Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

 

“In consequence of the first sin, the internal nature of man became possessed by death. How?

…by the (decomposing) of the previous unity of the (many human) powers (complimenting one another)

… in the life of the spirit and of the soul,

and of the disappearance of the spiritual life in God’s image, and its reflection in the soul.”

from Delitzsch and Wallis “A System of Biblical Psychology” paraphrase

“…when Satanic thoughts of a loveless God found entrance into man’s mind, then entered enmity (an enemy) into the place of love

… soul, at peace in God, fell into confusion, and kindled in passionate eagerness opposed to God.” Same source.

“The tree of knowledge was to lead man to the knowledge of good and evil; and, according to the divine intention, this was to be attained through his not eating of its fruit. This end was to be accomplished… through obedience to the prohibition, to recognize the fact that all that is opposed to the will of God is an evil to be avoided…>>>>>the end product being:

  1. … voluntary resistance to such evil,.>>>>>>>>
  2. full development of the freedom of choice originally imparted to man>>>>>>
  3. actual freedom of a deliberate and self-conscious choice of good.” again Delitzsch.

So, “The good side of the Tree of Knowledge represents scriptural knowledge expressed in the letter that kills.” (Scripture without the Spirit of God).

  • The first thing the letter produces is pride, a Satanic spirit that causes a person to exalt himself above others.
  • The second thing the letter without the Spirit produces in a person is human good—the demonstration of moral light (or moral integrity).
  • The person living in moral light is self-righteous, always conscious of how he—and others—are doing, in relation to the letter of the law.
  • He goes about establishing his own righteousness (filthy rags before God) Isaiah 64:6, (Romans
    10:3). Dr. Carl Stevens

The evil side of the tree represents:

“… knowledge about Satan and the demons. God didn’t want Adam to be conscious of evil; He wanted Adam to walk with Him. But when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, they entered into a consciousness of the pre-creation negativity of Satan and recognized their right to choose evil.”

Friends, why could not Job’s friends have simple compassion toward their suffering colleague? Personality problems? No, they made the Job-episode into a satirical play in their minds because everything with them sourced itself in the “knowledge” tree. They had no heart toward Job. Only an observation, only explanations, only analysis mattered to them for argument sake. Truth was too difficult because they didn’t have the capacity for pity, care, or love for loves sake. They took the easy way out, fit Job into their legalistic framework for evaluation, wrongly interpreted the “judgment of God” and categorized Job as a loser/sinner/evil person who deserved what he got. God called the fellows “fools” later on.

Hey, God counseled Job to forgive them, and God forgave Job too for falling into the trap of the evil comforters by reacting to them.

So, redemption is evidently set forth to all today —

A making of bad people into good ones?

No, a making of dead people into live ones again.

So much of “good”  deceives a person into thinking their “goodness” will be enough for heaven. Jesus said in John 5:39-40 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. “

“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.”  Deuteronomy 30:19

” In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. ”  John_1:4

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Matthew 6:22-23

Friends, Let’s take our focus off the “good or bad” and place it on the life eternal.  Let’s dine at the tree of Life and live.  love ya

Share this Post

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply