This is a foundational subject for the whole Bible and all of mankind
God Plants a Garden
Genesis 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Genesis 2:5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
Genesis 2:6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. [God held off on these things for a reason]
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden [day 3 He did the creating of the grass, herbs and trees; but here we see that He created man :7 and THEN planted a garden], and there He put the man whom He had formed.
So it stands to reason from :5 that now that there was man, God caused it to rain on the earth, and to till the ground – in the newly planted garden of Eden. It beautiful, paradise; also fertile, productive and useful; and also a place that God would commune with man (as we will see later; Genesis 3:8)
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
H1847 דּעת da‛ath BDB Definition: 1) knowledge 1a) knowledge, perception, skill 1b) discernment, understanding, wisdom
We are not talking about factual knowledge but the discerning of right and wrong. It is this subjective definition as opposed to the objective one that is implied here. When they ate of either one, they were not going to immediately be endowed with all knowledge, but they would begin to perceive knowledge in one of two ways.
In fact the overall body of knowledge is actually quite constant.
Whether we know the knowledge or not may be another story, but none-the-less it is there
Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.
Variations on the same theme. Slightly different wraps
Perceiving Good and Evil
How we look at it and react to it is what is different.
Example: Bible says do not lie. A true Christian sees that and says that I should never lie under any circumstance. One who eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil says, white lies are ok, lying not to hurt someone’s feelings are ok, lying for “good” is ok, etc
One tree symbolized what God says is right and wrong and the willingness to be a part of that way of life. The other tree symbolized the desire to decide for one’s self what we want to do. It was also the rejection of God’s way.
Symbolic or real tree?
Real tree that was a symbol.
God placed them there as a test.
By taking of either one, regardless of what kind of fruit was on it, showed their intent
Example: Abraham and Isaac: “Now I know”
Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Genesis 22:11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
The same thing going on here
Choice between God’s Way and Satan’s
Man was given two choices.
This so accurately describes the difference between the church and the world
View Them as Two Ways of Life
Deuteronomy 30:11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
Deuteronomy 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Deuteronomy 30:13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Deuteronomy 30:14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
Deuteronomy 30:16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
Deuteronomy 30:18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
Deuteronomy 30:20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
We are taking the right to choose which way is right and which way we will follow
Choosing the knowledge that we will follow
Deciding for themselves
Eve and Serpent Interaction
Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
Genesis 2:17 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.”
[God knew what His plan was and how things worked and were going to work] AND this was the only tree that they were restricted from eating
Then this is thrown in for reasons we will see in a little bit
Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent [identified as Satan in Revelation 12:9]
Lucifer Becomes Satan
Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Ezekiel 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
Ezekiel 28:16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God [sin separates];
Ezekiel 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty [prideful]; You corrupted your wisdom [you were no longer thinking straight]
Satan made a choice. He became angry, prideful, and untruthful among other things
He chose the wrong way; he rebelled against God’s way, His plan, His purpose
It is Satan’s corrupted and sinful ways that he foisted upon Adam and Eve and eventually the rest of the world that chooses the wrong tree.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent [identified as Satan in Rev 12:9] was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
There is an agenda and implication in his question. He probably said it something like this:
Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of EVERY tree of the garden’?
Why did he keep one back in other words. He was setting her up.
Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Genesis 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “
She answers correctly
Genesis 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Now Satan out and out lies with this very deceptive statement
This is his method of operating and this is what Satan continues to do
John 8:38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
John 8:39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
John 8:40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
John 8:41 You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
John 8:43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Genesis 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
You shall not surely die – right away
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…
He knew the results of sin
He did not want man to become a part of the Family of God and be higher than him
Satan knew the limits of his way of life so he had to lie and he continues to pawn off this lie in the form of the immortal soul heresy
The devil has been selling a counterfeit immortality doctrine
He had to compete with the tree of life – which truly gives eternal life
So Satan had to come up with a good story [lie]
Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
This is what Lucifer wanted before Man was created – he wanted to be on par with God deciding for himself what was right and wrong.
This is what he was selling to Adam and Eve and mankind.
If you choose this way of life, you will be just like God – you can choose for yourself what is good and bad.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
That is what Satan’s life looks like.
If I were to describe a nation that was fat and happy, they were able to sit around and enjoy life by not having to do too much and they were proud of how great they were – who would think that I am talking about?
Ezekiel 16:46 “Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters.
Ezekiel 16:47 You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways.
Ezekiel 16:48 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done.
Ezekiel 16:49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:50 And they were haughty [Pride is the belief; haughtiness is the outward showing of that belief that is on the inside] and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.
If you were thinking before that I was talking about the United States you were correct. I was talking about Sodom and the United States and making the point that Satan is still alive and well.
He is still selling the same bill of goods – it seems as :6 states a good way of life, that it was pleasant and desirable – because WE get to decide what we want to do.
Isn’t that what the world at large teaches: the Bible is antiquated and out of date and we know better now?
Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
This is the reason we read Genesis 2:25, they were naked and not ashamed
So something changed in this span of time
Their eyes were opened
The protection that God afforded them (the protection from the influence of Satan) was now diminished if not gone.
Satan was able to influence them in so many wrong ways
This wrong idea about their nakedness was just one of them
Their perception of the knowledge of how God created them became distorted
Continues today with human sexuality and Satan’s many perversions of it
So what we begin to see here is that:
Man Moves Away from God
From his Maker, from his Father, from his Teacher
This is what sin does, it separates us from God
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
When we sin we HIDE, BLAME and/or JUSTIFY
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Genesis 3:12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
In other words you will die, because you did not choose life
Way of man leads to death
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Man had two choices – God’s way and Satan’s way
The tree that offered man the chance to choose what seemed right to him leads to death
Now that man had sinned and there was no way yet to redeem man access to the tree of life had to be cut off.
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
Genesis 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 3:24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
In choosing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the opportunity to decide for himself what is right and wrong, man has chosen a path that eventually leads to death.
Mankind Continues to Choose the Wrong Way
2 Corinthians 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 Timothy 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2 Timothy 3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
2 Timothy 3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Mankind Given Another Chance
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Death reigned because man had chosen the wrong tree and had rejected God and continued to sin
Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Continues the contrast
Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
Being made right which came with what Christ did as the second Adam
Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
It is our following in Adam’s path that leads to sin and death.
It is our following in Christ’s path that leads to righteousness and life.
Romans 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through the receiving of the Holy Spirit → child of god now → children of god later and forever
because it is Jesus Christ that has the ability to give eternal life
John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
John 5:25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
John 5:26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
John 5:27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
John 5:28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
John 5:29 and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. [those who chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; those who decided what was right and wrong themselves]
To Know…Like God
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.“ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
John 6:66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
John 6:67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
John 6:68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
It is by taking of this tree, the knowledge that God has put before that we can have eternal life
We cannot allow sin to separate us from God
We must continue:
Taking of the Fruit of the Tree of Life
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Seek Him while He may be found
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
This was always the problem – we have thought like Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind influenced by Satan
These trees represented two kinds of knowledge or two ways of life:
1. Carnal knowledge from Satan, society and self
empirical
The limitations of the five senses and empirical data
2. SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE “Tree of LIFE” KNOWLEDGE from God through His word and revelation
Why two trees?
A test
Man had to choose though
a matter of character
There is a time coming during the Millennium
Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
And eventually there will be only one tree
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.