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God made mankind as the pinnacle of creation. He created us to aspire to do things beyond our reach, to learn about the world beyond our horizons and to change our environment.
Men and women are pre-programmed to seek out our purpose in relation to each other and to the world at large. This gives us the ability to either accomplish great good in the world or great evil.
And that’s where the lessons come in from Adam and Eve’s choice between the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, recorded in the Torah reading רֵאשִׁ֖ית Beresheet (“in the beginning,” Gen. 1:1–6:8). We can learn from them to choose the path that leads to life, rather than the one that leads to death.
We learn in the Torah reading רֵאשִׁ֖ית Beresheet (“in the beginning,” Gen. 1:1–6:8) that God created the animals to know their direction and purpose in life — with instinct. They don’t have any aspirations to do things beyond their reach, to learn about the world beyond their reach or to change the world around them.
Mankind, on the other kind, possesses this desire and capacity. We are pre-programmed to seek out our purpose in relation to each other and to the world at large.
God created the memorial of Shabbat (Gen. 2:2–3) after He created mankind (Gen. 1:26–27). That’s not because animals don’t need rest, but because God created it for us specifically. The animals don’t pay attention to the different days of the week.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad1The Hebrew word רַע ra’ can have a range of meanings, from things that are unfit (“bad” or “repulsive”) to the morally corrupt (“evil” and “wicked”). The more specific Hebrew word for “criminal,” “wicked” or “guilt” is רָשָׁע rasha or רֶשַׁע resha (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). was not given as a test to the animals, but to the humans God created. God didn’t bar animals from it, but He instructed humans not to eat from it.
Why did God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden, since He created us to look beyond ourselves to push and test our boundaries? HaSatan didn’t place the tree there. God did.
God put the Tree of Knowledge in the garden because Adam and Eve needed to know how they would respond.
I believe God put it there specifically to test Adam and Eve’s loyalty to Him (see also Deut. 8:2–3). That’s not because He didn’t know how Adam and Eve would respond to the test, but because they needed to know how they would respond.
The reason that God had to tell them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge is that there was a risk that they would eat of it. If there was no risk, the warning would be unnecessary.
Humans tend to follow after those they already are inclined to agree to follow.
God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake told them to eat from it. Adam and Eve rejected God’s instruction and accepted the snake’s instruction. Humans tend to follow after those they already are inclined to agree to follow.
Obedience follows after faith (trust)
When you have faith in someone, you also trust them.
The snake told them the truth when he said that eating from the tree would give them understanding of good and evil. The snake was also telling the truth when he said that they would not be stuck dead immediately for eating from it. However, HaSatan lied by omission when he implied that they would never die, contradicting God’s warning.
The absence of pertinent information makes a lie more believable.
When God tested Adam and Eve to discern whether they would trust Him or trust the snake, they failed that test. They trusted and believed the snake more than God. By believing the snake rather than God, Adam and Eve were calling God a liar. By their actions, Adam and Eve considered the snake the source of truth rather than God, and by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, they allied themselves with HaSatan and HaSatan, in a sense, became their god.
The snake was tangible, something they could touch and relate to because it was a created being, just as Adam and Eve were created beings. God is Spirit and not as easy for us to relate to one on one. This is why idols are so appealing to our human nature.
God is Spirit and not as easy for us to relate to one on one. This is why idols are so appealing to our human nature.
The one thing that Adam and Eve didn’t give the snake was their fear. They gave the snake their trust, faith, belief, truth and allegiance but they didn’t fear the snake. They feared God.
Every generation has to make the decision as to whether to give their trust, faith, allegiance to God or to the snake. God gives each generation a choice of either life, which means to choose Him, or to choose to the follow the snake to our death.
In the modern day, those of us in the west prefer to put our faith in science and to materialism, rather than to God. Our Western world uses science as a worldview rather than simply as a tool to test how the world works. Today, “science” is easily manipulated because people will chose to omit whatever facts they find inconvenient and pretend they are still practicing science.
When God punished Adam and Eve for shifting their allegiance from God to the snake, He punished them in unique ways. God punished Adam by telling him that he would die and return to the dust that he was created from and that the earth would not yield easily to his work. The snake was punished by eating the dust from which Adam was created.
Eve was punished by not only experiencing pain in giving birth and raising the children born to her, but also being placed under her husband, who was made from the dust. Eve was, in a sense, lower than the dirt. Because Eve was not loyal to God, her children would not be loyal to her.
Curse of Cain: Mercy amid disloyalty
Eve later gave birth to two sons: Cain and Abel. We don’t know much about their childhood and what kind of siblings they were to each other. But we do know that once Cain reached adulthood, he was not loyal to God. Cain killed Abel and paid a profound cost for his disloyalty.
God punished Cain with a doubling of the curse He placed on Adam, but He didn’t kill Cain for murder. That shows us how God is willing to forgive sin. Cain had cut off all of Abel’s descendants from the earth, yet God allowed Cain to produce descendants on the earth.
Adam, Israel, Messiah: ‘A light to the nations’ (Isaiah 42)
Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,
“I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,
“To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
“I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
“Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
Isaiah 42:5–9 NASB
Adam and Eve were supposed to be a good examples for us to follow, to spread light. Unfortunately, they are an example to us, but they are a bad example for us, rather than a good one.
God created us to trust Him, follow Him and to be a good example to others and be a light to them. All of Israel were to be a good example to all the nation of how to walk in the light, but unfortunately, they didn’t do that.
God is truth and those who believe in Him are to live in truth and teach those around them to do the same.
Idol speculation: What’s the attraction?
“I have been silent. Shall I even always be silent and hold back? I have endured like a woman in labor; I will amaze and wither at once.
“And I will turn rivers into islands and dry up marshlands.
“And I will lead the blind by a road they have not known, and I will make them tread paths they had no knowledge of. I will turn the darkness into light for them and the crooked places into a straight path. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
“But they turned away backwards! Be ashamed with shame, you who trust in the graven images, who say to the cast images, ‘You are our gods.’”
Isaiah 42:14–17 New English Translation of the Septuagint
Adam and Even knew full well that the snake was not their Creator, but the snake was their god because they transferred their faith and trust from God to the snake. When we transfer our loyalty from God to idols, we are following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve.
God knew full well that this is how we would act. He knows what we are because He made us.
Spiritual lessons always have a physical example. God was teaching Adam and Eve the truth about their conflicted loyalties through the physical vehicle of the Tree of Knowledge.
Our relationship with God is important, it should be the most important relationship in our life, but is it? We can choose life or death. Adam and Eve chose death, but we have the choice to choose life.
Summary: Tammy