The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

This Tree mentioned in Genesis 2:15-17 (“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 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.”) is set apart from another Tree, named The Tree of Life. The latter clearly depicts immortality or everlasting life. It is mentioned again in Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, and 19.  Understanding the role the the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (The Knowledge Tree), is more complex.

Common understanding of The Knowledge Tree is that it is simply the ‘test-tree’ as to whether Adam and Eve will choose to obey God. Eat it “you shall surely die.” We could leave the argument there. It is a ‘test-tree’ so to speak. But the Scriptures give this Knowledge Tree more importance than that.

The Knowledge Tree occupied centre stage with the Tree of Life, in the centre of the Garden (Genesis 2:9b). Satan’s temptation includes a concept more that just a ‘test-tree.’ “ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). The eating of it is more than an act of rebellion but is an act that invites a knowledge of good and evil. There appears to be a wisdom benefit. That benefit is affirmed by our God. When Adam and Eve hide and God comes looking for them, they tell God they are hiding because they recognize that they are naked. God said to them,  “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The fact that they knew they were naked alerts God to the reality that they ate from the Knowledge Tree.

A popular understanding of this Tree is found in the ESV Study Bible notes, “Of these possibilities, the last is the most likely: by their obedience or disobedience the human couple will come to know good and evil by experience.”[1] This strikes as a plausible explanation. To disobey God is to experience evil and the wages of evil is death (Romans 6:23). But that does not satisfy my enquiry, particularly considering Satan’s challenge: “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Someone may argue that Satan is just deceiving, lying, using false information. But the narrative does not support that. In v3:7 we are told that their eyes were opened; and in v3:22 God says, “Man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”  So, my point is that although the eating of Knowledge Tree was a test, it also produced an effect. Adam and Eve become something like God in knowledge. The question is like what? Reading Christopher Watkin’s book: “Biblical Critical Theory,” he offers a better answer.

“The way in which God himself knows good and evil is not simply that he recognizes what is already good and already evil independently of his judgment, for the very good reason that nothing exists independently of his judgment. God knows good and evil in the sense that he has the authority to decide what is good and what is evil because his moral character is woven into the very fabric of the creation order, as we saw in the chapter on the creation of the universe.”[2]

 

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they entered a realm of wisdom that assumed they had the authority to decide what was right and what was wrong. Is this not the case today with all of Adam’s children? We think we can be the arbitrators of truth, what is good and what is evil. Mark Brians affirms this in his article: “Two Trees in Eden and What They Mean:”

 

“Rather, the knowledge of good and evil suggests authority to rule and exercise judgement. It is what God does throughout the creation cycle. He sees what he has made and declares it “good” (e.g., Genesis 1:10 or “very good,” Genesis 1:31 or “not good” (Genesis 2:18).”[3]

 

When our progenitors sinned, they not only bequeathed to us a sin nature bent on disobedience to God our Sovereign Creator, but they also transferred to us the insane wisdom that assumed we could figure out, in ourselves, what is right and what is wrong. Rather than draw us into closer relationship with God (like Him) “knowing good and evil,” only serves to separate them from him.” [4]  Imagine the horror: people with a nature perpetually leaning toward disobedience to God, who at the same time take it upon themselves to determine what is right and what is wrong; what is good and what is evil?

This is in fact what has occurred. Our culture has decided that we can figure out what is acceptable and what is not. We decide whose life is worth keeping. We decide what gender we are. We decide what constitutes marriage. The list seems endless. We who are dependent created beings, utterly affected by sin in every dimension of life have believed the lie that we can decide what is good and what is evil. It is insane.

 

Before Jesus went to the Cross, to suffer for the sins of all who would believe in Him, Pilate questioned him. Pilate was in a place of political power. Pilate was one who was commissioned to make judgments on various matters. Listen to part of the discourse:

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose, I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth? (John 18:37-38). Previously before His disciples, the people “of the truth,” Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is in union with Christ that truth can be found. Determinations of right and wrong, good, and evil are only assured through the Person and the Word of Jesus. Truth is anchored in God's nature, personality, and attributes. Because God is truth, he defines what truth is. This means that truth is objective, not relative. There is no such thing as “your truth” or “my truth.” There is only God’s Truth.

 

God never intended humankind to eat of this Tree. It was impossible for humans to bear the responsibility to be the determiners of right and wrong.

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[1] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 54). Crossway Bibles.

[2] Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture by Christopher Watkin

[3] https://www.logos.com/grow/hall-tree-knowledge-good-evil/#easy-footnote-bottom-2-128304

[4] Wenham, G. J. (1987). Genesis 1–15 (Vol. 1, p. 74). Word, Incorporated.

 

Remembering the Way God Remembers

I've been developing some concern about our sacred institution of Remembrance Day.  As a former peace-time, infantry officer; and as one who has hardly missed involvement in November 11th, I think I have some sweat equity in the event.   I served for about 10 years as a Legion chaplain and became even more cynical. So here goes!

The mantra from sea-to-sea in our country, is "we remember our fallen heroes."  Most speeches include a sense of gratitude for the freedoms we have today.  Undoubtedly that is true.  But it's not placid gratitude that ought to drive our Remembrance Day ceremonies.  Lieutenant-Colonel McCrae said it best in the last stanza of his infamous poem:

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

   The torch; be yours to hold it high.

