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Why did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden?

by | Jan 8, 2011 | God, Questions

God put two trees in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). Why did He do this? Wasn’t putting those trees there a temptation to sin that would not have happened if God had not placed them there? We can’t speak for God, but we can offer some possible answers. First, their existence was consistent with His divine nature and holy purpose. God has all knowledge. He knows the responsibility that anyone must have in regard to that knowledge that He reveals to them. But since Adam and Eve cannot know all things, they could not also possess the wisdom that goes along with it. So, God placed the two trees in the garden that signify the need to have wisdom and avoid sin. knowledge of good and evil

Second, whether or not there was a tree, there would not mean that righteousness did not exist. After all, it is based on God’s character. He is the creator, and He is, therefore, the standard of all moral perfection. So, it would seem logical that the trees were there because they represented the moral purity, revelation, and obligation found in the character of God. Since Adam was made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26), he had the ability to know right from wrong. Therefore God put the trees there as a physical manifestation of the spiritual purity of God’s knowledge of righteousness and sin, life and death.

Third, Adam and Eve would have the knowledge, and as their knowledge increased, the responsibility to act properly would also increase. God gave them a rule regarding the knowledge of good and evil because that is the nature of moral truth found in God. There is a consequence for breaking it. Remember, morality is based on God’s character. Therefore to go against God’s character is to incur judgment. After all, if God did not judge the sinner, then He would be approving of evil.  He cannot do that, so He must judge the sinner.

Fourth, the trees had fruit. They were there for consumption. We need to eat to live. Putting something into our physical bodies can sustain us or harm us. Likewise, participating in the fruit of unrighteousness from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil can harm us – for the reasons stated above.

  • Genesis 2:9, “Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
  • Genesis 2:17, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'”

 

Also see the article If Adam and Eve were perfect, how could they sin?

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