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View Full Version : Who planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil....


Adam Knowlden
01-06-2005, 11:54 PM
To answer we have to first read the parable of the wheat and tares...

<font color="red"> 24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: </font>

What is the good seed? The Word of God! What is the produce of Good seed? The children of God.

<font color="red"> 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. </font>

First though, what is a tare?

http://weeds.montana.edu/images/WeedWebImages/darnel-seedhead.jpg

<font color="green"> darnel, tare, bearded darnel, cheat, Lolium temulentum -- (weedy annual grass often occurs in grainfields and other cultivated land; seeds sometimes considered poisonous) </font>

A tare is a type of "disfigured" wheat. One can not tell the difference between a tare and a stalk of wheat when they come up out of the ground. They look similar. The difference is wheat grows and produces good "fruit"(wheat), while the tare produces no fruit. The wheat from the weight of the fruit, bows down. The tare stands up straight...

Now we see the results the seeds planted by the advesary of the one who planted the good seed

[ QUOTE ]
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

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Now its important to understand the concept of fruit.

God said in Genesis 3,

<font color="blue">11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

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Seed always produces after its own kind. How many times have you opened and apple and found a peach seed? The same is true with the Word of God. The fruit produced by the sowing of the seed of God's Word, will produce the same fruit, as they are the same kind.

<font color="blue"> 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.
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So it will be when the angels reap in the last days. They will easily be able to tell the wheat and the tares. The tares will be standing proud, while the wheat will be bowing down before the Lord. The wheat will be harvested, the tares thrown in the fire.

This also shows why the Lord has has not yet come. The fruit of the harvest of the earth is not yet complete. Plucking it now would destroy both the wheat and tares as when they herbs are young plucking up one would cause the other to pull up.

In Revelation the final harvest of souls comes to pass,

<font color="red">15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
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<font color="brown"> 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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But....this is the interesting point,

<font color="red"> 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. </font>

While men slept,

<font color="blue"> 9 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.
</font>

That seems like an contradiction. God created all the plants that are pleasant to the sight and good for food, then tells Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge a tree not good for food.

So who planted the tree?

The enemy!

<font color="red"> 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. </font>

I believe this also shows the point in which satan fell.

While God created the garden and formed man, satan the advesary sowed the tares and went his way.

<font color="brown"> 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.
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So God created the trees and plants pleasant to the eyes and good for food. Logically it would seem he did not create the tree that was not good to eat. The enemy did, and God warned Adam not to partake of the enemies seed.

<font color="green">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.
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We see in Daniel 2 another interesting coorelation with the enemies seed.

<font color="blue"> 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

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This infamous prophecy dictates the kingdomes of the world through the ages. But one in particular stands out...

<font color="red"> 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
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This final kingdome, the revised Roman empire, is the seed of the enemy!

Here is the prophecy of Christ in Genesis:

<font color="brown">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.

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What is on the foot aside from the toes? The heel!

I am now conviced the enemy truely does believe he can defeat God. This final kingdom will be his attempt to reverse this prophecy. God's seed, His Son, will crush the enemies head however, as verse 35 of Daniel 2 shows.

thevoice
01-07-2005, 01:58 AM
excellent post OldSchool

William Ustav
01-07-2005, 01:59 AM
Awesome post, Adam! /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I'll surely read this as soon as I get back from university and the gym today /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

psaturn
01-07-2005, 03:24 AM
Interesting ! Never thought about it in that way !

Venom
01-07-2005, 03:31 AM
That was very intresting O.S! I'll have to read that more tomorrow. Awesome study!

nozzle
01-07-2005, 09:52 AM
I've always had a different take on this...

It wasn't the tree of good and evil, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I think there's a big difference. The fruit of this tree didn't produce sin, it produced the ability to discern good from evil. Consider the verses below.

Gen 2:5
[ QUOTE ]
For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

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Gen 2:7a
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Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked

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Gen. 3:22 -
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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"

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The fruit in and of itself was not sinful (or evil or tare-like or bad). The direct violation of God's command was. God gave them a command - Don't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - and gave them a consequence if they disobeyed His command - for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. If they didn't eat of it, they would live. If they did eat of it, they would die.

"The enemy" didn't plant the tree. God did. See Gen 2:8-9.
[ QUOTE ]
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

[/ QUOTE ]
and Gen. 2:6
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So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

[/ QUOTE ]

If Satan planted the tree of knowledge, then he also planted the tree of life.

I believe that what we can learn from these passages is that Satan will use that which is good and honorable to bring about evil and sin in man.

Regardless, none of this changes the fact that Satan planted the seed of temptation in Adam and Eve, he continues to plant seeds of temptation today, and God will judge all men of their righteousness.

KrYptic.x
01-07-2005, 10:06 AM
Very nice post Adam and Noz!

JoeGT
01-07-2005, 12:51 PM
I agree with Nozzle. I have been reading genesis the past couple of nights, and when I read Old School's post, I thought differently too.

Good posts, both of you!

