II. Two Trees – Two Wisdoms
“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. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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,” Genesis 2:9, 16-17.
When I look at this text, I see that God created two trees in the midst of the Garden. When the serpent comes to temp Eve, he only speaks of one tree in the midst of the Garden. Eve in return only addresses one of the two trees in the midst of the Garden. The word “midst” would mean the middle. The image in my mind is of a small clearing with these two trees next to one another. Both of them represent something in and of themselves, but each of them represents the other tree just as much.
What is it about the tree of life that it would be blessed? What is it about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that it would be cursed? Both are symbols of something larger than what is initially being spoken. What captures my attention is that to only one tree was commanded that it should not be eaten of. We find out later in Genesis 3 that the result of eating of the tree of life is that man would never die. I’m not sure that mankind would have died regardless, at least physically. I think that this symbol of life is something deeper than physic.
In the last chapter I talked about how God might have used the darkness to cloak Himself. He still does today. I talked about how Adam might not have been able to see God in full glory and live. The tree of life is what is necessary to see God. In the New Testament, this is typically called very specifically “eternal life.” Why would Adam not take of that? I’m not sure how long Adam was in the Garden. It is possible that he was there for close to 100 years. Why would the one tree be rejected, and the other be the means of temptation?
In the last analysis, the tree of life is the only tree remaining. When we look at Genesis 1 and 2, we find both trees. But at the end of Revelation, we only find the tree of life. I’ll discuss later why this is. For now, I want to establish the point that if God has set it up this way now, then His original intention was that very same thing. God’s original intention was that darkness would be overcome and that mankind could live with God and in His presence unadulterated. This means two things: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil cannot last forever, and darkness must also be exterminated.
Why exactly God chose to do things the way He has chosen is His prerogative. This is the defining characteristic of God. He is the one that chooses. His choices establish His sovereignty in a greater degree than any amount of foreknowledge and sovereignty in the Calvinistic sense ever could. This is not an argument for Arminianism either. Arminians fall short of this perception too. This kind of view takes God’s sovereignty as absolute. Our prayers and our moods cannot determine whether God chooses this or that. His choice speaks of His character. This is the scandal of specificity. Arminians are afraid to get too specific. God’s specific choosing is interpreted as predestination. But we cannot lack in our Bible verses to say one over the other.
While discussing the two trees, lets ask the question of what they mean. Why would knowledge of good and evil be what God does not desire for us to take? In our free will, the one thing that God never gave us was “what we think best.” Free will does not mean that we are allowed to determine for self what is best and to pursue that. God alone gives revelation of good and evil, right and wrong. I don’t think that God would have hidden this from Adam. The question isn’t whether God intended us to make our own choices. The question is from where do we determine if that choice is good?
Our morality and sense of good and evil must only come from God. Anything outside of Him is taking up that same fruit that caused curse. This, then, begs the question of how to determine from where our morality is coming from at all. And this is why we must understand what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes. In short, I find these symbols to be most correct: self-preservation, self-promotion, and self-pleasure. The tree itself denotes self. The things that are self-promoting, self-preserving, and self-gratifying are the things that our flesh longs for.
It is from the basis of self that we determine right and wrong, good and evil. If I wouldn’t want someone to do this to me, then I shouldn’t do it to others. If I want someone to do it to me, then I should do it to others. However, if there is a time where we must stand up for truth and we know that we’ll be placing self in danger, we then quietly find another alternative. We might gossip or we might anonymously write a note, but to stand up and get in the face of unreality and deception is far from us.
I don’t need to look far to find an example. I caught a coworker stealing. Truth demands that I would report it. However, in sympathy I didn’t simply report it. I offered myself. I went to the boss and I offered to pay for it. I was self-sacrificial as much as possible. The other person lost their job, and almost the entire staff – other than the boss and a handful of others – despised what I did. Before this incident I was well liked. After that incident many of the people no longer desired to associate with me.
While being asked why I chose to do this, a manager asked me how I thought this would help the man. I wasn’t trying to help him. Truth demands that I would stand up for it. When something happens that goes against God, you must stand up against it. These are the moments that are the hardest. It is easy to go with the flow and be well liked. It is extremely difficult to stand up for God. It is even more difficult when it means that you are jeopardizing your reputation, friendships, stature, job, family, or all the other areas of self.
Two Value Systems
It seems to me as that these are two polar value systems. The one tree promotes self. The other tree – the tree of life – promotes selflessness. Jesus told us that if we lose our life we shall obtain it. If we take up our crosses and follow Him, then we shall be His disciples. Those that want to save their lives shall lose them. But those that lose their life for Jesus’ sake shall save it. The tree of life is about resurrection. It is about a denial of self-life to take up eternal life.
At the root of all disputes in modern Christianity we have these two trees. Everything forms from such a view. There are many questions that our society faces. Not one of those questions is left unanswered when we face down our darkest deeps and ask the question of where it comes from. Does our understanding come from the tree of life, or does it come from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Our theology can actually misrepresent Christ and turn people to a misappropriation of God. That should seem obvious. What isn’t so obvious is the root.
Jesus said in John 7:17 that anyone who chooses to do the will of God will know whether Christ’s words are true. There is an actual exchange between holiness and understanding. It is by obedience that we obtain knowledge. The reason this is so is because of the definition of wisdom. If our definition of wisdom is simply an application of knowledge, then we have misappropriated that word. It says in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (1:7). It is said later in Proverbs (9:10) that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If this is true, then what shall we say of the atheists?
Do atheists have knowledge or wisdom? We know that they do. But then, is the Bible incorrect? We are not finding any kind of contradiction. The struggle is the same ancient struggle. From where do you gain your knowledge and wisdom? God has given us a brain to be able to reason and probe and learn. We can, in our own humanity, learn and become knowledgeable. But if we’re going to understand the concepts of knowledge and wisdom from the biblical perspective, then we need to dig deeper than what the Oxford dictionary tells us.
It takes a desire to wrestle in order to understand such words. How do you understand the word glory? How do you understand the word holy? These are not simply taught. They are only understood on the basis of openness to God’s Spirit, and revelation from His Son. There is no other way to come into a deeper knowledge. Indeed, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Without it, we cannot even understand what such words entail.
And so when we read this verse in John 7 about only those who do the will of God will know whether Jesus’ words are truth, I think it is safe to say that it is the case for all of Scripture. Why are there debates on Calvinism and Arminianism? Why are there debates on evolution and creation? Does the Bible not clearly teach these things? Are there grey areas in Scripture where human interpolation is needed? I whole-heartedly say no, there are no grey areas in the Scripture. Many times what we find is that we are unwilling to dive into the text without a pre-conceived notion that it has to be one way or another. To say that both Calvinism and Arminianism are true sounds paradoxical.
There is a deeper knowledge than our modern great debates. There is a bigger picture that does not diminish any Scriptures, but instead promotes all Scriptures. I find that when I am trying to push a certain idea, it usually means that my base is off center. Because I have not grasped the deeper picture, I have held to a specific point or view. By my holding to that specific point or view – even if that view is truth – I promote that view until it is no longer truth. It no longer holds as reality. A good example of this would be the modern hyper-grace movement. Of course there is some marvelous truth that we are no longer condemned if we are in Christ. But the rest of that verse says it is only true for those that walk according to the Spirit. A carnal and immoral man that is in Christ is a liar. You cannot be of the light and walk in darkness.
And all of this is obtained through the grounds of resurrection. Our understanding of the faith and our knowledge of God can only be obtained by the tree of life. If we humanly try to understand, we will warp Scripture and cause it to say something that it was never intended to say. Scripture cannot be known on the basis of intellect. That is why God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise. The wisdom of this world is at a complete loss when used to try and understand the Bible.
Only obedience to God will give us our understanding. Nothing less than devotion and holiness can grant us deeper insight. I hope that the point does not need to be made that we should study the Bible. Holiness and devotion cannot be obtained only through prayer – devotion itself requires a study of Scripture to know what God has said. And it is this point that is critical. I often see things in opposites. The world and its value system are at a polar opposite with God and His value system. Then the atheists have the audacity to claim that God is immoral because of the genocide recorded in the Bible.
