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Two Trees in the Garden

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Eprom

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The Bible starts with 2 trees by a river, and ends with 2 trees by a river. The tree’s dimensions penetrate every realm of God’s creation – branches to heaven, shades the earth, roots down to the abyss. Sin came to humanity as man partook of one tree, and we were expelled out of the Garden because of our access to the other. From here we see it as a significant metaphor through scripture, and our dear Lord was even crucified on a tree.

What interesting insights do you see from trees in scripture?
 

Dad Ernie

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Eprom said:
What interesting insights do you see from trees in scripture?

The FIG TREE represents Israel in the Gospels.
The OLIVE TREE represents the Kingdom of God in Romans 11.

Throughout the OT we see various trees representing different nations.

It was an "Olive leaf" that the dove returned to Noah which may be a metaphor for the "Salvation of God" or to His Kingdom.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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Ebed-Yahweh

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Dad Ernie said:
The FIG TREE represents Israel in the Gospels.
The OLIVE TREE represents the Kingdom of God in Romans 11.

Throughout the OT we see various trees representing different nations.

It was an "Olive leaf" that the dove returned to Noah which may be a metaphor for the "Salvation of God" or to His Kingdom.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

Actually, the Olive Tree is the symbol of Israel throughout the Bible.

The Fig Tree is a symbol of the Southern Kingodm of Judah at the most (which also included many from the tribes of Levi and Benjamin). Of course, this is not to say that all of the members of the tribe of Judah remained in the Southern Kingdom, and thus not all of them are necessarily part of the Fig Tree.
 
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Eprom

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Dad Ernie said:
The FIG TREE represents Israel in the Gospels.
Israel is a fruitless fig tree through much of the Old Testament, but an earnest Israelite is seen under the tree, perhaps waiting for the fruit to come.
 
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Dad Ernie

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Eprom said:
Israel is a fruitless fig tree through much of the Old Testament, but an earnest Israelite is seen under the tree, perhaps waiting for the fruit to come.

Greetings Eprom,

Of course I disagree with Ebed... But every verse in the Gospels that mentions the "fig tree" has direct reference to "natural Israel". The story you are referring to here is when Nathanael was called. Here was Jesus comments:

John 1:46-48 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Fairly recently I learned the significance of this. You see it was a custom among priests and those who were so inclined to contemplate the scriptures to sit under one of the many fig trees that dotted Israel. Jesus was here saying that in all of Israel (the fig tree) here was a true believer in which there was no guile (deceit) as opposed to all those priests that were nothing but a brood of vipers.


Along with your initial question, the Cedar tree is representative of Lebanon and the Oak tree is representative of Bashan.


Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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Eprom

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Dad Ernie said:
Along with your initial question, the Cedar tree is representative of Lebanon and the Oak tree is representative of Bashan.

Regarding the tree of the trees in Eden, the question we need to ask is: what does it mean to be the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The Law does not disclose Evil, so this is an insufficient parallel for those who might suggest that one tree is grace and the other tree is the law! Where did this tree come from? Did God plant it, or did He plant the garden around where this tree was located?

Trees are a pervasive metaphor in scripture and in one sense; we are all trees to God, as he requires us to be fruitful. There are good trees in scripture and bad trees. The four good trees in the Bible are: the palm tree (imagery of an oasis in the desert, and a symbol for worship), the olive tree (anointing oil – symbolic of the Holy Spirit), a blossoming almond tree (pictured on the temple veil representing the tree of life), and the hyssop plant (representing healing, and the closest image we have in scripture of the tree of life).

Other than the trees that seemed to cast a dark shadow on King Saul’s life, the only consistently evil tree in scripture seems to be an evergreen. The Israelites would place their idols under these trees and sacrifice to them there. The king of all these evergreens was the Great Cedar mentioned in Ezekiel 31 – both a metaphor for Satan, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But how can the cedar be analogous to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when it doesn’t bear any fruit?

