Which tree? by Barry Bennett
The impact of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has not been fully understood by most. While Adam and Eve were created to walk and talk with the Lord, learn from Him, and partake of the tree of life, their choice to give place to the words of the serpent and eat of good and evil has changed every aspect of life on this planet.
Even Christians who are born again seldom understand the difference between approaching life from the standpoint of good and evil, and approaching life from the standpoint of life ( Jesus).
Most Bible readers and many theological positions begin at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How can we identify this? Let’s go back and look at the results of Adam’s sin.
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.
1. Their eyes were “opened” to a natural dimension but became closed to the spiritual dimension they were created for.
2. They became self-aware. Self-awareness or self-centeredness became the focus of human life from that point forward. No longer was man the Lord focused. Men and women were now focused on their deficiencies and the deficiencies of others.
3. They immediately sought to do works to cover their needs. This was the birthplace of religion. Man’s attempt to deal with self-awareness and need gave rise to “works”.
And they heard the sound of the Lord the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD the Lord among the trees of the garden.
4. The voice of the Lord which should have brought peace and joy, now produced fear. This is the basis of so much Bible interpretation. So many approach the Lord from a position of fear and the need to “do something” to make Him happy. He must obviously be angry with men. Fear, not faith is the default human condition since eden. Fear and self-awareness are the driving force behind so much religion and Bible interpretation.
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
5. Adam’s guilt drove Him away from the Lord. the Lord had not changed. Adam had changed.
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
6. Adam is now ready to deflect guilt. “It’s the woman’s fault.” Fallen human nature is always looking for someone to blame. Adam then decides its the Lords’ fault. “You gave her to me.”
Now we are beginning to understand modern theology. Beliefs that blame the Lord come from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They come from the knowledge of being deficient. They come from fear. This approach leaves the Lord as being responsible even though Adam was the source of the problem.
God gave the earth to man , Ps 8:4-6, Gen 1:26-28, but Adam’s sin left him looking for someone to blame. Who better to blame than the Lord?
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil by Barry Bennett
The belief systems that have sprung from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil have been shaping lives for thousands of years. In these beliefs, the Lord is no longer the source of love, joy, peace, and provision. In the minds of fallen men the Lord is a mysterious and angry judge.
He is no longer the giver of life, but the taker of lives. He is to be blamed for human suffering, and everything that happens in the world.
That approach to understanding the Lord is found wrapped up in the Law of Moses. The Law is the pinnacle of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a behavior covenant that was never meant to be how the Lord related to men. Since mankind was spiritually independent from the Lord, they could not know Him as the Giver of life.
That revelation was lost. the Lord was now a mysterious judge. It wasn’t that the Lord had changed. the Lord is a giver of good things and has never changed. But men had changed which made it necessary for the Lord to change His ways with them.
Even in our Christian belief systems we have clung to the vision of the all controlling, mysterious judge, who blesses and curses according to whims.
The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the source of likes, dislikes, opinions, criticisms, anxiety, worry, bitterness, strife and every other human emotion. What is confusing is that the tree holds the knowledge of “good” as well as evil.
Many try to live from the knowledge of good, but not even that brings life. We try to compensate for the evil in the world (sickness for instance) with the knowledge of good (medicine), but it is never enough. We try to compensate for poverty with money, but it is never enough. We try to compensate for guilt with religion, but its not enough.
And when we get tired of this endeavor, we throw up our hands and blame the Lord. “God is in control.” “God’s got it!” “Everything happens for a reason.” “God allowed the virus to kill indiscriminately.”
It is then that some turn to the Bible and look for verses of judgment and wrath in order to uphold their vision of the Lord. It is guilt and ignorance that bring us to this place. We need to blame someone, and the Lord is a good place to start. After all, didn’t He send plagues in the past? Didn’t He put Job through hell?
When we eat from the wrong tree, we come to the wrong conclusions.
The tree of life by Barry Bennett
Just what did the tree of life represent? Adam and Eve were allowed by the Lord to eat from the tree of life, but He did not allow them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All of the evil that has been loosed into the world was not allowed by the Lord. It was unleashed by Adam’s rebellion.
As we saw yesterday, belief systems that feed from the knowledge of good and evil invariably focus on man, guilt, fear, and the Lord as a mysterious judge. But is there an option? What is the tree of life and is it available to us now? does it give a different understanding to the scriptures?
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. true light to understand the Lord and His Word can only come through Jesus. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil will never give true revelation of the nature of the Lord.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Most of the world and many Christians still don’t know Him. They are more familiar with Job’s ignorance than with the revelation of the Father through Jesus.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." You cannot come to the Father through the knowledge of good and evil. Only Jesus can reveal the Father and give understanding to His Word.
How did Jesus interpret the scriptures? “You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” Whatever we find in the Old Testament can be viewed through the lens of good and evil (and misunderstood), or it can be viewed through the revelation of Jesus. Jesus is revealed in the Old Testament but most are drawn to judgment and good and evil.
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Moses and the prophets contain much from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that is not what we should be looking for. We should be looking for the revelation of Jesus, the life. Only when we see Him will we be able to understand the scriptures.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him... behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
Hearing Him means to understand the Lord through Him. While the Law and the prophets reveal Jesus, they only do so by hearing Jesus. Trying to understand the Law and the prophets apart from a revelation of Jesus will only lead to the conflict of good and evil.
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the scriptures.
When He who is life opens your understanding, you will never eat from the knowledge of good and evil again. Everything will change. You will be equipped to understand the Word of the Lord as never before. You won’t fear the coming day of wrath on the Lord’s enemies. You won’t blame the Lord for viruses and human suffering. You won’t judge others as worthy of death while judging yourself as religious enough to get by, or, guilty and condemned.
Once Life is revealed to your spirit and your understanding is opened, you will begin to understand life as never before.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”