   If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

We ought to remember the way God remembers.   When we read in the Bible that "God remembers", we might get an image of a senile old man that try as he wish, he can't seem to recall what he is supposed to know.   That's not the God of the Bible.  That's not the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient, omniscient, omnipotent God that is.  When the Scriptures use the term that "God remembered", the Holy Spirit is teaching us that God is acting upon His promises.   He is acting.  The best thing that can be said for any person is that God remembered them.

• Genesis 8:1 (NIV) ¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
• Genesis 19:29 (NIV) ²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
• Genesis 30:22 (NIV) ²² Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.
• 1 Samuel 1:19 (NIV) ¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
• Jeremiah 31:20 (NIV) ²⁰ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.
• Psalm 105:42 (NIV) ⁴² For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.

Remembrance Day ought to be a call to action, not simply a time of reflection, albeit thankfulness. There ought to be a firm resolve with all who "remember" to "take up the quarrel with the foe."  The Bible says that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” (Proverbs 14:34, NIV). The greatest foe to Canada today is rampant unrighteousness.  The enemy is not a foreign nation, it is a foreign deity. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12, NIV).

My grandfather and uncles served in both World Wars.  Neither war was ultimately driven by geo-political agendas.  The Divine diagnosis is simple, yet profound: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:1–2, NIV)

This is why I weary of Remembrance Day festivities.  It's because we never get to the root of the problem.  We never resolve to do what is necessary based upon the real issue.  We throw out empty and meaningless rhetoric and somehow go home feeling good.  It is the epitome of a secular society borrowing equity from religious ritual. Why not call communities to repent?  Why not call communities to return to God?  Why not plead with the Holy Spirit to rend our hearts and give us hearts that fear God and love neighbors?  I know its too radical.  That's because it is too real.  

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” (Acts 3:19–20, NIV).

Billy Graham is right when he said, "Only the gospel, God’s Good News, has the power to change lives, heal hearts, and restore a nation." 

Remembrance Day should be about reflection; about resolve, but it should also be about repentance and restoration of a nation to its God -- otherwise it is an empty facade.  The worst news possible is that all of humanity has fallen under the eternal condemnation of God for all of us have violated His glory and His holiness, for which we were created.  The best news possible is that because of God's immense love, He sent His Son, who took on humanity, lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death for all who will, but put their trust in Him. 

Faith in this redemptive act, applies all of God's grace and goodness, by the Holy Spirit, to the believer; and placates God's righteous wrath against us.  His saving power enables the Christian to no longer live for themselves, but for Christ. His saving power grants the ability to conquer sin's power and live a life pleasing to God.  

Imitation Is The Highest Form of Flattery or A Recipe for Disaster!

3 John 11–12 (NIV),

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

"Again one of John’s syllogisms is applied to Diotrephes in contradistinction to Demetrius a real believer, and probably another bishop in the congregation or community." [1]  Briefly, this is what is being said:

Imitate good - good is from God

Imitate Demetrius - Truth commends Demetrius

Don't imitate evil - evil doesn't know God

Don't imitate Diotrephes - Truth does not commend him

Who is this Demetrius.  Well we don't know.  He is spoken of as if Gaius will certainly know him, though.  He is commended and it is inferred that Gaius should follow his example as opposed to Diotrephes.   "Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." "'Not seen' is in the perfect tense in the original, and emphasizes the negative certainty of the action here, “… has never really seen God at all."[1] The inference, again, is that Diotrephes is not a Christian, truly, or certainly not acting consistent with Chrisitianity.

J. Hampton Keathley III writes, "This is a constant theme of the Bible. Other than the raw power of the Word itself, nothing is so determinative for spiritual change in the lives of others as one’s own example. This truth is strongly taught in 1 Thessalonians 2:1ff where Paul recalls his manner of life and that of his team to the Thessalonians." [2]

This begs an important question: If it is clear that Diotrephes is not even a Christian, why is he holding a place of influence in the Church?  If Demetrius and Diotrephes are leaders in the church, the necessity of regeneration and a good reputation are critical.  Thus Paul could require that “... the overseer is to be above reproach . . .” (1 Timothy 3:2a, NIV).  This does not mean perfection, but it does mean accountability, transparency and repentance when necessary.

Father, this imitation thing is huge.  Almost unconsciously it seems that we like to imitate others.  In the day when celebrities are in our homes and in our faces constantly, we are inundated with potential role models. As adults children are constantly looking to us this way.  Even in the Church celebrity pastors, preachers, authors are all around.  I can see Father that some forms of imitation are good.  I thank you for men in my life who, in part, exemplify godliness and maturity.  I thank you for giving me a father that did that.  My concern today is me, Father.  Can my children, my brothers and sisters truly say, "I imitate Jim?"  I fear not.  I have a heart that continually wonders.  I have a passion that is continually self-centered. I, too often would rather be alone and independent.  What despair!  And I have a Savior who is more than a good example.  He is the One who breaks the power of cancelled sin.  He is the One who freely offers forgiveness and hope.  He is the One who breaks into my sin and freely grants me His righteousness. Oh the love that draws me to this One who is my all-in-all.   What grace!   

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span

  At Calvary!

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1. KJV Bible Commentary. 1994 (E. E. Hindson & W. M. Kroll, Ed.) (2645). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

2. https://bible.org/seriespage/mark-1-example-others-imitate