The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil..

[reddogs]

I read somewhere that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was placed there in the Garden for Adam and Eves' protection as the only place they could be tested, and that was the only place Satan could have access to them.

Others feel this is a limited view, and it was their understanding that Satan tempted Adam and Eve there at "the tree" because thats where God told them specifically not to even go near as some kind of test. Does anyone know why the tree was placed there?



8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

Well, from my point of view..I've always seen the tree to be our way of free will. Considering the fact Satan had already rebeled when we were created, it would not have been fair of God to have not given us the opportunity to chose which side we were on from the begining, right? Thusly, the only way He could give us that choice would be to create a way that we could go against Him. Which was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Blessings and Love,
Sarah

 

[reddogs]

Well, from my point of view..I've always seen the tree to be our way of free will. Considering the fact Satan had already rebeled when we were created, it would not have been fair of God to have not given us the opportunity to chose which side we were on from the begining, right? Thusly, the only way He could give us that choice would be to create a way that we could go against Him. Which was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Blessings and Love,
Sarah

Do you think the 'test' was done universally?

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

Do you think the 'test' was done universally?

What exactly do you mean by universal?

 

[Telaquapacky]

I think of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as a symbol or prototype of every choice we make in life. Either we will obey God, and in that sense let Him be the one to decide what is good and what is evil, or we may "choose independently" of God, so that we decide what is good and what is evil.

In a real sense, when we eat that fruit we are assuming that we possess the true knowledge of (what is) good and evil. Satan promised three "gifts" to us as a result. One was to "be like God," another was to have our "eyes opened," the third was to "not surely die." I think there is a thin parallel to what John called worldliness:

1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

You all have probably noticed that all Satan's promises are actually counterfeits of the blessings promised to us by God:

2 Peter 1:4
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature (become like God) and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Acts 26:17,18
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
to open their eyes (your eyes will be opened) and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (ye shall not surely die) in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

[Jimlarmore]

Some say that since man didn't die immediately when he sinned that God was not speaking of a literal things in Genesis. What we have to remember is in Gen 3:15 the first messianic prophecy was given right after sin enter that kicked of the plan of salvation and the eventual doom of evil and satan. Man lived a glorified spiritual life before sin entered and he communicated directly with God face to face. After sin man was driven out of the presence of God and died spiritually loosing his robe of light and righteousness. But man would have literally been put to death right then had it not been for the plan of salvation to allow man to live a "temporal" life.This life was given to us to allow us the choice to choose life and love or death and hatred/selfishness.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil was a test upon man to allow him to choose right or wrong. Unfortunately for us man failed, but the second Adam didn't and because of that we can live eternally. Praise God for this truth.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[reddogs]

What exactly do you mean by universal?

Why were we the only ones tested, I dont believe that for a second, it had to be universal....

 

[IntoTheCrimsonSky]

Why were we the only ones tested, I dont believe that for a second, it had to be universal....

Ohh. Yes, I agree. I think there's one thing to consider that we have no way of knowing, though. Were the others in existance before Lucifer fell? If this was the case, then it would make a lot of sense as to why we were the ones who fell into his trap, no? They might have been around to witness what happened when Lucifer made those choices and thusly chose God.

Adam and Eve, being ignorant, and tempted..chose to sin.

I've also heard of an idea that we were created as a chance for the battle to be finished. Basically, giving Satan a chance to try out and show his way is not better. But it was still our choice to go along with it.

 

[reddogs]

Ohh. Yes, I agree. I think there's one thing to consider that we have no way of knowing, though. Were the others in existance before Lucifer fell? If this was the case, then it would make a lot of sense as to why we were the ones who fell into his trap, no? They might have been around to witness what happened when Lucifer made those choices and thusly chose God.

Adam and Eve, being ignorant, and tempted..chose to sin.

I've also heard of an idea that we were created as a chance for the battle to be finished. Basically, giving Satan a chance to try out and show his way is not better. But it was still our choice to go along with it.

God created according to His plan and Lucifer went and tried to tempt all that God had created including us, but the extent of sin was across the spectrum of the universe so we dont know what that entails....