4-10-26 Weekly Devotional – Why Did God Put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in The Garden of Eden?
Now, what do we know from Scripture regarding this scene from the garden of Eden? Well, the Bible makes it clear that Adam was created outside the garden of Eden and placed in it when everything was ready (Genesis 2:15). We know that God had created many different kinds of fruit trees for Adam to eat. Of all the trees, Adam was commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the middle of the garden (Genesis 2:16-17). We also know that sometime after Adam was placed in the garden, Eve was created (Genesis 2:21-22), and the scene was set for Adam and Eve to obey or reject God. The Bible makes it clear that God gave Adam and Eve all they needed – with lots of different trees from which to eat fruit. It is clear that Eve knew she should not eat from the one tree in the middle of the garden that she was instructed to avoid. Instead of believing God and trusting Him, after all He had done for them, Eve chose to believe the lies of Satan (in snake form) and believed that God was lying to her. She ate the forbidden fruit and convinced her husband to do the same, resulting in their loss of innocence and a broken relationship with God – spiritually separated from God. Now, with this background explained let us look at the question: “Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden?”
God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden as a test to give Adam and Eve a choice to obey Him or disobey Him. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted, except eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2: 16-17, “And the Lord God commanded the man,’ You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 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.“ If God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have been robots, simply doing what they were programmed to do. God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, able to make decisions, able to choose between good and evil. For Adam and Eve to be truly free, they had to have a choice – the ability to be able to choose. Without free will to choose, Adam and Eve would have been mere puppets. True love always requires choice.
There was nothing evil about the tree or the fruit of the tree. It is unlikely that eating the fruit gave Adam and Eve any further knowledge. It was the act of disobedience that opened Adam and Eve’s eyes to evil. Their sin of disobeying God brought sin and evil into the world and into their lives. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve knowledge of evil (Genesis 3:6-7). God did not want Adam and Eve to sin. God knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and would thereby bring evil, suffering, and death into the world. Why, then, did God allow Satan to tempt Adam and Eve? God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to force them to make the choice. Adam and Eve chose, of their own free will, to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. The results: evil, sin, suffering, sickness, and death have plagued the world ever since. Adam and Eve’s decision results in every person being born with a sin nature, a tendency to sin. Adam and Eve’s decision is what required Jesus Christ to die on the cross and shed His blood on our behalf. Through faith in Christ, we can be free from sin’s consequences; born dead spiritually. May I echo the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7: 24-25, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – Christ our Lord!”
An important thought to keep in mind is this: God wants real relationships with us, not mere robots that He forces to love Him. The tree was merely a choice. We, as humans, can relate to the desire to have fulfilling relationships. God wants a relationship with His creation too. God wants true love and true worship. Not out of compulsion, but from love and a true desire to serve, love, and obey Him.
This text in Genesis suggests that Adam and Eve had enjoyed daily walks with God through the garden prior to the fall (Genesis 3:8). Because of our return to innocence, as believers in Christ Jesus and our relationship with God restored, this scene will very likely be repeated in the New Heaven and Earth that God will create for us – our daily walks with our Creator and Savior. This may seem speculative, but I believe that we believers will lose our knowledge of evil in heaven. Isaiah 25:8 says that God will wipe all the tears from us and our reproach will be removed (see also Revelation 7:7 and 21:4). We will be able to experience and enjoy God directly – without influence or knowledge of sin and evil – return to innocence.
Now, as believers we are no different than Jesus in so much as being tested for our faith. Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. During this time Satan tested Him with power and the kingdoms of this world if Jesus would bow down to Satan and follow him. In the same way when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, our faith will be tested as well. After a brief honeymoon as new believers, Satan will come along and put our faith in Christ to the test. That is just the way it is. God has a reason for everything. How do I know? Because I can personally attest to the fact that this happened in my life.
I remember working at the smelter in Trail, British Columbia and watching how the metals were refined. I would pour caustic soda onto the molten metal and then scrape off all the impurities until we had 98+% pure metal. In the same way God works in our lives, testing us for our faith, refining us as we grow in Christ, becoming (more) pure in heart and faith. This is why Adam and Eve were tested, why Paul was tested and why you and I will be tested after a brief honeymoon in Christ Jesus. (See 1 Peter 1:3-9)
Conclusion: God knows what He is doing. God created mankind with freedom. Freedom to obey Him, or freedom to reject Him. We all have choices. God gave us choices because God wants us to choose to love Him from our own free will.
Oscar Leske / Facebook: Signs Of Our Times (2018)
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God did create Adam and Eve with freedom and the privilege of choice, however upon their disobedience that freedom and privilege was lost. They were expelled from the garden and blocked from returning. They retained their freedom of choice but would from that point on, without the influence of God, always choose things of the flesh and against God. This condition was passed on to all their progeny. Man, still has free choice, a free will, but until regenerated spiritually, they cannot not choose toward God. He is spiritually dead (See Ephesians 2:1-10). Jesus said that before a man (a person) could see (perceive) spiritual things or enter the kingdom of heaven, they must be born again (See John 3:1-8).
Steve / stevelampman.com