In the next chapter we’ll look into the principalities and powers. When we examine the demonic presences that influence humanity, I will continue to drive this point. So for now I want to make the base in order to springboard into that discussion. What is at the root of the two value systems? It is the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The former states that God alone is good – the latter states that humanity is sufficient.
The tree of life is a cross. When we take the fruits of that tree, we die to self. It is a selfless tree. Anyone who attempts to take of that fruit in selfish motive finds that they are all the more practicing the values of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In order to obtain life we must lose our lives. This seems absolutely absurd. Everything in the natural tells us that in order to gain life you must work to sustain and maintain life. Everything in the natural tells us in order to have life we must work hard to get enough money to go out and enjoy life. The tree of life gives it freely to anyone who abhors their own life and seeks to take up a greater life than their own.
This is the basis of the faith itself. Anyone who says they are of God and still live from selfish passions are liars. They have never met God. To take of the fruit of life is to meet God. To meet God is to die to self and live from Him. To live from Him is to live like Him. That alone is the ground and pillar of truth. We as the Church are called to be a representation of that ground and pillar (1 Timothy 3:15). Knowledge and wisdom are expressions of the Spirit of God.
How did Jesus answer those that came to Him with ridiculous questions? I think that every believer needs to wrestle with this. If we were put on the spot with the same kinds of questions asked Jesus, most of us would end up with our faces sticking out and embarrassed. Where did He get His wisdom to confront the scoffers? It came from the Spirit. And Jesus then put His finger into our chests and told us not to worry about when we’re taken before courts and rulers because that same Spirit will reveal to us what to say. And how many of us have mouth-stopping answers?
Our view of wisdom and knowledge is only the biblical perception of wisdom and knowledge when all other previous experience and understanding that has led us up to this moment cannot account for the answer that we give. Nothing in our lives can attest to why we would respond the way that we respond. It is as though God Himself has spoken or acted through flesh and blood. That kind of obedience to Christ is not born in a day. It is not learned simply because we have read a book or spent a little bit of time in the morning with God. This is only born by deep crying unto deep.
At the center of the faith, and at the center of all of mankind’s beliefs, is the question of where our wisdom and understanding come from. The answer to that question is actually not found in searching out our hearts. The answer to that question is found in our openness, willingness, and obedience to every word of God. There is not one word in the Bible that is not important. We are called to follow the Law in every aspect. This takes both study to know what the Law says, and it takes Jesus revealing to us the full purpose and intention of that Law.
Everything that we are about comes from the question of whether we have been raised from the dead. The full purpose and intention of the Law (both Old Testament and New Testament Law) is that we would be full expressions in a corporate body of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to have an absolutely pure and holy and blameless walk before God apart from the resurrection. It is not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit. The whole crux of the faith hinges upon resurrection and how we perceive it. If it is simply a doctrine that we hold to, but it is not an outworking reality in our lives, then resurrection has no meaning and/or power.
The value system that we hold to is not achievable on the basis of our own human ability. God calls each and every person to hold to a morality that is beyond our capacity. But the kicker is that God doesn’t merely call us as individuals to this kind of lifestyle. The whole point of Israel having their Laws was to display God to the nations (Deuteronomy 4:6). God is calling whole nations and systems and governments to obedience. If it weren’t already impossible enough for individuals to live in the light, God then furthers the onus by demanding us to call our nations to obedience before God.
This is why I see there are two value systems and that they are opposite. If we are content to live out of our own ability, these challenges will be worded away. It takes resurrection to even agree with the basis of resurrection. If you hold to the one value system, then you cannot entertain the other. You cannot be halfway. Nor can you hold to one value system without fighting against the other. Our very presence is a spiritual warfare. Our walk before God is fighting against the principalities and powers of darkness. Our authority is not given on the basis of devotion. It is given solely on the basis of resurrection. If the Spirit is at work within, then we have the authority over the enemy. But if the Spirit is lacking, then the demons will reply, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you?”
