Fruit, Fall, Familiarity, Forever

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

One of my classmates in an Old Testament Survey class asked this question:

"In the garden of Eden, the serpent told Eve that she would surely not die if she ate the fruit. That God knew that if she ate the fruit, her eyes would be opened and she would be like God, knowing good and evil. Later, in a discussion with Themselves, God stated that man had become like Them - the Trinity - knowing good and evil. So, was the serpent telling the truth? Did the serpent do anything wrong?" For context, this is in Genesis 3:1-5; 22-24.

I grew up in the church, and I know the story of the fall of mankind by heart. I was taught that the serpent is the devil, and he is out to kill, steal, and destroy mankind. This is what he did to Adam and Eve. I know he used God's word to cause Adam and Eve to ignore God's instructions, leading to disobedience and their fall. This is simple and obvious. Or is it? My classmates question suggests otherwise. It tells me that it's good to know the 'what'. It is equally important to know the 'how', the 'why', and the 'what then'.

So, let us dive in together.

The Fruit

Much is said about the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Indeed, as per Eve's evaluation of the tree and its fruit, it was impressive. Genesis 3:6 says "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Surely, why did God make this fruit so enticing?

Interestingly, this was the first time we were told that Eve considered the tree and its fruit in detail. It's like she and Adam had never really bothered to analyze this tree. They knew its was there, they knew they were forbidden to touch it and eat from it. And it seems that this knowledge caused them to put it out of their minds and daily activities. In essence, it simply wasn't there, until it was.

What is less discussed is the other special tree. Genesis 2:9 says "The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." There was a tree of life, and for some reason, they were not forbidden to eat of its fruit. So basically, they could have life in abundance, but not have the knowledge of good and evil....right! We shall look into the tree of life in a few, but it seems it wasn't a noteworthy tree to Adam and Eve as yet.

So in summary, there were two trees - tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Both trees seem to be inconsequential to Adam and Eve until one fateful day. Then only the explicitly forbidden tree is addressed and is partaken of, leading to separation from God. Again, why didn't God just remove the tree(s) from the garden? And then why have this different instructions? Did the serpent lie?

The Fall

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12)

Not going into the gender discussions concerning the fall of mankind, Adam and the woman he circumstantially called his wife both ate of the forbidden fruit. This was a direct afront to the command God had given them. As per my classmates question, the bone of contention lies herein. Given the results of eating the fruit, did the serpent lie?

Genesis 3:4-5 says "Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”"

Genesis 3:22a says "Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil."

Evidently, the serpent/devil did not lie. He simply stated what he knew would be a consequence of eating the fruit, while crucially turning their attention away from the bigger command - Obey the Lord your God. Indeed this interaction pays credence to one of the main attributes of the devil: A Deceiver (Revelation 12:9).

To lie is to intentionally state something that is false with the intent to mislead.

To deceive is to cause someone to believe something that is not true, regardless of the method.

One can deceive without lying, something the devil is a master of. He uses lies as one way of deceiving us in his attempts to steal, kill and destroy us. In the interaction in the garden, the devil used deceit to cause Adam and Eve to believe that there was no problem in eating of the fruit and that they would only get to know good and evil; not physically die.

The sin of Adam and Eve was not in the physical eating of the fruit. This was only the manifestation of their sin. Their sin was in going contrary to the Word of God. God told them one thing, they did the opposite. Disobedience was their sin, and it resulted in separation from God - spiritual death. This was the deceit the devil masked in true words. The devil's longing to be like God - nay, to be God - was the origin of sin. He planted his sinful seed in Eve, and it grew into the sin of disobedience, manifested through her eating of the fruit.

And thus, mankind was fallen and had to find his/a WAY back to God.

The Familiarity

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil (Gen 3:22a).

Prior to eating of the fruit, Adam and Eve lived a content life. They had all they needed, had regular hang outs with God, and governed over the whole garden. The interaction between Eve and the serpent suggests that her deeper contemplation of the tree and its fruit was not a common occurrence. All she knew was that there was this tree that they weren't allowed to touch or eat its fruit. Everything else they knew was the goodness of God and the splendor of His creation.

It is interesting that the first thing that was mentioned about their newly discovered knowledge was that they were naked. More importantly, they found that their nakedness was something to be shameful about. They were the only two people in the garden, and they were man and wife. Why was it a problem that they were naked? What were their eyes seeing prior to them being opened?

