When God created the human being, he didn’t just put
him anywhere. He prepared a special place for him.
(Genesis 2:7-8)
Then the
LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God
planted a garden in Eden
This special place is known as “the Garden of Eden”. What
was there in this Garden?
(Genesis 2:9) And out of the
ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight
and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(Genesis 2:15) The LORD God took
the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
God did not put man in a void, but in a special place.
God created this garden, but now the man was supposed to take care of it and
maintain it. Many of the trees in the garden produced edible fruit. The man
could eat from any of them… except one.
(Genesis 2:16-17)
And the
LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of
the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
TWO
TREES
In the middle of the Garden there were two trees:
a.
the Tree of Life
b.
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil
These were two actual physical trees in the Garden of
Eden; but they also represent two spiritual, eternal concepts.
a.
The Tree of Life
In the book of Proverbs it is written what this “Tree
of Life” (Heb. etz chayim)
represents:
(Proverbs 3:1, 18)
My son,
do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments... She is a
tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called
blessed.
The Tree of Life was the Torah. It is the source of wisdom, which reveals to us what is
right or wrong according to God’s order.
There is a mention of the “Tree of Life” at the
beginning of the Bible (Gen. 2:9), in the middle (Prov. 3:18), and also at the
end.
(Revelation 22:1-2)
Then the
angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city;
also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of
fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations.
This Tree of Life will be among us again, in the New
Jerusalem. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. There will no longer
be corruption or injustice, because men will live according to God’s commands,
following the order established from the beginning, and carrying out the
purpose for which they were created.
(Revelation 22:3-5)
No
longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb
will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and
his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no
light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign
forever and ever.
Who will have the right to eat form the Tree of Life?
(Revelation. 22:14)
Blessed
are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of
life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
Yes, the Tree
of Life is the Torah, God’s established order. Then, what does the other
tree represent?
a.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
This tree represents the will of man, being free to
decide what is “right” and what is “wrong” for him. Not based on the Word of
God, but on his own opinion.
The word translated as “Knowledge” is the Hebrew Daat.
This knowledge is not only intellectual, but
practical, obtained through life experiences. Adam and Eve did not know what
evil was. They did not understand it in an intellectual level, but they decided
to experience it, even after God warned them not to.
What was the consequence for disobeying and trying
this forbidden fruit?
The consequence was death. If they knew what would
happen, why did they risk their life? Because they believed what the serpent
said, not what God said. They considered that the tree was good for food, and
they ate of it.
Isn’t this the same thing we do today, when we
consider that God’s decrees are “outdated” or maybe “irrational”? We believe in
what we can reason, or what we feel in our heart to be right, instead of
believing in what God has said in His Word.
Every day we have the option to take from the tree of
knowledge or the tree of life.
In the next chapter of Genesis we will see Adam and
Eve eat of the fruit of one of these trees in the garden, and the consequences
of their decision…
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