In Genesis 2, we see God place two trees in the Garden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam was told (before Eve was made) that he could eat of the one, but he must not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam would have to pass this information to Eve later on. What was this tree? Why was it forbidden?
I believe it was a real tree with real fruit and somehow man’s interaction with it would produce knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 1:29 tells us that “God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”
It was after this announcement that God told Adam not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. From this we can understand that they would eventually be allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, but not yet. The prohibition was temporary.
Adam and Eve in their infancy and immaturity were invited to eat of the Tree of Life and had they remained faithful and matured through obedience, they would eventually have been allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were just “babies”, they were not yet ready for the “solid food” of this tree.
This is because the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is associated with maturity and wisdom. It is associated with kingly rule.
The key to understanding this is by the name of the Tree. The Knowledge of Good and Evil is a phrase used in the Bible that is used of kingly rule. It describes judicial knowledge. We could say it was the Tree of Judicial Knowledge. This kind of knowledge comes only by experience and maturity, something the newly created Adam and Eve could not possibly have yet.
Knowledge of Good and Evil is Mature Judicial Knowlege
The rest of Scripture confirms this:
Take for example when God tells Solomon to ask for anything, Solomon says…
And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child… Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? 1 Kings 3:7-9;
Here we see that discerning between good and evil is the phrase used to describe the ability to govern as a king. Notice how this is contrasted with being a child. Immediately, in the next chapter Solomon exercises wise justice.
The wise woman of Tekoa says to David in 2Sa 14:17;
“…for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!”
Man’s judicial authority is a copy of God’s.
Infants, like Adam and Eve, do not have the wisdom to know good and evil in this judicial sense… Deu 1:39;
“And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil,…”
Thus, the Tree of Knowledge does not have to do with simple moral knowledge, but judicial knowledge, with kingly wisdom and understanding that comes through patience and maturity.
The Tree of Life had food, but was not associated with the glory of rule. The Tree of Life was priestly not kingly.
Priestly life is a life of sheer obedience: we see this in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. What Adam was to do in the Garden was priestly work: guard (keep) the Garden and tend (beautify) it (Gen. 2:15). This life is what a daily intake from the Tree of Life would have affirmed. A priest is like a child, strictly obeying the Law given to him, only doing what he is told to do. A Priest is a Tree of Life. When you eat of the tree you become the tree.
Kingly life is a mature life of wisdom and understanding: we see this from the kingly books (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes). A king takes the Law and applies it to new situations using maturity and experience. A king is a Tree of Knowledge.
Three Things To Understand:
1. Adam and Eve already knew the difference morally between good and evil.
They were made in God’s image, they were not ethically neutral, they were blessed and pronounced good.
2. Adam and Eve would mature in their understanding of good and evil by refraining from eating of the Tree of Knowledge.
By agreeing with God and saying “no” to something that was delightful would have that effect and cause him to understand better what good and evil are. Adam would have learned good and evil from the good side, instead of falling and learning it from the evil side.
God’s initial “programming” of good into man would have been reinforced by his conscious decision to pursue good and bring him to a more mature state.
3. Eating of this Tree of Knowledge would effect a change in their position.
The phrase “knowledge of good and evil” has to do with rule and authority, the right to pass judgments. The wisdom to act as a ruler/king under the authority of God.
This comes from the context of Genesis 1 & 2: God repeatedly passes judgments: “saw that it was good”, “not good for man to be alone”, etc.
c. Thus for man to acquire knowledge of good and evil means he has the privilege of judicial pronouncements.
The prohibition was a temporary fast. It was fasting from something that they were not ready for.
This term of fasting was designed to work into their hearts the dispositions needed to exercise judicial authority.
The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Heb 5:14;
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