This kind of perception makes demands upon our walk that would not have otherwise been made. It isn’t enough to be moral people. Morality only takes someone so far. Ethics only take us so far. Our denomination and categories only take us so far. This is beyond all morale, ethic, and category. This view that bases everything upon the resurrection cannot be defined. All terms seem to fall short. It is a Hebraic view of the faith. This view of resurrection has its inception at the beginning with the two trees in the Garden, and various characters emerge throughout the Old Testament to display the same Hebraic faith (see Hebrews 11) all the way until we reach the end of the Bible and the Spirit and the Bride say “Come.”
Hebraic Roots of the Faith
God’s people are strictly Hebrew. There are zero other options. God has chosen Israel, and it is into Israel’s root that we are grafted (Romans 11:11-24). But even of Israel Paul remarks that not all Israel is Israel. There is a remnant. This remnant that God identifies with and calls His people are Hebrew. All other perspectives, whether Greek, Messianic, or Jewish, are not of God’s wisdom. The Hebraic faith is not Jewish in nature. It is more than Jewish. It is not Messianic. The Messianic movement seems to be a Zionist movement back to Judaism and away from Greek-minded Christianity. It still falls short for one simple reason.
God’s view is solely based upon resurrection. I cannot stress this enough. The Messianic movement, though there are some good aspects to it, is not a valid alternative. In many ways it is still trying to be identified as another type of Judaism. God isn’t interested in us being identified as another type of Judaism. Judaism, as is Greek-minded Christianity, is idolatry. Messianic Judaism is also idolatry.
Idolatry is any religious practice that gives mankind a measure of religious and emotional satisfaction, and that alleviates their conscience and requires nothing from them. The view of resurrection says that nothing in man is good. There is no one good except God. Jesus alludes to mankind being evil (see Matthew 7:11). Any religious practice that does not have that same view is an idolatrous view. Why? Because, it brings a false ideology of God.
If we continue to teach and preach that we only need to do these things in order for God to accept us, then we have brought a false view. No one will truly argue this point. Yet, I still see that the vast majority of ministers do not put forth resurrection as a reality, but only a doctrinal statement that Jesus rose from the dead – and some might even go as far as holding the doctrine that we too are raised according to Romans 6. The doctrine of resurrection really interrupts all of our categories. Many ministries are guilty of taking this most holy thing of God – even in well-meaning intention – and transfiguring it as to rob resurrection of its cogency and power.
The reason that this Hebraic view is so important is that it takes into account all aspects of Scripture. Something in my heart aches when I see New Testaments with the Proverbs and Psalms. We are being robbed. Concepts of covenant, atonement, abomination, the end times, and the whole basis for the New Testament and New Covenant are stolen from us when we only read and study from our New Testaments solely.
One man has said, and I agree, that it seems like modern Christianity has given the Bible a hierarchy. John and Romans are at the top, followed by maybe Galatians, the other Gospels, and Revelation, but at the very bottom is the entirety of the Old Testament minus the Proverbs and Psalms. The Old Testament seems to only be good for flannel graph children’s stories. At the absolute bottom would be books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
We have no idea what we are missing. I’ve actually heard pastors that would tell people to ignore the Old Testament because it has nothing to say. Where, then, do we get the notion that all of Scripture is infallible? Did you know that Paul and Jesus only read the Old Testament? There wasn’t a New Testament to read. All of the insight that we read from Jesus and the apostles came from the Old Testament.
So to conclude this chapter, I want to put my emphasis back on where I began. The two trees in the Garden of Eden were two symbols of something bigger than what is initially expressed. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a full representation of “man knows best.” The other tree is the opposite: God knows best. Because God knows best, we humble self to take up His view and His purposes. This is the way that it has always been. From the beginning of Scripture through to the end, the only way to triumph over the serpent is by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony; loving not our lives even unto death.
What is our testimony except that we loved not our lives? And what good is a testimony if it does not continue? It is by the blood of the Lamb – we lay down our lives and take up His – that we overcome the world. God has established this from the beginning. Every generation since then has observed this truth. Even the prophets spoke of heart circumcision, rebirth, the Spirit being within us, and new creation. As we dive in further to the two opposing views by looking at the principalities and powers, lets not forget the whole point: God has made a way for mankind to dwell in His presence.