The fruit of the great cedar is idolatry, as it is the tree that will not rot (Isaiah 40:20). So this tree of knowledge of good and evil has something to do with Satan, and idolatry. Satan fell because he found another to worship – in Lucifer’s case it was himself. So the knowledge of good and evil is to know God, and yet to worship another. Satan fell because having known God, she turned from God. Adam and Eve fell because having known God, they chose to turn from God. We get to be the bride of Christ because having known evil, we choose Christ.
 
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chunkofcoal

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Dad Ernie said:
John 1:46-48 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Fairly recently I learned the significance of this. You see it was a custom among priests and those who were so inclined to contemplate the scriptures to sit under one of the many fig trees that dotted Israel. Jesus was here saying that in all of Israel (the fig tree) here was a true believer in which there was no guile (deceit) as opposed to all those priests that were nothing but a brood of vipers.


Along with your initial question, the Cedar tree is representative of Lebanon and the Oak tree is representative of Bashan.


Blessings,

Dad Ernie

Dad Ernie,
Part of your post made me chuckle - Thank you!
I have a chair in my den, where I sometimes contemplate, and behind it I have a decorative tree - it's branches spread over the chair a bit. The tree is a "ficus benjamina" also called a "Weeping Fig". I didn't know that priests and those so inclined contemplated the scriptures under fig trees!:D Thanks for sharing that!:wave:
 
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Dad Ernie

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Eprom said:
Regarding the tree of the trees in Eden, the question we need to ask is: what does it mean to be the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The Law does not disclose Evil, so this is an insufficient parallel for those who might suggest that one tree is grace and the other tree is the law! Where did this tree come from? Did God plant it, or did He plant the garden around where this tree was located?

Greetings Eprom,

I think the following should be taken into account when trying to analyze the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden:

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Man was made "in the image of God". Not physically since God is Spirit. Not morally because God is absolutely holy and pure and man is not. Not mentally because His thoughts are greater than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. Jesus became "like us" - a little lower than the angels. He did not retain any of God's "omni" qualities, but chose to set an example for us by depending upon the Holy Spirit of which He was given "without measure".

So what was it that made us to be "like God"? I believe it is stated in more than one place that "authority and dominion" was given to Adam over all the works the Lord had made of this physical creation. This is what Jesus left behind. He became a servant:

Philippians 2:6-8 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

When Adam sinned, he relinquished the "authority" God had given to him and Eve to the Serpent. IOW treating a very great gift of God with disdain. Satan had made the statement which was reiterated by Eve:

Genesis 3:4-6 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

We know that "knowledge shall pass away". Why is that? Because knowledge is based on insufficient information, or a lie, such as Satan proferred. When understanding is pure and true, there is no need for the accumulation of knowledge.

I have had God speak to me on more than one occasion, almost audibly, but I know that I heard Him in my "spirit". When He spoke, clarity of thought came, it was not a knowing of right or wrong. It was not trying to decipher what was said, it was pure and understandable. I am sure that this is how God taught Adam. But then when the "lie" of Satan came, it brought confusion and questioned the authority of God. So now we are all under this umbrella of doubt and questioning God's pure motives, and if anyone think "Well that's not me." I would just say to them that they have yet to be tested in that area and don't know what they are talking about.

Anyway, evil is "disobedience to God", and Adam learned quickly enough as he and Eve scurried to sow fig leaves together and then hid from God.

Well, I realize this was a jumble of thoughts, but I hope I gave you some more to ruminate upon.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

P.S. Don't you find that the use of "fig" leaves is interesting? Israel wrapped herself up "in the law" thinking that somehow God couldn't see their underlying nakedness.
 
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Ebed-Yahweh

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Maybe I was wrong about what exactly the fig tree symbolizes, but I'm certain Israel is the Olive Tree. But don't take my word for it, take Yahweh God's.

THE OLIVE TREE

KJV Jeremiah 11:1-2, 16-17
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
16 The LORD [Yahweh] called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
17 For the LORD [Yahweh] of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

Of course, Judah is included in the Olive Tree as it is part of Israel.


KJV Hosea 14:5-6
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.


KJV Romans 11:24-25
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own [color]olive tree[/color]?
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.


THE FIG TREE

Matthew 21:18-22
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.


