Wednesday, May 21, 2025

The FORBIDDEN tree

 

Genesis 2:15-17

King James Version

15 And the Lord God took the man, 

and put him into the garden of Eden 

to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 

Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 

thou shalt not eat of it: 

for in the day that thou eatest thereof 

thou shalt surely die.


GOD's instructions were clear:

"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 

thou shalt not eat of it: "


He warned of the consequences:

"for in the day that thou eatest thereof 

thou shalt surely die."


Most of you know what happened.

But for those who don't, we shall itemize it here.

Because by now, man was not alone.

GOD made companions for him.

So he won't be lonely.


Thing is, Satan had other plans.

He knew man and woman were still innocent.

He aimed to change that.

Genesis 3:1-6

King James Version

3 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.


The uh-oh moment.

And the "reckoning".

Genesis 3:7

King James Version

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.


GOD came by, looking for them.

Genesis 3:8-10

King James Version

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God 

walking in the garden in the cool of the day: 

and Adam and his wife hid themselves 

from the presence of the Lord God 

amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, 

and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, 

I heard thy voice in the garden, 

and I was afraid, because I was naked; 

and I hid myself.


And GOD roared.

Genesis 3:11

King James Version

11 And he said, 

Who told thee that thou wast naked? 

Hast thou eaten of the tree, 

whereof I commanded thee 

that thou shouldest not eat?


Man's pitiful answer.

Genesis 3:12

King James Version

12 And the man said, 

The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, 

she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.


The consequences?

To each, his own punishment.

Genesis 3:14-15

King James Version

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, 

Because thou hast done this, 

thou art cursed above all cattle, 

and above every beast of the field; 

upon thy belly shalt thou go, 

and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

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.


Genesis 3:16

King James Version

16 Unto the woman he said, 

I will greatly multiply 

thy sorrow and thy conception; 

in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; 

and thy desire shall be to thy husband, 

and he shall rule over thee.


Genesis 3:17-19

King James Version

17 And unto Adam he said, 

Because thou hast hearkened 

unto the voice of thy wife, 

and hast eaten of the tree, 

of which I commanded thee, saying, 

Thou shalt not eat of it: 

cursed is the ground for thy sake; 

in sorrow shalt thou eat of it 

all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles 

shall it bring forth to thee; 

and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, 

till thou return unto the ground; 

for out of it wast thou taken: 

for dust thou art, and unto dust 

shalt thou return.


Still, GOD loved them.

Genesis 3:21

King James Version

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife 

did the Lord God make coats of skins, 

and clothed them.


But He had to enforce changes.

Genesis 3:22-23

King James Version

22 And the Lord God said, 

Behold, 

the man is become as one of us, 

to know good and evil: 

and now, lest he put forth his hand, 

and take also of the tree of life, 

and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth 

from the garden of Eden, 

to till the ground 

from whence he was taken.


As a safety measure, GOD secured the OTHER tree, which they used to partake of.

But now that sin, and death had visited them, they no longer had a right to the tree.

At least, for now.

Genesis 3:24

King James Version

24 So he drove out the man; 

and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden 

Cherubims, and a flaming sword 

which turned every way, 

to keep the way of the tree of life.


Trust was lost.

Innocence was lost.

Death, and hardship, started.

We are where we are now.

But GOD's love remained.

He still gave us other trees.

Which, of course, can't compare to the ones in Eden.

Nevertheless, the Bible talks about the other trees, too.

And that's for the next posts.


Related material:

GOD's LOVE

GOD's GLORY blogs

BORN AGAIN classics


Image: Clipart Library


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