Biblical Analysis
Please note that many, many other verses could have been included but I would probably have ended-up
bringing in the entire Bible since it is all related. Instead, I chose to include samples for your review.
[Pro 11:30 KJV] 30 The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise.
As Pro 11:30 demonstrates, the Tree of Life is symbolic of Christ
[Gen 3:1 – 7 & 9 KJV]
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
In these verses, we observe that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was symbolic of Satan himself and his doctrine: the Law. By his lie and their eating, and until Christ came, all mankind became permanently subjugated to Law, which Law brought forth judgment and death. Adam and Eve thus becoming the unwitting accomplices of Satan.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
In verse 9, we observe that since God created only trees good for food, God could not have made the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil-- as God had warned against eating or even touching it. Besides that, we are informed that both trees were in the middle of the garden; that is to say, they were the garden's centerpieces.
As the tree of life is symbolic of Christ and His doctrine, so is The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolic of Satan and his doctrine. We should keep this uppermost in our minds should we become attracted to spiritual justification by works of Law, which is the essence of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (or Satan). Please remember that no mention of "life" in any form made or implied with this tree, as opposed to the exclusive promise of life with Tree of Life, making them exact opposites and diametrically opposed.
[Psa 37:35 KJV]
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Satan is depicted as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Interestingly, the "green" in the above is symbolic language the Bible uses that is often representative of the gospel. However, it is symbolic of Satan's false gospel of Law for achieving salvation.
[Rom 7:8- 9 KJV]
8 "But Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin [was] dead
9 For I was alive without the Law once; but when the commandment came, Sin revived, and I died."
"For I was alive without the law once," "Without": outside of the Law.
Paul explains several doctrines implied in the above:
As mentioned at the beginning of the post, without the existence of the Law of law, sin could not exist In principle, he had been alive (he had spiritual life before anyone became subjugated to the judgment of Law). In a sense, he was alive within Adam's spiritual loins during the Genesis time frame, although separated chronologically by many years and ancestral generations. Before the Law gained prominence over humanity, he was spiritually alive, but as Sin, judgment, and spiritual death are the by-products of the Law, all people, including Paul, became spiritually dead while physically alive.
The Bible substantiates this conclusion further::
[Rom 7:5 KJV]
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the Law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
(the Law spoken of is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
[Rom 7:7 KJV]
7 What shall we say then? [Is] the Law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known Sin, but by the Law for I had not known lust, except the Law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
"I had not known sin, but by the law": eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought forth and activated the Law to give a "knowledge" of Sin.
[Rom 7:8-10 KJV]
8 But Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.For without the Law sin [was] dead.
9 For I was alive without the Law once: but when the commandment came, Sin revived, and I died.
10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death.
The commandment in view is God's commandment, given in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, not to eat nor even touch the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was given and ordained by God to protect them unto eternal life, but which commandment they ignored.
If the Law had not been manifested by their transgression, Sin could not have been imputed, and eternal life would result.
[Rom 5:13 KJV]
"13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but Sin is not imputed when there is no law.
"Sin was in the world: but Sin is not imputed when there is no law:": Without Law, Sin could not be imputed. By eating the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Law came into prominence, and sin thereby became imputable.
[1Co 15:55-57 KJV]
55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
56 The sting of death [is] Sin; and the strength of Sin [is] the Law. {
57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Law did not exist before Adam and Eve had eaten of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but after. Until then, judgment couldn't be levied by God. Judgment required Law to identify transgression. But, when Law became manifested -- and Law is central to the fruit of the tree – it (Law) provided knowledge of good and evil – spiritual death came upon everyone because Law itself came upon everyone to judge them– the assessment of Sin had to be by the Law, which causes/ed spiritual death to be imputed – it was by Law that we all became entrapped within and by it and subjected to judgment, even though Adam's and Eve were the ones who brought it upon us and gave it power and life, nevertheless, once Law was manifested, it was manifested to judge all.
