Many Christians are familiar with the account in the Garden of Eden involving the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. This is the tree with the forbidden fruit that Adam & Eve partook of that propelled the human race and creation into the tailspin it is currently in. There is not much detail given of this tree in Genesis, but we find some interesting tidbits interwoven in various passages in the Bible. You may be surprised to know that this tree was the greatest tree in the world in beauty, it was so huge that it towered over all other trees and its branches were bigger than fir trees, it was cut down by evil men during a drought, and the tree is now in hell!
The central theme is this:
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil symbolizes the Law, and ultimately death, and currently resides in hell. This tree is the antithesis of the Tree of Life, which yields eternal spiritual life and currently resides in Heaven (for more on ‘The Tree of Life’, see Admin3’s topic on this).
The Tree Symbolizes the Law
In Genesis we can immediately draw an implied connection between the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil and the Law, as it was at the center of God’s first command to man:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)
After Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they became aware of good and evil, and then saw that they were naked (Genesis 3:7). In other words, they were naked before God, unprotected from his displeasure (for more on this, see ‘When Did The First Animal Sacrifice Occur In The Bible?’). Without this knowledge of good and evil they would never had known, and therefore committed, sin:
I would not have known sin except through the law. (Romans 7:7)
The Tree of Death
The penalty for violating this first commandment given by God was death: “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The proper Hebrew translation is “dying you will die”. So immediately upon violating God’s command Adam and Eve died spiritually (they were “naked” before the LORD), and they also were decreed to suffer eventual physical death (dying you will die).
We know there is a direct connection between the Law (and by extension the tree) and death:
“And the commandment [the law], which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” (Romans 7:10)
We also know that the law and death will both be done away with:
For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4)
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26)
The theme throughout the bible is that wherever the law is, death reigns, and conversely wherever there is grace, there is life. For example, when Moses brought the Ten Commandments (the Law) down from the mountain,
“…about three thousand men of the people fell that day.” (Exodus 32:28)
When Peter preached grace,
“that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:41-42)
This contrast of law=death vs. grace=life is tied together perfectly in one verse:
“…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Ezekiel 31 – an Amazing Story
God often likes to interlace two or more stories within one passage of scripture, a multi-layered pyramid of information, if you will. For example, scholars agree that Ezekiel 28 is both a treatise on the prince of Tyre and on Satan. Ezekiel 31 provides us a treatise on the king of Egypt and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. Here we find out some interesting details about this tree:
1) The tree was HUGE:
With fine branches that shaded the forest, …its height was exalted above all the trees of the field; Its boughs [main branches] were multiplied, And its branches became long because of the abundance of water, Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; And in its shadow all great nations made their home… (Ezekiel 31:5-12)
Interesting. Just like today, most make their home under the Law…
The fir trees were not like its boughs [main branch of a tree]… its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; (Ezekiel 31:8,12)
Note that the following verses in Ezekiel 31, which refer to rivers that abundantly watered this tree, fit well with the Genesis account. The picture we get is a great river in Eden that breaks into four riverheads outside of Eden:
With their rivers running around the place where it was planted, And sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field. (Ezekiel 31:4)
Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. (Gen 2:10)
2) The tree was beautiful:
'Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches…No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches, So that all the trees of Eden envied it, That were in the garden of God.' (Ezek 31:7-9)
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, … (Genesis 3:6)
3) Evil men cut the tree down during a drought:
I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. (Ezekiel 31:15)
And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it. (Ezekiel 31:12)
4) The tree was cast into hell along with the evil men who cut it down:
"Thus says the Lord GOD: 'In the day when it went down to hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. … I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth. They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations. (Ezekiel 31:15-18)
Conclusion
In Ezekiel 31 the symbolism of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil is illuminated - it was a great and beautiful tree that was a picture of the law. It was something man tried to live under but in the end could not, so in their wicked hearts they tried to get rid of it. Things are no different today, as men try to either live under the tree by following religions based on works, or aggressively try to get out from underneath this tree by trying to rid themselves of God’s Word (i.e. ACLU, liberalism, secularism, etc; Ted Turner summed up this mindset when he claimed the Ten Commandments are really the “Ten suggestions”). The net result of both methods is spiritual and physical death, and those who live by the tree will die by the tree, literally! – they will live in the company of this tree and the curse that came with it for all eternity in hell.
But there is good news.
Soon after Adam & Eve put themselves and humanity under the tree, God gave us a glimpse of the first steps of His intervening work to reconcile us with Him. Following what is recognized as the first prophecy in the Bible for our Redeemer (Genesis 3:15), we return to the two trees:
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
If Adam and Eve partook of the Tree of Life after their fall, they would remain alive physically but separated from God (dead spiritually) forever. By allowing men to die physically, God established a redemptive way out for the mess man put himself in, by taking upon Himself the payment of sin, which is death. This is all summed up beautifully in Galatians 3:13:
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree") (Galatians 3:13)
This was a gift of God (Romans 5:13, Ephesians 2:8) that whoever accepts the gift will have their spirit re-born and will be reconciled with Him (Romans 10:9). They will no longer be under the curse of Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and will regain access to the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14).
So which tree will you like to partake of, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, (the Law), or the Tree of Life (grace)? Putting it another way, where would you like to spend eternity, smoking, or non-smoking?
“…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Addendum
Here are some additional observations:
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as a symbol of the law and ultimately death is somewhat paradoxical, since the tree was beautiful, just as the law is holy and good (Romans 7:12). But man could not live under this tree (the law), so God provided a substitute, His Son, a gift of grace, so that we may again fellowship with God and eat from the Tree of Life.
Most if not all saved Christians at one time or another still partake of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, whenever they partake in legalism. See what God has to say about this in Galatians 2 & 3.
The account of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil given in Ezekiel 31 had to be in antediluvian times since the tree was still in Eden and Eden was intact. It therefore makes me wonder if the swallowing of this tree into hell was what triggered the Fountains of the Great Deep and Noah’s Flood.
Much of this article is based on a tape series by Pastor Bob Enyart that I highly recommend! (link)
