Let's talk about TREES.
Trees are used throughout the Bible to symbolize people, including the children of God, Satan, Jesus Christ and even God the Father, who likens Himself to an "evergreen" fir tree in Hosea 14:8.
So before we go any further in the Word of God we must learn to tell the difference between a "tree" and a "person", between a tree trunk and the trunk of a person's body, between tree limbs and human limbs, between the branches of a vine and the people they represent. It is in fact, with just a little observation, very easy to make these distinctions.
It would serve a person well to do a study of trees in the Bible, for there are many passages where trees are used symbolically to represent people. You could start by reading the account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter four of Daniel and the interpretation thereof. It is a great example of "tree symbology".
However, we will focus on identifying the "trees" in the garden of Eden. The following passage from the Book of Ezekiel will document without refute, not only that trees are used symbolically in the Bible to represent people including Satan, but specifically those persons present in the garden of Eden!
Ezekiel 31:3-12
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
The Hebrew word for "Assyrian" used here is te'ashshur and it means "a box tree". It represents Satan, a plain old box cedar who wants to become the greatest tree of all, as we will see in a few verses.
[4] The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
[5] Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
You should start to get the sense that we are not talking about actual trees. Verse 10 of this same chapter shows that this "tree" exalted himself above all the others. Let's keep reading.
[6] All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
Wow! That must be some giant tree, with a shadow big enough for all great nations to dwell under!
[7] Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
[8] The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
No tree (person) in the garden of God could compare in beauty to this one. Trees = people. Again, this is not difficult at all.
[9] I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Of course trees can't envy other trees, nor do they have the brains to know the difference between good and evil! These are characteristics of people, not trees. The trees are symbolic. Remember, trees = people.
Can you now "see" that Satan is referred to as a "tree" in the garden of Eden? Remember, aside from the trees created for food, there are two specific trees mentioned there: 1) the tree of life, and 2) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is ironic that no one seems to have a problem with the "tree of life" symbolizing Jesus Christ.
Rev. 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
But when we say that the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", i.e. the tree with evil knowledge, is Satan, that old serpent, the devil, they go "bonkers" and say, "No, it's an apple tree!" Really? The word "apple" does not appear in the entire Book of Genesis.
Let's now examine what Eve told that "glistening one", Satan, in the garden:
Genesis 3:2
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Eating physical food, nuts and fruits, is OK.
But it is spiritual food (bad fruit) that can kill your soul. Don't you see that "life" is the subject in verse three? The consequence of eating "bad fruit" from a corrupt tree is "lest you die", i.e. death!
You can eat all the "bread" you want, but you better partake of the "bread of life" if you want to live forever. Christ is that "bread". He is that "tree of life". If you eat of the "leaven" of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll die. It's bad bread! Beware! Here is Christ's own words:
Matthew 16:11
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Matthew 16:12
Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Christ said, "get your mind off of physical bread and elevate your thinking to that which is important, i.e. beware of the poison leaven of the bread of the scribes and Pharisees".
The same thought process must apply here to the trees in Genesis or you'll miss the point.
Genesis 3:3
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.
But, you ask, if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is in the midst of the garden, is Satan, what is the fruit spoken of here?
It is real simple. Fruit is that which is "produced" by a tree. Here is what Christ said:
Luke 6:43-44
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [44] For every tree is known by his own fruit...
Question! Is Christ talking about trees or people? Good, you've got it!
So the instruction to Adam and Eve is quite simple, "Do not partake of the fruit produced by the evil, corrupt, tree, which is in the midst of the garden!" In fact, don't even "touch" it, lest ye become seduced.
Finally, as background to understand that which is about to happen in the fig grove, look up the Hebrew word that is translated "touch" in verse 3. The word is naga and it means not just to "lay the hand upon" but it is an euphemism for "to lie with a woman". Check it out in a Strong's concordance.
Let's continue now in Genesis, repeating verse four, Satan's first lie:
Genesis 3:4 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.
It is their "spiritual eyes" that will be opened! Again, we are not talking about eating apples that wake you up in the morning.
[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.
