You might be surprised.
Two special trees in the Garden of Eden are mentioned in Genesis 2-3. This is a very special blog that I hope will get you thinking about which tree is the one you and I are going to on a daily basis. This blog was inspired by some dialogue I’ve had recently by a dear brother in Oregon who is opening my mind to a deeper walk in the spirit than ever before.
Adam could eat of all the trees of the garden except one – the Tree of Knowledge. That tree was a tree that provided both good knowledge and bad knowledge, so it’s more commonly called “the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It wasn’t all bad. It also had some good knowledge. People often miss that. But it was forbidden fruit. And make no mistake about it: it was the tree of knowledge. I must give a whole sermon on this sometime this year! This tree was beautiful to behold (not like so many children’s books depictions of a gnarled up dried up monstrosity). The fruit seemed attractive to Eve but what was most attractive about it was all this “wisdom” you would have after eating of its forbidden fruit (read Genesis 3:6).
There was another tree in the center of the Garden of Delights (what “Eden” means). Man and woman could eat of this tree anytime they wished. It was called the Tree of Life. Yah himself said that if mankind would eat of it, shudder – as sinners – they could live forever (see Genesis 3:22-23 and Gen 2:8-9). So the “Life” part of this tree was about living forever, eternal life. There is the false teaching that we can live forever being tortured by a God who calls himself the God of love. No, we either die because of our sins or we live forever if we take of the Tree of Life.
Which tree would you have eaten of – first? Which one is most fascinating and compelling to you?
But before we get into the exciting two trees, a few points sometimes missed by casual readers of Genesis 1-3:
** Animals and trees were created by God’s command, out of the ground, by His word (Genesis 1:24-25; 2:9). But mankind was hand-created by God personally, from the dust of the ground and mankind was the only creation into which God blew His breath of life and man became a living soul or being (Genesis 2:7).
**Adam was created outside the Garden and then invited into God’s presence. That’s the way it is. Yehovah wants us near to Him and HE brings us to that position. (Genesis 2:15)
**The instructions about the two trees were given originally only to the man Adam. Eve had not been created yet! A lot of people miss this point and may explain why Eve was deceived by the Serpent and Adam was not. Adam was to be the teacher and leader and so he told Eve what God had said. Read Genesis 2 and the timing becomes clear.
Genesis 2:15-19
“Then Yehovah Elohim (the LORD God) took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And Yehovah Elohim commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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."
18 And YHVH Elohim said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
**When the Serpent beguiled Eve, Adam was with her (Genesis 3:6). People think of Adam being elsewhere. Not true. But he said nothing, even though he had been put into the garden to tend and KEEP (guard) it. That’s right, the word “keep” in Genesis 2:15 also means to guard and protect. But when Adam saw and heard Satan questioning his Creator, Adam – who was not deceived – said and did nothing. Then they both ate of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge and came immediately under God’s death penalty. (Genesis 3:6; 1 Timothy 2:13-14).
** This in turn resulted in Adam and Eve being ejected from the Garden – lest they eat of the Tree of Life under sin, and live forever (Genesis 3:22). It had been there all along for the taking, but they hadn’t availed themselves of it. Hmm, do we?
Now back to you and me. What tree fascinates us more: The Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life? And how are they different? It’s life and death at stake.
Click on “continue reading” to understand the 2 trees – especially the Tree of Life a bit clearer than ever.