Mark 11:11-22
11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever[/u[. And his disciples heard it.

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.
20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.


Matthew 24:32-33
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Mark 13:28-29
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree;When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

Luke 21:29-31
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.



Figs


Jeremiah 24:1-10
1 The LORD [Yahweh] shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD [Yahweh], after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD [Yahweh] unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said,Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD [Yahweh] came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD [Yahweh], the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD [Yahweh]: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD [Yahweh], So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

KJV Isaiah 34:4
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

KJV Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

This is the only verse which possibly refers to Israel as a fig tree. But notice that Yahweh God never explicily calls Israel the fig tree as He calls her the Olive Tree in Jeremiah 11 and Hosea 14,

KJV Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.


KJV John 1:47-48
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.


KJV James 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

KJV Revelation 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
 
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Ebed-Yahweh

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THE TRINITY

The religious world has persisted in worshipping a trinity consisting of father, son and holy spirit (mother). It may surprise you to find out that the original trinity consisted of Adam-father, Eve-mother, and Cain-son.

The serpent had told the woman "Ye shall not surely die: for Elohim doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Elohim knowing good and evil." Adam and Eve were deceived into thinking that they were now Elohim. The idea is recorded in Gen. 3:22 where we read, "And YAHWEH Elohim said, ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us (WNM,mi), to know good and evil..."

The Hebrew word translated as "of us" is found elsewhere in Gen. 2 and 3. They are: Gen. 2:17, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it (WNM,mi): for in the day that thou eatest thereof (WNM,mi) thou shalt surely die." "Of it" and "thereof" are translated from the same Hebrew word "of us" is translated from.

Gen. 3:3, "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it (same word) neither shall ye touch it lest ye die.’"

Gen. 3:5, "For Elohim doth know that in the day ye eat thereof (WNM,mi, same word), then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil."

Gen. 3:11, "And He said, ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of (WNM,mi, same word) the tree, whereof I commanded thee thou shouldest not eat?’"

In order to be consistent with Scripture and interpretation, Gen 3:22 should read, "Behold the man is become as one from it (the tree), to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever:-"

Thus man has continued to be confused into thinking that he had become like unto Elohim when the truth of the matter is that man became like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which is a confusing mixture. On the one hand man and his civil and religious systems appear "good," but on the other hand, with a little in-depth research one finds evil.

The trinity, therefore, is traced back to Adam, Eve and Cain. Eve believed Cain to be the "Ish" (hero, champion, mighty man) who would crush the serpent. Cain would have been raised all his life thinking that he was the promised seed, the savior of all mankind.

from http://members.cox.net/thomasahobbs/yea_11-5.htm

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is Satan. See the thread I started on this subject if you'd like more evidence of this.
 
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Dad Ernie

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Greetings Ebed,

Here are some ideas that are set in concrete:

1) There is no other name, not Israel, not Judaism, not the Torah, not Moses but only Jesus by which any one must be saved. It has probably happened that a person has accepted Christ as Lord and knows not one wit about Israel. It is not necessary for salvation.

2) Perhaps I might have started off with the definition of the Kingdom of God, which is the manifest presence of God either in a place or a person, which in these latter days was manifested in Christ, then the Apostles, then all believers.

3) God is not a Jew, and Jesus' priesthood is of Melchizedek, a gentile. It was not possible that Jesus could be a High Priest because only the Levites were allowed and Jesus was not descended through their line.

4) Abraham is the Father of the faith of us all, whether Jew or Gentile - He and Isaac and Esau were gentiles. Hebrews to be specific. If a Jew accepts Christ, it is because of the "like" faith of Abraham.

5) It was to the Jews and specifically Jacob which held onto and maintained "the Law" and it was to them God manifested His presence. But when they rejected the Messiah, "The Kingdom of God was taken from them and given to a 'people's' that would produce fruit, namely the gentiles", although by that time at least 'some' Jews had been saved. Paul refers to them as a remnant of which he declared he was one. Israel was NOT taken from Israel, it was the "manifest presence of God" which departed from Israel.

