But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;* (Romans 3:21-23) > > *Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified....I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.* (Galatians 2:16,20-21) > > *[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture has concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.* (Galatians 3:21-25) > > *But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.* (Philippians 3:7-11) According to the passages above, the Law condemns those who continue in it to eternal death. But the grand news of the Gospel is that, for the believer, the Spirit of God brings us to Christ through the Law as our schoolmaster. That is, as we see our desperate condition before God, as we see our sinfulness and our need for a Savior, it drives us to Christ in Whom we can find redemption unto eternal life apart from the deeds of the Law, freeing us from the demands (or the sentence) of it. 12.26.2022 Tags: #Law_v_grace #sin #library