The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

[taylor510ce]

Mike,

Ran into my friend Santiago again.

I ran into my friend Santiago today at Starbucks. He is a friend, and a philosophy major at UNO. Needless to say he has a lot of questions...a LOT of questions about the scene in the garden.

Here is my point: In their relationship with God, Adam and Eve had consciousness. They understood that God's will meant something. Hence....

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
(Genesis 2:16-17 ESV)

....Adam and Eve had some understanding of what "no" meant...or an understanding that this God who has created me has asserted His will. Therefore I should follow that will. Those two chose THEIR will over God's, and bam, sin.



Santiago's question: How could they know what a right or wrong decision was IF they had indeed not eaten of the tree yet, and not faced a consequence, and thus not learned that "no meant no?" Why, if God knew they would eat, did he make the tree available? He also posits that it was God's fault that they ate, for setting the tree there. He says that there's no way they had an understanding of a right or wrong choice, and that they can't be blamed for their choice.

My reading of the bible obviously makes me think differently of the situation, but I have to say that he brings some interesting and thoughtful questions to the table.

Will you give me your thoughts please?

[todbou]

taylor,

i'm so sorry for replying to your question. i thought your post was actually from mike asking for our thoughts. i am so sorry. please do not give my responce much thought as it is merely my opinion. i am quite sure that mike will have a much better, more authoritative, more sound answer for you. again i am sorry.

[Mike Miller]

My friend todbou makes some really good points. Let me throw in my 2 cents.

To begin with, the presence and nature of the tree of knowledge has been the source of no small amount of speculation through the centuries. Specifically, what is this knowledge that was attained by eating of the fruit of the tree? Some have tied the knowledge to a kind of maturity, much like a child does not know the difference between good and evil until he matures. Some have argued that a kind of sexual awareness was awakened since Adam and Eve only then recognized their nakedness. However, it was in chapter 1 that God gave them the command to be fruitful and multiply, which would imply a certain awareness of sex and procreation. Others have suggested that the knowledge was an awareness of moral discrimination (this seems to be the position of Santiago), but this simply doesn't make sense because the couple could obviously discern between obedience and disobedience, or else the story just doesn't make sense. Others just see it as just an advanced knowledge concerning independent judgment and responsibility. The problem with all of these is that they don't explain how the couple becomes "like God" when they get this knowledge.

A more likely and satisfying answer is that the knowledge is a kind of divine wisdom. This wisdom is possessed by God (Proverbs 2:6; 8:22) and should only be achieved through the "fear of the LORD" (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 11:2). Moreover, man should not try to circumvent his relationship with God and try to attain this wisdom apart from revelation (Job 28:12-28; Proverbs 30:1-4). To do so is to assert moral autonomy and to reject dependence on God. Therefore, through their disobedience, Adam and Eve declared their independence and acquired this knowledge unlawfully. Essentially, this is the sin of Babel (Genesis 11) and the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:1-17). God grants us wisdom and knowledge as we walk with Him, but whenever we try to assert ourselves and attain to God-likeness apart from Him, we are out of bounds.

Now, when Santiago says "there's no way they had an understanding of a right or wrong choice, and that they can't be blamed for their choice," he is making an assertion based on a false premise. He is assuming they had no understanding of a right or wrong choice, but that is nowhere in the text. He is reading his own presuppositions into the text. They obviously did know, so they are accountable for their disobedience.

As to "why" God put the tree there, I have to say that asking why God does some things is like asking why He made the sky blue. Because it pleased Him do do so. Nevertheless, while we do not have the mind of God (Romans 11:33-36), we can infer some rationale. For one thing, God gave His moral creatures a choice. Salvation or condemnation will be the result of our choice. This does not deny God's sovereignty in election because He makes clear that we are moral creatures responsible for our decisions. The condemned will have no one to blame but themselves, and the saved can rejoice eternally because extended the offer of salvation and enabled us to respond positively.

In addition, the tree of knowledge was the first lesson for us about how much we need God and shouldn't try to gain any kind of position on our own. Again, look at Babel and the king of Tyre. Also, consider the tabernacle and the Most Holy Place. Anyone who tried to approach the presence of God or to control His power on their own terms died rather quickly (Uzzah, Nadab & Abihu, and others are great examples). God has set boundaries, and we cannot try to breach those boundaries without consequence. This seems to me to be a foretaste of the Gospel. We now may approach God confidently, but only because of Jesus, and we attain godly wisdom and knowledge through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the experience with the tree of knowledge is completely consistent with the way God acts and relates to people throughout Scripture.

[Mike Miller]

todbou--this is a discussion board, so all are welcome to chime in. Keep it up, brother.

[gslou]

Santiago's supposition that Adam and Eve did not know the difference between right and wrong makes as much sense as saying that it is the teacher's fault for giving a student a bad grade, not the student's fault for not studying. God created us in his image, Gen 1:26 " Let US make man in our image, in our likeness" (by the way, I love it that in Genesis 1, there is already a refenece to the Messiah, US, God was not alone at the beginning, his son was there with him!!!! Awesome). I wondered if this creation in God's image was just refering to our external looks, but I think not. I think in his image also refers to our spitual / moral being. God certainly knows the difference between right and wrong, and he always chooses what's right. We are created in his image, so we also have in us the knowledge of right and wrong. However, why do we not have the ability to always choose what is right. If we could, would that not make us like God?

God also gave man intelligence and creativity, and the freedom to chose. God gave Adam full freedom to name all the beasts that God had created as he pleased. God gave Adam the freedom to eat of any fruit in the garden but one. Adam knew what this command meant. I believe that this freedom is what gets us in trouble. The snake knew that man had this freedom to choose, and so enticed him to chose disobedience by painting a grand picture of what that "knowledge" would bring. Thus I believe that sin entered the world not by God's hands, but by man's willingness to desire that which belongs only to God, and by the snake's manipulation of this weakness.