Please note that many, many other verses could have been included but I would probably have ended-up
bringing in the entire Bible since it is all related. Instead, I chose to include samples for your review.
[Pro 11:30 KJV] 30 The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise.
As Pro 11:30 demonstrates, the Tree of Life is symbolic of Christ
[Gen 3:1 – 7 & 9 KJV]
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
In these verses, we observe that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was symbolic of Satan himself and his doctrine: the Law. By his lie and their eating, and until Christ came, all mankind became permanently subjugated to Law, which Law brought forth judgment and death. Adam and Eve thus becoming the unwitting accomplices of Satan.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
In verse 9, we observe that since God created only trees good for food, God could not have made the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil-- as God had warned against eating or even touching it. Besides that, we are informed that both trees were in the middle of the garden; that is to say, they were the garden's centerpieces.
As the tree of life is symbolic of Christ and His doctrine, so is The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolic of Satan and his doctrine. We should keep this uppermost in our minds should we become attracted to spiritual justification by works of Law, which is the essence of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (or Satan). Please remember that no mention of "life" in any form made or implied with this tree, as opposed to the exclusive promise of life with Tree of Life, making them exact opposites and diametrically opposed.
[Psa 37:35 KJV]
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Satan is depicted as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Interestingly, the "green" in the above is symbolic language the Bible uses that is often representative of the gospel. However, it is symbolic of Satan's false gospel of Law for achieving salvation.
[Rom 7:8- 9 KJV]
8 "But Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin [was] dead
9 For I was alive without the Law once; but when the commandment came, Sin revived, and I died."
"For I was alive without the law once," "Without": outside of the Law.
Paul explains several doctrines implied in the above:
As mentioned at the beginning of the post, without the existence of the Law of law, sin could not exist In principle, he had been alive (he had spiritual life before anyone became subjugated to the judgment of Law). In a sense, he was alive within Adam's spiritual loins during the Genesis time frame, although separated chronologically by many years and ancestral generations. Before the Law gained prominence over humanity, he was spiritually alive, but as Sin, judgment, and spiritual death are the by-products of the Law, all people, including Paul, became spiritually dead while physically alive.
The Bible substantiates this conclusion further::
[Rom 7:5 KJV]
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the Law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
(the Law spoken of is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
[Rom 7:7 KJV]
7 What shall we say then? [Is] the Law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known Sin, but by the Law for I had not known lust, except the Law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
"I had not known sin, but by the law": eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought forth and activated the Law to give a "knowledge" of Sin.
[Rom 7:8-10 KJV]
8 But Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.For without the Law sin [was] dead.
9 For I was alive without the Law once: but when the commandment came, Sin revived, and I died.
10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death.
The commandment in view is God's commandment, given in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, not to eat nor even touch the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was given and ordained by God to protect them unto eternal life, but which commandment they ignored.
If the Law had not been manifested by their transgression, Sin could not have been imputed, and eternal life would result.
[Rom 5:13 KJV]
"13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but Sin is not imputed when there is no law.
"Sin was in the world: but Sin is not imputed when there is no law:": Without Law, Sin could not be imputed. By eating the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Law came into prominence, and sin thereby became imputable.
[1Co 15:55-57 KJV]
55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
56 The sting of death [is] Sin; and the strength of Sin [is] the Law. {
57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Law did not exist before Adam and Eve had eaten of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but after. Until then, judgment couldn't be levied by God. Judgment required Law to identify transgression. But, when Law became manifested -- and Law is central to the fruit of the tree – it (Law) provided knowledge of good and evil – spiritual death came upon everyone because Law itself came upon everyone to judge them– the assessment of Sin had to be by the Law, which causes/ed spiritual death to be imputed – it was by Law that we all became entrapped within and by it and subjected to judgment, even though Adam's and Eve were the ones who brought it upon us and gave it power and life, nevertheless, once Law was manifested, it was manifested to judge all.