When is the last time you saw a tree and said to yourself, "you know self, if I eat the fruit from this tree it will instantly make me wiser. I'll bet these are some kind of smart apples".
No, that which just took place in verse 6 of Genesis 3, is not the chomping of an apple from a fruit tree. There has been a seduction, the truth of which has been hidden for a long time to those who don't know their trees, to those who have allowed the deceptive stories of the traditions of men to blind their eyes, that in seeing they don't see and in hearing they don't hear.
[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.
Their spiritual eyes were opened all right! But why in the world do they now "know they're naked"? You will find it is because of the SHAME they have brought upon themselves, for disobeying God, yes, but in a much more perverted way than biting bad apples.
"And they sewed aprons together...". Do you suppose these were itty bitty little aprons that they sewed together to cover their mouths because they just ate bad fruit? The stupidity of tradition!
[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.
Uh oh! There's big trouble in the garden! Adam and Eve hear their Father coming! And now that they know good and evil, they know what's coming is not going to be good!
I'd hide too
When we last left Adam and Eve they were hiding from the LORD God who was walking in the garden. They had been in the fig grove with the "tree who had evil knowledge". They were naked and unashamed when they went in, but they were naked and ashamed when they came forth. Why?
Satan had beguiled Eve, which is to say, he totally, wholly seduced her. That is why the apostle Paul would say in his second letter to the Corinthians, that he had espoused them (the church) to one husband, and he wanted to present them as chaste virgins to Christ. But he was fearful that they would become "spiritually" seduced, even as Eve was "physically" seduced by the serpent. You see, Eve was a chaste virgin before Satan seduced her.
2 Cor. 11:2-3
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
The subject is virginity.
[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Has your mind been corrupted with fairy tale stories about "apples" and "snakes standing upright"? Or do you have the eyes to see and ears to hear the simplicity that is in Christ and His Word?
You must look up the word "beguiled" for yourself in Strong's concordance or a Greek dictionary. The word is exapatao and it means "to seduce wholly". Check it out.
You will also find later on, in verse 15, that God will put enmity between Satan's seed and Eve's seed, meaning their offspring, i.e. Satan's children and Eve's children. That which has transpired here is explained, in "simplicity", by the greatest teacher of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you believe Him or hang on to the apple tree?
In Matthew 13, Christ spoke several parables. Do you know why He spoke in parables? Do you think it was to make things obvious to the crowd He was addressing?
Matthew 13:10-13
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Hey, what do you know, here are the disciples asking Jesus the exact question we were thinking of!
[11] He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Did we read that correctly? It was not meant that everyone should understand Him?
[12] For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
[13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Yep, we read it correctly. Unless you have eyes to see, and ears to hear, you will not understand the parables of Jesus. Let's test your spiritual senses. Christ gave this parable in Matthew 13. It is the Parable of the Tares. Read it carefully and then Christ Himself will explain it in detail.
Matthew 13:24-30
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: [25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. [26] But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. [27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? [28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? [29] But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
After Christ speaks another parable, we learn that He is actually uttering things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Do you want to learn a secret?
Matthew 13:35-36
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Now look what happens!
[36] Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
The crowd is gone! The disciples come to Jesus, in private, and ask Him to explain the Parable of the Tares, the one we just read. Would you also like to ask Him to explain it to you? Then go for it!
Here is the simple explanation, from the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Parable of the Tares, to those who have been granted or have asked Him for eyes to see and ears to hear. Remember, this information, hidden from the foundation of the world, is not available to all. Blessed indeed is he or she that understands.
Christ's simple explanation:
Matthew 13:37
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
[38] The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
The field is the world? Wow! This really is simple.
The tares are children of Satan? He has children? He has children.
Don't you dare try to spiritualize this away! This is not a parable! These children (seed) are those same seed (children) in Gen 3:15. God puts enmity between his (Satans's) children and her (Eve's) children. We will be meeting the first child of Satan when we get to chapter 4 of Genesis. His name is Cain. He is not listed in Adam's genealogy in chapter five of Genesis. I wonder why not?
