The Bible tells us that God created Adam and Eve and placed then in a garden, called Eden.
And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 27-9 ASV
For thousands of years this story has usually been taken literally, in our more "enlightened times" many modern readers read the tale as an allegory, rather like the Gnostics of old, a moral tale rather than historical event. There is a growing trend, even among Bible teachers and pastors today to treat the whole book of Genesis metaphorically, espousing moral and psychosocial truths, but not to be taken as a scientific/factual explanation of our origins.
Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions each have their own version of the story of Adam and Eve as well as their own interpretations of its meaning. In Christian thought and belief, the three important aspects of the story are the serpent, the Fall, and the doctrine of original sin, although many protestant branches of Christanity decry the ongoing effects of the original sin aspect of the fall.
God told Adam he could freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden apart from one — “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” If Adam ate from this tree, God told him, he would die (Genesis 2:16-17).
Sometime after Adam was created, God gave Adam a human companion- Eve. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Genesis 2:21-22 ASV
What was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
There is endless debate as to whether or not this was an actual tree. The Hebrew word translated tree is ets pronounced ates, and is used numerous times throughout the Old Testament; the same word is used for wood, as in gopher or cypress wood (Genesis 6:14) It's also used as a general description of trees (2 Chronicles 28:4) The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would therefore appear to be an actual tree of some kind.
Likewise the Hebrew word for knowledge (da‛ath) is the ordinary word for knowledge or awareness. Clearly, we should not be looking for another meaning for knowledge.The words for good (tob) and evil (ra) follow the same pattern; they are the ordinary everyday words that mean what they say, and mean what we understand them to mean.
Whatever else Adam and Eve "gained" from eating of this tree, apart from death, and a knowledge of doing good and evil, the consequences of their actions have affected every single human born since that time.
What was the fruit?
The most oft suggested fruit is the apple, and this is reflected in the male anatomy, the larynx in a male is more prominent than a female, and supposedly this arises from a fable about a piece of the "forbidden fruit" getting stuck in Adam's throat (the Adam's Apple). This is one of the many extra-biblical stories that have become accepted as fact about Adam and Eve. The association of the apple tree with Adam and Eve may well stem from a Latin pun.... The Latin word malum means both evil and apple. (The actual phrase for good and evil is boni et mali.) It's a pun that is lost in other languages; the Bible was originally translated from Hebrew into Greek, and thence into Latin. The Bible does not tell us what the fruit was that our first ancestors ate, but just about every kind of fruit has been suggested at one time or another. Even the rose-hip, the little bulb formed at the base of a rose flower, is sometimes called a "rose-apple". What ever type of tree it was, it's unlikely that it's fruit is still with us today, as it's probable that the Garden of Eden was destroyed in Noah's flood, if not some time before.
In Greek mythology, apples appear in many religious traditions, often as a mystical or forbidden fruit. However, a difficulty in identifying apples in Greek religion, mythology and folktales is that the word "apple" was used as a generic term for all (non-Greek) fruit, other than berries but including nuts, as
There is an interesting reference to the "forbidden fruit" in the Book of Enoch, (alluded to in Jude and 2Peter) a non-canonical ancient Jewish work attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. "Their fragrance was agreeable and powerful, and their appearance both varied and elegant. The tree of knowledge also was there, of which if any one eats, he becomes endowed with great wisdom. It was like a species of the tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance".
English Bible commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714) suggested in his notes on Genesis chapter 2 that the tree itself may not have provided the knowledge of good and evil, but that Adam's disobedience of God's command would reveal evil to Adam and ultimately cause his death. In this view, the tree itself did not have “any virtue in it to beget or increase useful knowledge.”
The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary says this; "thou shalt not eat of it ... thou shalt surely die — no reason assigned for the prohibition, but death was to be the punishment of disobedience. A positive command like this was not only the simplest and easiest, but the only trial to which their fidelity could be exposed'
The Tree of Life.
What is often overlooked in any discussion of the the trees of Genesis is the "other tree" mentioned....
And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 ASV
At no time, during their time in Eden, were Adam and Eve forbidden form eating from that tree, yet they chose not to!
It seems that it was not until after their disobedience that they were even aware of its significance.
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever-- Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So [God] drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24 Amplified Bible
Significantly, for us at least, the tree of life does not reappear in God's plan for humanity until the very end of human rule of creation. And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2 ASV
It is clearly self evident from the current sad and fallen state of the human race, that we do not live on a planet that remotely resembles paradise, where peace and harmony exist, death is absent, and we live eternally, all because just two people decided go against God, even after all that God created for
mankind, and had given humanity, including; a home (Earth), a garden, food, the ability to reproduce
and have dominion over everything.Everyone alive today faces exactly the same choice that Adam and Eve faced; that is, the choice of life eternal or death. Jesus, the son of God, gave himself as a sacrifice for the payment of the sin of not just Adam and Eve, but for the sins of everyone who ever lived, but instead of just one fallen angel deceiving two people, we have billions of people who are against Jesus and reject God. That doesn't change the choice, it's the same, whether you believe or not!
Look for Part 2 of Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil soon
Then
he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming
from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On
either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of
fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. - See more at:
http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Revelation 22:1-2
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Revelation 22:1-2
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Revelation 22:1-2
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Tree-Of-Life#sthash.pHtK9NNr.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment