Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Located

Created Date: 17-Oct-2020
in the Garden of Eden that had the Forbidden Fruit

Last updated: 22-May-2023
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Sections:
 
1 What is the Forbidden Tree?
2 Why was the Forbidden Tree in the Garden of Eden?
3 Knowing Evil for the First Time

1. What is the Forbidden Tree?

The Forbidden Tree was in the Garden of Eden and it had some sort of fruit on it, which the scriptures do not describe. 

Most likely every Christian and many non-Christians have asked these questions regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil:

  1. Why there was a Tree in the Garden of Eden that was forbidden to eat by Adam and Eve?
  2. Why didn't God destroy this tree?
  3. What did God mean by the verse Genesis 3:22?
    Genesis 3:22 And the Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.

    (a) Notice the phrased "become like one of us" which is one of many references of our Triune God who exists in Perfect Unity. 
    (b) The "knowing good and evil" is explained later in this topic.

2. Why was the Forbidden Tree in the Garden of Eden?

The following are excerpts from the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve topics.

Regarding this forbidden tree:

This author believes it has two possibilities:

  1. It was a tree that Lucifer tainted or changed from its original purpose that therefore was associated with Lucifer , or
  2. More likely, Lucifer purposely manipulated the tree to be a counterfeit against the Tree of Life, with immediate consequences for consuming along with disobeying God's command not to eat it.  Counterfeiting God and the Works of God has been Lucifer's pattern.  At the end-times of the Tribulation Period, Lucifer sets up a false trinity with:
    (a) The False Prophet in the role of the Holy Spirit,
    (b) The Antichrist in the role of Jesus Christ, and
    (c) himself in the role of God the Father,
    which of course has no power other than deception.  See Isaiah 14:14, "I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.", which is the thoughts of Lucifer that describe the desire to be like the Most High.
Note: There is an important point of the Purpose of All History, that the actions of Lucifer, Fallen Angels, Demons and even human-kind who do not receive Salvation will have an opposite effect of the evil intentions.  

All of us, when we are with God in Eternity, will receive "surpassing riches of His Grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus" as read in Ephesians 2:4-7.  This applies to also the Angels as explained the Purpose of All History topic.  God is going to make all the rebellion, pain and striving against evil have the opposite effect of blessing the individual in eternity. 

God uses all suffering, even unto death, along with our work as Believers in the God of the Scriptures to develop us into the a greater and a more complete person in Jesus Christ's image.  As an analogy, all of who exercise become stronger, and when we study, we will learn more.  God will absolutely use all events in our lives to our advantage to develop greater trust and love for God.  This is the Great Gift that we are receiving when go through life as a Christian as read in James 1:2-4. 

James 1:2-4 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Because of our work and suffering in our lives, God then will have individual incredible Rewards in Heaven for everything a person goes through in life that pertains to the individual:
  1. In Developing a relationship with God during life,
  2. Activities in God's Service,
  3. Faithfulness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
  4. Righteously suffering, and
  5. Overcoming sinful areas and obstacles in life through the Holy Spirit.

which gives God Glory.  Yes, we do not deserve Heaven except through Jesus Christ (Salvation), but as we are made righteous because of Jesus Christ in our lives after accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, where we can then receive what Rewards that were earned in our lives. 

Absolutely there will be great Love and Gifts from God in Eternity future, but there are individual Rewards that were made possible because of going through evil events of suffering and doing work unto God, where the Rewards would not have been possible if Lucifer had not started the rebellion.  This is how and why everything done:

  • Against God,
  • Against Angels, and
  • Against us who have Salvation

will become Blessings.  All evil absolutely will not accomplish the primary goals against God, Angels and us with Salvation.   Even those who are babies, young, mentally handicapped or even those who never heard of God in the Old Testament Dispensation or Jesus Christ have special provision made under the Age of Accountability principle set forth in the scriptures.

It is the opinion of many Biblical Scholars that God did not initially remove Lucifer from the Garden of Eden along with anything done by Lucifer so that God can show His Angels the far-ranging consequences of rebellion and give future Glory to God on how God handles the start to finish of sins consequences. 

It is is fascinating the aspects regarding the guarding of the Tree of Life and the implication of Genesis 1:1-2.

After Adam and Eve sinned against God by eating the Forbidden Fruit, God set Cherubim (plural of Cherub) to guard the way to the Tree of Life to prevent Adam, Eve, Lucifer and other Fallen Angels from having access to the Tree of Life as read in Genesis 3:22-24.  Note that in the guarding of the Tree of Life, an ordinary Angel could have kept Adam and Eve out but it required Cherubim, to prevent Fallen Angels and Lucifer from gaining access to the Fruit on the Tree of Life.  Note that the Tree of Life would have given Adam and Eve immortality in a sinful state.

Genesis 3:22-24 22 And the Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

In Genesis 1:2, the Scripture informs us that the earth was formless and void.  God does not create anything without purpose, beauty and to righteously honor Himself with Glory.  In Genesis 1:2, we also learn that God began a creation process.  Biblical Scholars have a few theories, that are often collectively known as the Gap Theory of Genesis 1:2, to explain why the earth was void.  The general summary is Lucifer had his rebellion which then caused the earth to be formless and void.  God left it in this state for many reasons which include showing that Lucifer is not capable of doing anything about it.  The earth could have been in this state for billions of years. 

Genesis 1:1-2 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3. Knowing Evil for the First Time

In Genesis 3:22, there is a point that this author has never seen in any Biblical Commentaries.  The unseen point is very illuminating besides the traditional interpretations that are mentioned regarding verse 22 in Genesis 3 with knowing evil for the first time: 
  1. Before the rebellion of Lucifer, evil did not exist. 
  2. In eternity past, God existed with all of the Time Domains that He created with the possibility of infinite sets of heavenly locations in the Kingdom of God, there was no evil anywhere. 
  3. We know that God is all knowing, omniscient, so with extreme reverence before the rebellion of Lucifer:
    (a) God did not know about evil in the direct experiential sense.  In other words, there was no evil to know about.
    (b) All of God's Creations did not have evil in them.
  4. After Adam and Eve had eaten the Forbidden Fruit, then verse 22 meant that they both became aware of both good and evil.  Before the sin of eating the Forbidden Fruit, they would have not known about evil.  It is this author's opinion, that the first part of the sin was Eve doubting God when listening to the lies of Lucifer. 
  5. Lucifer absolutely deceived and lied to Eve about the Forbidden Fruit. 
    (a) Note that Adam was not deceived, but joined Eve because of his love for Eve.  This also became a model of what Jesus Christ would do for us in entering His Creation to make the future restitution payment which was hinted to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15.
    (b) Lucifer spoke a half truth, "like God, knowing good and evil" about the consequence, but the way Lucifer said it had the interpretation to Eve in Genesis 3:5 to mean that God was holding back something from Eve, which is absolutely not true, a lie, along with evil.  This author is not stating Lucifer was telling the truth, but describing the deception.
Genesis 3:5
(Lucifer speaking)		 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever "
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.

It was necessary that God would prevent access to the Tree of Life for not only humankind but also Lucifer with the fallen angels so that the Tree of Life's fruit could not be given to humans.  Access before the Great Flood would have allowed humans to life forever. 

The Great Flood had the benefit of also burying and destroying the Garden of Eden so that the location with the Tree of Life could never be found.

What to read next?

Read about the Garden of Eden.  What is Salvation?  Is it possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?