6) In Ephesians we are told that we are "drawn nigh" to the "commonwealth of Israel". Some have taken this to mean that gentiles become a PART OF ISRAEL, which is not true. There is neither Greek nor Jew IN CHRIST, all are the same, and we are drawn along side those who have believed that were first of Israel to receive the knowledge of salvation. We are made a part of Christ, NOT Israel.

Well, there is probably much more I could say, but I will let you ruminate on that for a while.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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Eprom

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Ebed-Yahweh said:
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is Satan. See the thread I started on this subject if you'd like more evidence of this.
I would agree with you! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil seems far more insidious than just a Grace / Law analogy, as it’s fruit brought death and eternal separation from God’s presence - a life far from the garden. Also, The Law does not disclose Evil, and the end result of partaking of this fruit was that Adam and Ede took on the same egocentric, self serving nature of Satan. In a distorted sense, the promise of the serpent was fulfilled in that we humans now had the knowledge of good and evil. The deception lay in that humans could not feel remorse over the perversion of evil from the height of a holy estate. We would only be able to idealize good from the pit of a darkened condition.

When God shows up, they had to hide from him and their nakedness represents something - there was no longer any covering and they saw this! The term “Atonment” means “to cover over”, and God more effective covers them through the shedding of blood and providing a substututionary sacrifice. If you read Watchman Nee, you would discover that something in Adam and Eve did die the very instant they sinned. Their conection to the Spirit of God died when they partook of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. This had been their covering, but now they were alown. We are now fully covered “Atoned” by the blood of Christ, being given free access to the Spirit.
 
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Dad Ernie

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Greetings Eprom,

Eprom said:
I would agree with you! The tree of the knowledge of good and evil seems far more insidious than just a Grace / Law analogy, as it’s fruit brought death and eternal separation from God’s presence - a life far from the garden. Also, The Law does not disclose Evil, and the end result of partaking of this fruit was that Adam and Ede took on the same egocentric, self serving nature of Satan. In a distorted sense, the promise of the serpent was fulfilled in that we humans now had the knowledge of good and evil. The deception lay in that humans could not feel remorse over the perversion of evil from the height of a holy estate. We would only be able to idealize good from the pit of a darkened condition.

Temptation in and of itself is not bad nor is it sin or evil. It is the reaction to temptation that CAN be sin. The Tree of Knowledge was ONLY a temptation, it did NOT cause Adam and Eve to sin. It was the separation of the Tree of Life that brought about the death of Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

So the barring of Adam and Eve from the Garden was the only resolution God had to keep the "Garden" PURE. The "sin" was in the disobedience of Adam and Eve. This was all planned aforetime by the Godhead and so we see:

Romans 8:19-23 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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Eprom

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Dad Ernie said:
Temptation in and of itself is not bad nor is it sin or evil. It is the reaction to temptation that CAN be sin. The Tree of Knowledge was ONLY a temptation, it did NOT cause Adam and Eve to sin. It was the separation of the Tree of Life that brought about the death of Adam and Eve: Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: So the barring of Adam and Eve from the Garden was the only resolution God had to keep the "Garden" PURE. The "sin" was in the disobedience of Adam and Eve. This was all planned aforetime by the Godhead and so we see:
But Dad Ernie, what was the fruit that was offered and how did it change Adam and Eve? It's interesting how many times people are described as trees in scripture. The Jewish people are described like a garden that God was planting in Israel and this concept runs through scripture from Exodus 15:17 "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established." to 2 Samuel 7:10 & Isaiah 5:7. The garden God originally planted was from good seed, but it had turned defective (Jeremiah 2:21), so God would uproot them and plant them in a foreign land (Ezekiel 17). However, God promised He would re-plant the people back in Israel (Jeremiah 24:6) if they pray (Jeremiah 42:9, 10) and would fear Him (Jeremiah 32:39-41).

