Chapter 1 The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden
Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden? If there was not the tree, it was impossible that Adam and Eve would have sinned. Such a question is an inevitable question which any reader of the Bible should face at.
Did God know that Adam and Eve would eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden? Or did God not know? It cannot be said that the almighty God who foresaw the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) did not know. Then what is the reason that God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden?
From the conclusion, it can be said that the event was made by the providence of God. He has designed Adam and Eve to sin. In fact, it is God who made the crafty serpent to deceive Eve. The role given to the snake was to deceive Eve to eat good and evil. As it is written;
【Gen 3:1】 「Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made」
Such a plan of God should not be strange to us. For the Scripture says, it was what God intended that the Israelites suffered severely at King Pharaoh in Egypt. As it is written;
【Exo 9:12】「But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses」
【Rom 9:17-19】 「For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden」
The reason God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden was to make Adam and Eve eat from the tree. Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.(Rom 5:20) For Adam and Eve, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became the commandment. Sin is not taken into account when there is no commandment.(Rom. 5:13).
How could God intend to make them sin! If you don’t understand God’s plan of redemption, you can think of Him as if you don’t know Him. But it is clear that there is a reason, when God causes us pain. So we must believe in God’s providence. Because when the time comes, God shall free us from the painful situation eventually.
No one who lives on this earth lives without pain. The Bible says that our existence is a slave to death. Pain has already begun from the moment of birth and will continue until death. One thing is clear: if you are born again by obeying God’s teachings, you will be freed from the pain of death and enjoy eternal freedom and blessings.
【Isa 29:16】You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?
【Rom 9:21】Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
From now on, let’s study what God’s real intention for us is, starting with solving questions about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? How could we get to the right interpretation of the Bible prophecy? How could we be born again through the Holy Spirit? Let’s try to get closer to the truth of salvation and eternal life.
