Forbidden Fruit (The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil)

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Examination:

“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.’ ”
(Genesis 2:16-17) -ESV

Prosecution:

There exists four common objections to this specific Scripture:

1. If GOD is truly omnipresent (everywhere at all times) and omniscient (all-knowing), then why would GOD put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden if He knew Adam and Eve would sin while He was not around?
2. Even if GOD is truly omniscient and omnipresent, GOD cannot be truly omnibenevolent (all-good) because GOD didn’t care enough to prevent the serpent from tempting Adam and Eve and thus prevent them from falling into sin. If GOD is a good Father, He would protect His children, not banish them out of the garden for something He caused out from His own negligence.
3. Even if GOD is truly omnipresent, omniscient and omnibenevolent, GOD cannot be omnipotent (all-powerful) because GOD did not prevent the serpent from causing Adam and Eve to sin.
4. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and did not die as Scripture promised. That’s an obvious contradiction!

Cross-examination:

“The first to speak in court sounds right—until the cross-examination begins.”
(Proverbs 18:17) -NLT

Defense:

The skeptic is right to first call attention to the nature of GOD. For unless we understand who GOD is, we will never understand the reasoning behind anything in the Bible. Knowing that GOD’s thoughts and ways are far higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), it is reasonable to expect that we will not understand everything. If your 3-pound, 15-centimeter brain could contain all knowledge about a god, then that god would be too small to be the real GOD. As it is, we don’t even possess all knowledge about the ocean within our own planet, much less the entire universe where our infinitesimal planet swirls about within our galaxy. So, do you truly expect to know everything about the one true GOD who created the entire universe? In the future, on the New Earth under the new heavens, when we meet Him face-to-face, I believe we will be given the wisdom to understand all that happened in the past; however, I do not believe we can presently know absolutely everything there is to know about GOD in this limited lifetime of learning during our process of sanctification. For this reason, it is written in 1Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

But with that said, GOD has given us information from revelation in the form of GOD’s Word to provide us with answers to difficult questions. Granted, the skeptics will not trust the information from the Bible unless the Bible can be shown to be reliable and accurate. The investigation will reveal that the Bible is actually not full of contradictions, only apparent contradictions that require explanations. But even when the Bible can be acknowledged as reliable and accurate, one still needs to know if the Bible should be taken literally. Only after coming to the conclusion that the Bible is not only reliable and accurate but that the Bible is also inspired by GOD, the revelation can be trusted and then understood with the help from the Holy Spirit who speaks Truth and reveals Truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 1Corinthians 2:10).

So, it is first important to understand who we are talking about – the Creator GOD and the Source of all that exists. Second, we need to understand what we are talking about – GOD’s perfect plan! GOD has not chosen to reveal every detail of His plan to us all at once (Exodus 6:2-3; Matthew 24:36; 25:13; Mark 4:41; John 16:12; Acts 1:7; 1Corinthians 13:12). We can only know what He chooses to reveal. And, since we are part of that plan, we are responsible to it, even if we do not fully understand it or agree with it at times. However, there are some things GOD has revealed to us:

1. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not a bad tree. Everything that GOD made – including the tree – was “good” (Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25). In fact, after creating Adam and Eve, creation was declared to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The origin of sin in this story came from the serpent, Adam, and Eve; the tree did not sin; the tree was good for the specific purpose for which it had been created.
   
2. Adam and Eve had every reason to trust GOD. The Creator did a good job creating them, and He placed them in a beautiful location where they had everything they needed. GOD was trustworthy, but Adam and Eve chose not to trust GOD.
3. Adam and Eve were created with freedom in mind. GOD places high value on our choice to obey Him, and He created Adam and Eve with freedom so that obedience would be possible. Life without freedom is not really life at all. GOD wisely gave them freedom, but Adam and Eve abused that freedom.
4. Adam and Eve were not ignorant of GOD’s boundaries. Just as wise teachers test their students on what they’ve learned and parents test their children with new responsibilities, GOD tested Adam and Eve in their obedience. However, GOD didn’t test them on what they didn’t know. They knew which tree was off limits, and they knew the consequences if they ate from it. The rules were plain, but they violated the rules anyway.
5. GOD provided for Adam and Eve. Before GOD told them not to eat of the tree, He told them they were “free to eat” of every other tree in the garden (Genesis 2:16). They were not in danger of starving, nor were they deprived of variety. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet in the garden, but Adam and Eve chose to place their focus on what they did not have rather than on what they did have.
6. The decision to sin opened the eyes of both Adam and Eve to the reality of evil. For the first time, they knew what it was to do evil, to feel shame, and to want to hide from GOD. Their sin of disobeying GOD brought corruption into their lives and into the world. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against GOD, was what gave Adam and Eve the knowledge of evil – and the knowledge of their nakedness (Genesis 3:7-13).
7. Adam and Eve did die just as Scripture promised. The Fall was a separation which led to an eventual physical death of Adam and Eve. The physical death wasn’t immediate though the spiritual death was immediate. For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
8. GOD’s perfect plan is much bigger than the original garden of Eden. His plan for His creation and His people did not end when Adam and Eve sinned. In fact, GOD’s plan from the very beginning was to redeem His people and His creation. The drama of the Fall and redemption could never have happened if the tree had not been in the garden. Indeed, GOD did know that Adam and Eve would sin and fall, but GOD’s plan was bigger than their sin.

Reasonable Response:

But why did GOD allow the sin? How could the permitting of the Fall be in alignment with the nature of the all-good, loving, and perfectly Holy GOD? From the first half of Romans 6:23, we know that the wages of sin is death; however, the other half of that verse provides the key to understanding why GOD permitted the Fall: “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The response to the perceived problem of the forbidden fruit is as follows:

• GOD is love (1John 4:8,16)
• GOD created humans in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) and thus created us out from love for the purpose to love (Matthew 22:36-40).
• GOD desires for us to know Him and for us to have a loving relationship with Him (Matthew 6:33).
• For a mutual loving relationship to exist, free will is absolutely necessary.
• From GOD’s omniscience, He knew that free will would be absolutely necessary; therefore, He gave us the great gift of free will.
• Because GOD is omnibenevolent, He gives us free will and permits the consequences that come from created beings who possess free will.
• Through GOD’s omnipresence and omnipotence, He created miracles in order to release the Israelites from slavery, set them up as a free people, and instituted the commandments and sacrificial system in order to reveal the standards of Holy perfection that are impossible to keep through a fallen and sinful people.
• GOD set up the sacrificial system so that He could become the willing ultimate sacrifice on our behalf to atone for our sins, doing what we could never do on our own. For this reason, it is written in John 3:16-17, “¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
  

Closing Statement:

Understanding that GOD is wisdom enables us to put everything into proper perspective in order to help us see that GOD foresaw the Fall from free will. The Father’s wise, good plan included sending the Son into the world that Adam and Eve ruined. Think about it: from eternity past, GOD ordained that Jesus would become the victim of His own plan (Revelation 5). For this reason, it is written in John 10:17-18, “¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

The Good News (the Gospel) is that He guaranteed our redemption by His sacrificial crucifixion and miraculous resurrection. GOD foresaw the separation and created in advance the relentless rescue operation to build the bridge of salvation for our redemption. That’s how much GOD loves us. GOD did for us what we could never do by our own efforts. GOD loves us so much that He allowed us the freedom to choose wrong so that He can help us to see what is right. GOD has allowed us to experience the Fall, evil, and pain and suffering so that we can be grateful for the life that is to come. This limited lifetime of learning through our process of sanctification will become our comparison for completeness in Christ. And when we’re finally with Him, Adam and Eve will probably be the first ones to tell you that GOD’s commands are for our good, not to restrict us. On this present earth, which is destined for destruction by fire (Psalm 97:3-5; Isaiah 64:1-2; Amos 9:5; Micah 1:4; Nahum 1:5-6; 2Peter 3:7,10,12), GOD is showing us that the best humans can have apart from Him is pain and suffering. We ruin everything and that’s why we need Him. And that should be more than enough reason to trust in GOD on the New Earth under the new heavens where only righteousness dwells (2Peter 3:13; Revelation 20:15; 21:3-8,27). Death is merely graduation into the real life. Where we end up will be our choice. And that’s why Hell is justified. GOD loves you so much that He is going to allow you to choose where you end up: Heaven or Hell. So, what will you choose? GOD’s desire is that you will choose blessing over curse, life over death, good over evil, and that you will repent and live (Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 30:15-20; Ezekiel 18; Matthew 11:20; 12:41; Mark 1:15; 6:12; Luke 5:32; 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; 17:30).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ ”
(John 14:6) -ESV

GOD desires for all people to be saved (1Timothy 2:4; 2Peter 3:9; John 3:16-17). However, do you need to be saved?