Why did God place the tree in the garden at all?
The tree looks like a trap until you see what it was for. God filled the garden with food and beauty, fenced off one tree, said plainly which one it was and what it would cost, and let the man and woman choose Him freely. A love that cannot say no is not love, so the tree was the one place where trusting God could be chosen rather than assumed. The serpent's whole strategy was to make that boundary look like stinginess, and every temptation since has run the same play.
This question arose from studying What went wrong in Eden? and What is the Bible's big story?.
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The tree was good; the command was about trust, not poison
God made every tree of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil stands in that list alongside the tree of life. It was pleasant to look at and good for food. Nothing in the tree itself was cursed; what made it deadly was that God had said, “you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” A good gift becomes a snare only when it is taken against the Giver's word.
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.And out of the ground made the Lord 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 knowledge of good and evil.
but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Abundance came first, and the boundary was one tree wide
Before there is a single prohibition there is a feast: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden.” God is not a miser guarding a hoard. He gives a whole world and withholds one thing, then tells the man exactly which thing and exactly why. The boundary is the exception that gives the abundance its shape, not the point of the garden.
Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
A command made a real choice possible, and real choice makes real love possible
Obedience that can never be refused is not obedience; it is gravity. Moses later set the same choice before Israel: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life.” His reason for choosing is relational: “to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life.” Jesus says the same about His own commandments: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” The tree was God's way of making fellowship voluntary, so that love could be love.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants;I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
If you love me, keep my commandments.If ye love me, keep my commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
The serpent attacked the boundary, not the fruit
Notice where the temptation starts: not with a piece of fruit but with a question about God's character, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” That is a lie about a lavish God, and it worked. Then came the promise, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” James insists the trap was never God's: He “can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one,” while each of us “is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.” The tree tested trust; the serpent turned it into a question about whether God could be trusted at all.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
God guarded the way to life, then opened another
After the fall God barred the way to the tree of life, “lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” Death entered, but endless life in a ruined state did not. That exile is where mercy begins, and Scripture keeps using tree language until it reaches the cross, where Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree,” and “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” The story ends where Eden began, with “the tree of life” and leaves “for the healing of the nations.”
Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
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Why did Jesus have to die?→Jesus Christ trail“for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”How do I fight sin in my life?→Our Walk with Him trail“Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”Where does temptation come from?→Our Walk with Him trail“Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death.Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants;I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
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