Posted on 08/31/2010 4:07:41 AM PDT by Ancient Drive
Genesis is my favorite book. I just had this thought that maybe the trees are symbolic... wait wait... don't start hurling tomatoes at me.
Tree of Life = Knowledge guided by God(our father)
Tree of Knowledge = Raw knowledge, no direction.(like giving a kid the keys to that 1957 Bell Air even though he knows the kid is gonna wreck it)
What if that was the test? God gave us free will and in doing so he put these choices before us. All knowledge flows from one place. Mankind instead followed knowledge for himself rather than be guided to such knowledge by our maker.
With every human born there is another processing unit added to the cloud so to speak and this increases our knowledge(raw knowledge.. no guidance from God. Remember we made this choice in the beginning). What we choose to do with knowledge determines the end result, and so far things are not looking good.
Every advance, every technological jump we make brings us closer to self-annihilation. We seriously need God to step in and get the bunch of bratty kids(mankind) out of the drivers seat.ahh.. I need to lay off of the coffee.
I think this is much more than merely the effects of caffeine.
:^)
I have wondered this thing also.
Not exactly “are they real or are they figurative”, but more like “what is the nature of the trees and the fruit, and why did God put them there”.
When I get to Heaven I mean to ask Him.
Until then I guess the question will just remain an unanswered question to ponder.
The knowledge of good and evil is one thing that separates man from lower forms of life. A lion may kill a man but it doesn’t hate him and what it does is not evil. But if you murder that same man, you’re doing evil.
A great mystery but, as with everything else in God’s creation, there is reason and purpose behind it.
The Tree of Life represents salvation through God’s grace and eternal life. It’s in heaven one but we see it again in Revelations 2:7.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the law for righteousness, which is the idea that one can achieve righteousness through a set of laws, observances, rules, etc. Or in any other way than simply relying completely on God. That tree was destroyed in the Great Flood and, in fact, was cast into hell (Ezekiel 31).
The two trees then symbolize the old and new covenants as well, and in the process condense the whole message of the bible down right there in that one story. Follow the law or follow God. The law will lead you to hell. God’s grace, to eternal life.
I had been taught that “tree” in the Bible was often used as a metaphor for the human body.
‘The Tree of Life’= the body of Christ.
But to paraphrase Freud- Sometimes a tree is just a tree.
OK, try this.
Suppose scientists make time travel possible. You rent a MK1-timezoomer and go back in time with your Sony HD camcorder until you are actually THERE, THEN.
What do you BELIEVE you would record, if it were possible to be there and shoot the video? SOMETHING actually happened ‘back then.’ WHAT do YOU believe it was?
If yo believe in a sovereign, omnipotent God, then ANYTHING is possible in HIS creation. But what do you BELIEVE happened? Does it matter if God has given us His metaphor or His reality?
If there is *A* God, then whatever happened is His doing. I don’t HAVE to know what REALLY happened. I am curious for sure.
Doesn’t God already know what our free-will choices will be...and the results of those decisions?
And at the same time, you can kill a man and not hate or be a murderer.
How do you partake of good or evil fruit?..
You "do" them.. God said do not touch them.. either of them.. Don't "do" them..
A profound message.. that only God can determine good or evil completely..
Often the good can become evil and evil can become good..
Who is to know when and which is which?..
Not as simple as some want to believe..
I believe most if not all of Genesis chapters One thru Three are metaphorical..
Holding some very deep answers to the right questions..
Possibly too deep to be figured completely by men..
The literal view could be a primer to human life 101..
And the metaphorical view could be advanced study of the same..
What are the answers to the deep questions of human physical reality?..
And what are the answers to human spiritual reality?..
Understanding the "flesh" and fleshly things is one thing..
Understanding the "spirit/Spirit" and spiritual things is on another level..
Its taken me a lifetime to grasp these both... Barely..
Is Genesis ch. 1-3 literal or metaphorical?..
Currently I say BOTH... The operators in both paradigms are "deep calling unto the deep..".
How you perceive them will effect your whole lifestyle..
Even if you cannot read.. or know of them..
Why do you think God made them available, when He knew what the outcome would be?
Thank you for your replies. I love the bible with my heart and soul. Reading it has answered so much for me, and has awakened so many questions about our beginnings as well (Did I say Genesis is my favorite book?). Our minds are young and full of wonder. I am full of questions and I mean to ask all of those questions when I meet God. I sure hope he doesn’t feel like I’m pestering him with all of this. I know he he is a loving father. Thank you Lord.
“Why do you think God made them available, when He knew what the outcome would be?”
I think it’s a little like us. Would you rather be married to someone who was forced to be your spouse or someone who chooses to be your spouse?
It never occurred to me before that the Tree of Life was there all along and not forbidden and A & E ignored it. Or was it only after they ate of the forbidden tree that they then had to be prevented from eating from the Tree of Life?
I don’t think that’s the issue. No one forces our decisions, but God does know what they will be before we make them, doesn’t He?
I see it that the trees were at the same time literal, real, and symbolic - as much of the Old Testament.
The Tree of Life meant relationship with God; to eat of it would bring Adam into a relationship with God where God’s life - eternal life, spiritual life - entered Adam.
The Tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil - not only forbidden, but which included the penalty of death - was separation from God AND separation from LIFE (death being the opposite of life).
The Tree of Life is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. To partake of Him is to partake of eternal life, utter and total dependence on God, trusting not in our own wisdom, knowledge, strength - our own anything.
To partake of the Tree of Knowledge is indeed to choose dependence on self and it’s abilities (independence) - which are indeed great only because man was created in His image. BUT, the end is death - separation from God.
Sadly, much of Christianity - while verbally saying it believes in the Christ - by its actions shows that it is still not only depending on the Tree of Knowledge, but promoting its ways in all of its practices. Thus, the “life” does not match the words - because the origin is the wrong tree. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives LIFE.”
The two trees stand before each of us every day. Of which will we partake?
Dependence on our own knowledge (which may be wholly true, but is still trust in one’s self)? Or utter and total dependence on God, our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit? The choice is ours not only daily, but moment-by-moment. II Corin. 12:7-10. Paul needed the thorn only because his true weakness was his great intellect and knowledge, and his past history of depending on that knowledge and intellect. Thus he wrote, “Knowledge puffs up (makes one arrogant, feeds pride); love edifies.”
But this is just the way I see it, and I know that “I see through a glass darkly...”
arlis
Why do you think God made those trees, when He knew what Adam and Eve’s choices would be?
God knew that Adam and Eve would eat the fruit sooner or later and he still went forward with his plan. God set the scene the trees, the fruit, the garden, the serpent, the man and his wife even the sacrifice to give a picture of Christ. (Rom 5:14) Do you believe that God intended for man to know good and evil?
Why don’t you study what the Early Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church said on the matter, instead of asking other people who know about as much as you do. Do you think there is a question that you have that hasn’t occurred to others more wise than you in, during the last 2000 years?
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