What I’m Learning About the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

As I have talked about before, I have grown up liking things to be very black and white. Being a perfectionist, I like a right and wrong answer to be clear so that I can ensure I choose the right one. So, when the “right” answer is not clear-cut, this can produce inner turmoil within me.

In wrestling with this topic, I have spoken with a mentor who gave me an analogy to help me understand this. Let’s say someone held the rule book to life with all the answers to what is good and perfect. If I had to follow everything in that book to a T, I have no freedom. That individual would not have made me free by giving me a rule book to follow- that would have just make me robotic.

This relates back to the Garden of Eden. Do you ever wonder why the Lord put this tree there in the first place? Me too. I have found a post that explains this well:

God is love. Love can only be given freely. Freedom means there is both choice, and responsibility. God wanted a relationship with us! He didn’t want to create robots. He could not force His love on us without it exterminating any hope for a loving relationship. He gave Adam and Eve every reason to trust Him, but they chose to doubt His goodness, and ultimately believed the lie that they were better judges as to what was good for them. He created the tree because it was a manifestation of his character, of his love. He didn’t force Himself on Adam and Eve, and He doesn’t force Himself on us.

From a comment on: https://knowingscripture.com/articles/what-was-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil-for

If God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have essentially been robots, simply doing what they were programmed to do. God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, able to make decisions, able to choose between good and evil. In order for Adam and Eve to truly be free, they had to have a choice.

From: tree-knowledge-good-evil.html

Okay, so the presence of the tree gave Adam and Eve freedom essentially in the form of a choice- they could choose to obey or disobey God.

So what exactly did the tree offer that God didn’t want Adam and Eve to access yet?

God could have eventually provided the knowledge the tree offered, but Adam and Eve chose to prematurely gather it. Now, humankind bears the responsibility of judging between what is good and what is bad…. [and have the ability to exercise] judgment with regard to what is proper and fitting.

From: tree-knowledge-good-evil.html

And with this comes a lot of complexity.

I find it interesting that the result of the fall was that Adam and Eve now had to identify “good” from “bad” by their own terms.

Did you know this?

Just some Sunday thoughts!

A curious Christian,

Bailee Chavez