Men are compared to trees in: Jdg 9:10, Eze 17:24, Zec 11:2, Luk 3:9, Rev 11:4 - which makes you wonder when the man healed of blindness in Mark 8, and seeing men as trees vs. 24, he saw more clearly than he should. We are body soul and spirit, and like a tree, our spirit reaches up to heaven like the tree's branches, our body is confined to the physical reign like a tree's trunk, and our soul . . . tainted by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, reaches down to the abyss like a tree's roots.

This makes the promise of Jesus to the thief on the cross beside him very interesting! There they were, three formidable trees contrasted with the arid Judean landscape, and Jesus offers the one man entrance into the “paradeisos”, or the “orchard of God”, the promised restoration of Edenic paradise predicted in Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35. So . . . If Israel is an orchard planted in the Promised land, and men are trees, and work of Christ on the cross re-opened Eden – access into the presence of God, who were the tree's in the original garden of Eden?
 
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Dad Ernie

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Eprom said:
who were the tree's in the original garden of Eden?

Greetings Eprom,

I like the way you analyze the scriptures, not only with your mind, but with your spirit.

I see trees as representing "people GROUPS", and not necessarily as individuals, although the Tree of Life, I believe is allegorical for Christ. The Tree of Knowledge, I believe represents all that is in this world OTHER THAN Christ, that would distract us from obedience to God. I do not believe it represents Satan or any other particularly entity, for all the trees in the Garden were "good".

Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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mythbuster

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Hi Dad, Ebed, et al

It seems to me that the tree of life links Genesis with Revelation. I do not believe that it is mentioned anywhere else. Therefore there is a theme of life that runs from the beginning of the Bible to the end. This is why the Lord rebuked the religious leaders of the day saying:

You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me.
Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:38-39 (Zoe life by the way)

They were rebuked because they were off the line of the tree of life. This is an important point because for God's purpose we must have His life, the zoe life, in us. To receive this life into us is to receive the Lord who is life and because we have this life of God we are now genuine sons of God living by this new life. So Paul could say that for him to live was Christ, and also say "yet no longer I who live but Christ lives in me."

The other point is that of eating. Eating is another theme running through the Bible, and eating is a matter of taking things into our being for nourishment. I believe that God in Christ is our food and is signified by the tree of life. The Lord could say (and really offend a lot of people) that He is true food we must eat Him. He is manna from heaven, true food and drink to receive into us, the reality of the tree of life.

shalom
 
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Dad Ernie

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Greetings mythbuster,

I would call the Tree of Life as a "metaphor" or "allegorical" or a "type" of Christ, but Yes, I agree with you. It is amazing that over the approx. 4,000 years in which the scriptures were written, they remained so consistent, all pointing to Christ.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie
 
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HomeBound

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Dad Ernie said:
Fairly recently I learned the significance of this. You see it was a custom among priests and those who were so inclined to contemplate the scriptures to sit under one of the many fig trees that dotted Israel. Jesus was here saying that in all of Israel (the fig tree) here was a true believer in which there was no guile (deceit) as opposed to all those priests that were nothing but a brood of vipers.

Cool... Thanks.
 
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mythbuster

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Dad Ernie said:
Greetings mythbuster,

I would call the Tree of Life as a "metaphor" or "allegorical" or a "type" of Christ, but Yes, I agree with you. It is amazing that over the approx. 4,000 years in which the scriptures were written, they remained so consistent, all pointing to Christ.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

Yes sir. It really is amazing and we are fortunate to see it. In fact as an aside to this thread there are several items that appear in the first two chapters of Genesis and also are in the last two chapters of Revelation that I consider to be proof positive for divine inspiration for the whole Bible. In fact they almost mirror each other with the exception that in Revelation these main items are fully developed and in Genesis they are just seeds. As another example there is Adam and Eve. Where Eve was the issue out from the side of Adam so also the Church as the Bride of Christ is the issue from the side of Christ out from which flowed blood and water. Blood for redemption and water for regeneration. Adam slept and Eve was formed. Christ died to produce the church.

Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

Shalom

And as an aside to my aside this is also proof that the Bible is complete and has a beginning, an end, and no need of any other "additional " revelation such as "The Book of Mormon."

But the real key is to take Christ as our life. Then the Bible really falls into place.

Shalom shalom
 
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