Adam Knowlden
01-07-2005, 06:26 PM
[ QUOTE ]
It wasn't the tree of good and evil, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I think there's a big difference. The fruit of this tree didn't produce sin, it produced the ability to discern good from evil. Consider the verses below.

[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree. The eating of the tree was the sin, but it made them aware of thier sin as well. Again, though the parable of the tare and wheat. The seed God planted was the tree of life.

I see what you are saying Nozzle and I think you are dead on, but there are a few differences in our interpurtation I see,

<font color="red"> So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
</font>

<font color="blue"> 9And 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.
</font>

The wording of "pleasant to the eyes" is differnet in the Hebrew context than the instance in which God created trees "pleasant to the sight".

God used the word, chamad, which meant a primitive root; to delight in:—beauty, greatly beloved, covet, delectable thing, ( great) delight, desire, goodly, pleasant (thing), precious (thing).;

A good type of desire, ie life, as the tree of life provided.

Regarding sight, the word here is mar-eh', a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision:— X apparently, appearance (-reth), as soon as beautiful (-ly), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look (up) on (to), look [-eth], pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision.;

A good looking fruit that would make one hungry.

Now when the woman lust for the tree of knowledge, we get a much different Hebrew text:

<font color="brown"> So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
</font>

The word pleasant here is tah-av-aw, a longing; by implication a delight (subjectively satisfaction, objectively a charm):dainty, desire, exceedingly, greedily, lust (ing).

So this is not the same type of "pleasant" that was used to describe the creation of fruit bearing fruits used in chapter 2, but rather a lust pride-filled look, as the next section of scripture shows,

<font color="green"> and a tree to be desired to make one wise</font>

We see this paralled in John's letters,

<font color="red"> 15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.


16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

</font>

<font color="blue">the lust of the flesh </font>

6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food

<font color="blue">and the lust of the eyes </font>

and that it was pleasant to the eyes

<font color="blue"> and the pride of life </font>

and a tree to be desired to make one wise



We can see the conclusion with the rest of this scripture,

<font color="brown"> is not of the Father, but is of the world.
</font>

This fruit was not of the Father, but the world, of which satan is described as the "prince"(Jn. 16:11) and "god" of. God did not tempt Adam and Eve, the enemy did. God warned him of the results of sin, as He warns us still today. Through His Word,

<font color="red"> 17But 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.
</font>

This answers the question, why would God create a beautiful delicious tree, tempting them, then tell them not to eat it. He did not create it. The enemy did, and God allowed them to endure this trial ( as minscule as it was), and gave them His Word to warn them of the results and to smite the words of satan.

James showed this in his letter,

<font color="red">13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:


14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.


15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.


16Do not err, my beloved brethren.
</font>


Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit their "eyes" were opened. Not just their literal eyes, but their spiritual eyes, became aware of sin,

The word used for eye is h'-yin which means knowledge- sight.

[ QUOTE ]
The fruit in and of itself was not sinful (or evil or tare-like or bad). The direct violation of God's command was. God gave them a command - Don't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - and gave them a consequence if they disobeyed His command - for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. If they didn't eat of it, they would live. If they did eat of it, they would die.


[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, God did command them to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowldege. God sowed His Word into them, His Word was not to eat the tree. They disobeyed and instead took the seed of satan.

As we see God put emnity between these seeds,

<font color="brown"> 15And 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.
</font>

Satan's seed was the tree of knowledge(the knowledge of sin). God's seed was the eventual birth of His Son, through Eve's blood line.

I believe these fruits did indeed have properties of life and death. We see the tree of life, had the literal ablility to cause Adam and Eve to life forever, despite the fact they sinned.

<font color="red"> 22And 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:

23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.


24So 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.
</font>

Moreover God told them the day they ate of the tree of knowledge they would literally die. He also said that if they continued eating the tree of life they would live. I see these as literal properties of the various fruits. We see that today, as a result of the ingested seed of the tree, we do literally die. And in Revelations we see the reappareance of the literal tree of life (why is a whole other post).

Let's look a little further too,

<font color="#666666"> 21For since death came through a man </font>

How did it come through the man? His seed. Not through his simple rebellion by eating the of the tree. Why are we cursed? Because we are products of that original seed, Adam's partaking in the seed of the enemy, and that seed being passed down.

<font color="green"> 20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
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First fruit! Here is the prophecy fulfilled back in Gen. 3:15. The emnity between the seeds. The bruising has happened, at the cross, but the crushing has not yet happened until Christ returns and smashes the kingdom of the anti-christ(satan indwelling the flesh, mocking Christ).

<font color="brown"> 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.


22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.


23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

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What are your thoughs Noz? Good discussion!/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Daedalus
01-08-2005, 01:56 PM
Phenomenal discussion! Keep it coming!

President Wilson
01-09-2005, 05:11 AM
[ QUOTE ]
That was very intresting O.S! I'll have to read that more tomorrow. Awesome study!

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Definately phenomenal. Thank you very much Old School!