I postulate that prior to eating the fruit, Adam and Eve only knew good. They only saw good. They had no knowledge of evil. They only saw half the picture. Their eyes being opened was symbolic of them seeing the whole picture, one that has evil in it. God's plan was for mankind to only have a view of good. As per Jesus in Matthew 19:17 and Mark 10:18, only God is good. Therefore, Adam and Eve only saw and knew God. In the same verses, Jesus prescribed the only way for one to enter into life was to keep/obey the commandments.

After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve became familiar with evil. They could now relate nudity with immorality, hence their clothing in reeds and hiding from God. From that day, evil became something that mankind was familiar with. Soon after, the first crime against humanity was committed - fratricide. And this familiarity has been with us ever since, growing into an embracing of evil.

This familiarity has blurred the lines between good and evil. We entertain sin, even without actively engaging in it, and convince ourselves that we need to know what sin is so that we may avoid it. The case of Adam and Eve prior to the fall tells us different. The trees were not on their minds, nor did they interact with them. They were fully focused on God and tending to the garden.

Paul tells us to think about only that which is excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Only then, do we know the difference between good and evil. Only then do we know the real TRUTH that the devil tries so hard to obstruct with familiarity.

The Forever

And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gen 3:22b).

Now, about that other tree! It was called the tree of life, and according to Lord God, it had the ability to grant eternal life. No wonder the serpent didn't tempt Eve to eat its fruit. Knowledge is one thing, eternal life is a whole other domain.

The statement from God suggests that Adam and Eve had never eaten the fruit of the tree of life. This is interesting because they knew the tree was there, yet had not eaten its fruit despite having not been forbidden to eat its fruit. Why was this? Better yet, HOW was this?

Given the lack of literature about this tree, any attempt to answer these questions would only be educated guesses and opinions. So I will give my opinion on what I believe may have been going on.

God is the source of all life. He created all things and gave life to living creatures. Genesis 3:8 - "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day" - suggests that it was common place for God to walk in the garden, so much so that Adam and Eve were familiar with the sound He made. This means that Adam and Eve were in the presence of the source of life regularly. This is a mirror of how the new world will be. Revelation 21:1-4 says "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, ... 'Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

My belief is that the imagery in Revelation is a return to what the garden of Eden was. God would mingle and interact with Adam and Eve personally, and there was no death or anything not good. As such, my belief is that the tree of life was not visible to them. For them, life was God, and God was with them. The tree, while being in the midst of the garden, was not known to Adam and Eve.

However, upon eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were disconnected from God. Their sin brought them spiritual death. We are told their eyes were open and they saw their nakedness. I believe that they would also have now seen the tree of life because they were now dead. As such, LORD God, in His mercy, chose to banish them from the garden before they found the tree of life and ate its fruit. It would have given them eternal life steeped in sin, and thus eternal damnation. like, forever!

Upon their banishment, "He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." (Gen 3:24). Eternal life was now unattainable to mankind unless through an intermediary or the mercy of God.

The only way to eternal LIFE now is through Jesus Christ.

Jesus

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Adam and Eve had regular fellowship with the Father in the garden. They sinned and were banished from the garden, commencing a centuries long journey back to the Father. But this journey was and is futile for mortal man. Only an act of God could return us to the garden. This act was for God, in the person of Jesus, to bridge the gap between sinful man and Holy God through His death on the cross and His resurrection and victory over the power of death.

John tells us that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1,2,14). The simple interpretation of this is that Jesus is the said Word of God. Many a time we question the validity of this claim. Exploring the happenings in the garden of Eden, however, shows us that Jesus was written into the world right from the beginning.

The devil tried to deceive his way into Godly status, exploiting mankind for his evil purposes. But God, in His mercy, prepared the WAY, unveiled the TRUTH to light our path, and granted the gift of eternal LIFE through His son, Jesus the Christ.

As to why God placed that tree there in the first place.....because He is a loving and just God. Love without an option is not love, but subjugation. True love is granting the object of your love the choice of not loving you back, knowing that they will reject you, and yet providing a way back to you. God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and the garden of Eden was a perfect demonstration of this. Its was the entrance of the Word to the world.

Be Blessed!