[39] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
The wicked seed was sowed in the fig grove, in the garden of Eden, at the seduction of mother Eve. (Hopefully the words of Christ are not too much for you. Remember, you can always believe that snakes stand up and talk.)
[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
[41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
[42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
[43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Who has ears to hear, let him hear. Who has not ears to hear, let him slumber.
Now back to the Book of Beginnings.
Genesis 3:9
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Don't think for one minute that God didn't know where Adam was. You'll find He never asks a question that He doesn't already know the answer to.
[10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Adam isn't facing reality very well at all, a problem common to many. We must all learn that we can't hide from our problems and our sins. Our Father knows!
[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?
The defendant is being questioned by the Judge.
[12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Here we see one of the basic principles of "liberalism", which is simply "never, never, take responsibility for your own actions. Always blame someone else". In this case Adam points out that the "Manufacturer" of the woman is really to blame, i.e. the woman WHOM THOU GAVEST to be with me.
This was not a good answer! You can't con our Father, who probably shook His head in sorrow and disappointment as He turned to the woman.
[13] And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Hey, it's not my fault! I have an excuse. The serpent seduced me.
Another really bad answer! God now turns to Satan.
[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:
"Because thou hast done this..". Done what? I think we covered that. He seduced Eve.
Notice that no question was asked to this "scum of the earth". Why give him the opportunity to reply with a smart aleck answer? God moves directly to the sentencing.
You should be able to document by now that the "serpent" God is speaking to is Satan, the Devil himself (Rev. 12:19). He was beautiful, charming, witty and very, very likable (Ezek. 28). He was a "tree to be desired". He was also a pervert. It is he whom our Father curses above all other living beings. He did not curse little old snakes.
The statement "upon thy belly shalt thou go" is an Hebrew figure of speech. It is a statement of degradation that implies the utmost humiliation, for prostration was ever the most eloquent sign of subjection. (If you are fortunate to have a Companion Bible, it will document this for you). We have a somewhat similar saying in English, "he's lower than a snake's belly".
The same statement of degradation applies to "and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life". This figure of speech is much like Psalms 72:9 which says "his enemies shall lick the dust". They will not literally get on their hands and knees and lick the ground with their tongues, but they will be so utterly defeated that no words could literally depict their overthrow and subjugation. But a picture, portrayed by a figure of speech, is worth a thousand words.
If the teachers and preachers of God's Word would pay attention to the figures of speech, which are easily identified in the "fixed" languages of Hebrew and Greek, much misunderstanding and confusion could be eliminated.
Here's How Traditions are Made:
If there was a verse in the New Testament that read "The Apostle Paul got in hot water", there would now be churches that would require their parishioners to do as Paul and follow his example, i.e. get into a pool or tub of water that is hot.
If you looked up "water" in Strong's concordance it would say "H2O, that substance which forms lakes and rivers and seas, rain, etc.". The would-be scholars would then debate how much water you should get into, how far you should be immersed, and exactly what degree of temperature constitutes hot as opposed to warm.
Thus "getting into hot water" would become a tradition of the church, despite the fact that the phrase is a figure of speech which means "The Apostle Paul got into trouble", and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with water!
For those who have an interest, the great scholar E.W. Bullinger, has a work in which he classifies the 217 figures of speech and has given some 8,000 passages of Scripture to illustrate them. Without paying close attention to "Figures of Speech", no study of the Bible can be complete. Of course if you have a Companion Bible it notes the figures of speech for each passage in the parallel columns.
The LORD God now continues with the sentencing of the guilty ones. He is still addressing Satan:
[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.
And so it would come to pass that Christ's heel was bruised when His feet were nailed to the cross at Calvary, but as it is recorded in Hebrew 2:14 He shall destroy Satan, whose name is "death".
God has also said that He would put enmity (Webster: positive, active, and typically mutual hatred or ill will) between Satan and Eve and between HIS SEED and HER SEED.
Did you notice that there is no mention of apple seeds.
[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.
Conception? God is talking about conception and bringing forth children? What brought up that subject? What does conception have to do with apples anyway? Why didn't He say, "I will make your teeth hurt every time you bite fruit"? Hello!
While we're on the subject of conception, did you know that Eve had twins?