The Bible says that the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that this was the original sin. To understand this we have to understand the meaning of this "fruit", and the meaning of the tree which produced it - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
1. Is the "fruit" of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil literal or symbolic?
Let's examine some evidence concerning the nature of the fruit.
Would a loving parent (God), deliberately place a desirable fruit, which would cause the death of his beloved children,in front of them, and merely tell them not to eat it? Even fallen human parents would not do this. Therefore, the fruit cannot be literal.
Mathew 15:11: "Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man, but
that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. "
From this verse we can understand that the "fruit" which defiled man, was not material food.
The sin committed by Adam and Eve was passed on to their children and continues to be inherited today. What one inherits comes through blood lineage. Food eaten by man cannot be inherited. Therefore, it cannot be a literal, edible fruit.
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]Man was created to live by eating food. Man's instinct [/FONT][/FONT]is for life. Man would not eat a poisonous food. Even cattle do not eat the poisonous grasses that grow in their areas, because their natural instinct is for life. Therefore, the fruit cannot be a literal fruit.
Many people believe that God put the fruit in the Garden to test Adam and Eve. But they cannot explain the following things: God would be very unjust to impose death on His innocent
children for failing a test.
Why should an all-knowing God, who already knows His children,
test them? Even if God had tested them, He would not impose the punishment of death on His beloved children for their mere disobedience. Even fallen parents would not test their children and give death as a punishment.
From this we can understand that the placement of the fruit in the Garden could not have been a test.
God imposed a punishment of death for eating a "fruit". Therefore, this "fruit", must have symbolized something very important to God and man; it was not just a simple fruit.
Man's desire is for life, not death. Man will always choose life over death.
What desire of man could be stronger than his desire for life? Could man's desire for food be even stronger than his desire for life?
From this evidence we can understand that the "fruit" was not a literal fruit, but was a symbol of something else.
To know the meaning of the fruit, we have to know the meaning of the tree which produced it. Symbolic fruit does not grow on literal trees. Therefore, the two trees also must be symbolic. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is mentioned only
one time in the Bible (Gen. 2:9), but reference to the tree of life is found in many places. So, lets look at the meaning of the tree of life.
Proverbs. 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. "
The desire of men in the Old Testament Age was to reach the tree of life,
Rev. 22:14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may
have the right to the tree of life. "
The desire of the New Testament Age men also was to come to the tree of life.
Why was the desire of the people of the Old and New Testament Age to reach the tree of life?
Gen. 3:24"God drove out man and at the east of Eden, he placed
the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned everyway, to guard the way to the tree of life. "
From this, we understand that the desire of Adam before the fall was to attain the tree of life. But through the fall, he could not come to the tree of life, and could not fulfil his desire. Because of this, the desire of Adam's descendants, the people of the Old and New Testament Ages, was to reach the tree of life.
What does the tree of life symbolize?
God's first blessing to man was that of individual perfection ("Be fruitful"). In Gen. 2:17, God said to Adam and Eve, "If you eat of it you shall die. " This means "if you don't eat of it, you shall live. "
At this time, they were still in an unstable state ... they could go either way. So, Adam and Eve were not yet perfect or spiritually mature. They were in a period of growing to perfection.
Then, what would have been the desire of Adam at this stage? It must have been to reach perfect manhood. Therefore, the tree of life is the symbol of a perfected man, or perfected Adam.
In the Bible, a tree is often used as the symbol of man :
Prov. 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. "
John 15:5" I am the vine, you are the branches. "
Isaiah 5:7 "For the vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting ... "
Rom. 11:17"If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, ...
Therefore, the tree of life is the symbol of a man of life, perfected man, or perfected Adam.
Another explanation of the tree of life :
Rev. 22:13 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. " Jesus said, "I am the first and the last." Therefore, the first tree of life is the same as the last tree of life. The first tree of life in the Bible is in the
first book of the Bible, Gen. 2:9. The last tree of life in the Bible is in the last book of the Bible, Rev. 22:14. The last tree of life is understood as a symbol of Jesus at the Second Advent, and Jesus is several times described in the New Testament as the "Last Adam" (e. [FONT=Bookman Old Style,Bookman Old Style][FONT=Bookman Old Style,Bookman Old Style]g. [/FONT][/FONT]I Cor. 15:45, Rom. 5:14).Since the last tree of life refers to the last Adam, the first tree of life must be a symbol of the first Adam in perfection. We can infer, then, that the tree of life in Revelations and the tree of life in Genesis are the same tree.
Because of the fall, the first Adam failed to become a tree of life. That is why the last Adam must come to fulfil the tree of life.
God created two human beings in the Garden of Eden, and there were two trees in the middle of the Garden.
Since we now know that the tree of life symbolizes perfected Adam, what would the tree of knowledge of good and evil represent? It stood beside the tree of life in the middle of the Garden, and its fruit was eaten before God had allowed it to be eaten. We can conclude it was a symbol of Eve in her present, unperfected state.
Identity of theSerpent
Animal, or Spiritual Being?
No member of the animal kingdom can talk to man. This serpent not only talked, but knew about God's commandment to Adam and Eve. God is a spiritual being. Only one who was also a spiritual being, with spiritual senses, could perceive God and understand His commandment. Therefore, the serpent must represent a spiritual being.
This serpent deceived the lord of all creation, man, who was a spiritual
being, and caused him to fall. Even the most foolish man has never been deceived by a snake. A reptile may bite a man, but it cannot deceive or tempt a person. Therefore, the serpent must represent a spiritual being.
Rev. 12:9 - "And that great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he
was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. "
The serpent was called the Devil and Satan. The Devil or Satan works spiritually, not through animals.
[FONT=Bookman Old Style,Bookman Old Style][FONT=Bookman Old Style,Bookman Old Style]c. [/FONT][/FONT]The serpent had angels under his dominion. Therefore, the serpent must represent a spiritual being.
From this, we understand that "serpent" is a symbolic name for a spiritual being called Satan.
Origin of the Serpent
Did Satan exist from the beginning?
Some people believe that Satan has existed with God from the beginning. If this were true, we would be living in a dualistic universe in which the struggle between good and evil would be inevitable and everlasting. This viewpoint is called "Dualism".
This would mean that God's work of salvation, which is to separate man from Satan, could not be accomplished. There would be no hope to eliminate evil. No one could ever reach perfection.
But God has been carrying out His salvation work. God's purpose of salvation has been to destroy Satan. If Satan had existed from the beginning, God would surely have destroyed him before the creation of man. This would have been much easier for God, and there would have been no suffering for man.
Therefore, Satan must have come into being after God Creation.
Is Satan one of God's creations?
To be continues......