Could All Of This Really Be For A Fruit? What is the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil?
The tree of knowledge of good & evil is at the center of much discussion when it comes to the Bible and this world. Scripture tells us that the first command that Adam & Eve received from God included explicit instruction against partaking in this tree.
And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
-Genesis 2:16 (ESV)
The consequences of eating from this tree was that they would experience death and they would be cursed. Adam & Eve went on to eat of this fruit at the persuasion of the serpent, Satan.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
-Genesis 3:6 (ESV)
The consequences of this decision are massive and essentially lead to death, pain, and suffering that we know to be true today. When reading and analyzing this, one could wonder does the punishment fit the 'crime'? While this could be a good question to ponder, knowing what the tree is and why God commanded them not to eat from it shows us why the consequences were and are necessary.
So what is the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Prior to eating from this tree part of the serpent's appeal against God's explicit command is that they would be like God knowing good and evil.
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
And while there is some truth in what is said, it is only a half truth. God affirms that they now know good and evil but this is not a good thing for us.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
-Genesis 3:22
The issue at hand is arbitration of good and evil that was given to the humanity at this point. Arbitration means the judging or deciding of what good and evil is. Prior to this, Adam & Eve had to trust God's judgement and direction on what is good and evil and what it looks like to good. After eating of this fruit, they decided to stop trusting God and take that responsibility into their own hands. The issue with this is that God doesn't change (James 1:17, 2 Timothy 2:13), His very core is goodness embodied (Psalm 89:14; Psalm 34:8), and His wisdom and thoughts are far beyond our own (Isaiah 55:8-9) but the same is not the case with us. We change and with changing so does our ideas of what goodness and evil are. There are things that were called good 100 years ago that we condemn now as evil.
This act of rebellion against God, created separation between God and humanity (Isaiah 59:1-2). Since He is the author and source of life, death is a necessary consequence of separation from Him (Acts 17:25; 28; Romans 6:23). Similar to a phone that disconnected from the charger too long, we cannot sustain ourselves.
The good news is that the curse of the fruit and the consequence of death is reversed in Jesus. Throughout scripture we see that God's mission is for His people to recognize Him as King again and essentially be connected with the source of life again. This mission reaches it's ultimate climax in King Jesus and His preaching of the gospel of the kingdom (Mark 1:15); that the righteous rule and reign of God would once again be over His people. God, the Father sent His very own Son, Jesus, to willingly die on the cross for the penalty of our wrong doing against God/sin and raise to new life as a as Lord over us (Romans 10:9).
In Romans 10:9, when it is calling Jesus Lord, this is not just an arbitrary title of honor. Lord means that He is Master and Ruler. Him being Lord reconnects us to the source of life, which is why Jesus promises eternal life to those who believe (Acts 3:15, John 10:10, 17:2). But the word Lord in this context is also the name of the only true living God. We see this an in-depth look at verse 13:
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
-Romans 10:13
Referencing Joel 2:32, the word Lord translates to the Hebrew name reserved for God alone: YHWH. As Jesus becomes our Lord, the arbitration of good & evil goes back to it's rightful place, in the hand of God. Although, we are not Adam & Eve, the choice to metaphorically eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or to enjoy the rest of the trees in God's garden lies before us today. Like Adam & Eve, we can continue being the moral arbiters over our lives, but we are piloting a sinking ship as long as we are disconnected from the source of life. If we trust in Jesus as our Lord and put down the fruit of the tree, we can receive the true life that God alone gives.