The Bible declares that God is love (1 John 4:8). Third, the prohibition and potential punishment were intended to serve as a “fence” to prevent man from violating the divinely instituted boundary. Nevertheless, when expressing discernment and/or intimate involvement, Moses used the term yada. Apologies for the double response! Genesis 2: 16,17, Joshua 24:15, Isaiah 7:15, John 5:39,40, 7:17, and Revelation 22:17). However, God had to give Adam and Eve a choice. He didn’t force them to sin. The fact that you realize that there is so much wrong in the world tells me that you understand that we were not created for this. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden” (2:9). God gave me a silly little illustration last night. First, it is important to remember whom we are talking about. It’s not punishment. As a Christian, I think I would have agreed with you on all of your points. '. Adam and Eve did not celebrate their life in God with full-throated praise. But that tree of death was really a tree of life. Adam was also given a simple law to obey. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). If He hadn’t put the tree there and given Adam and Eve the rule to not eat from it, they wouldn’t have disobeyed, and our world wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in today. For instance, there are many things we do for “love,” even though we recognize before we do them that there will be times when things will not always turn out for the best. We, as humans, act in a similar manner. Required fields are marked *. The reason for this is that proper prayer involves focused concentration. 1. Mercifully, God did not permit this to happen (Genesis 3:23–24). In fact, the creation of this tree and the subsequent delivery of Heaven’s prohibition can be explained (if not totally, at least in great part) on the basis of divine love. The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation during the New Earth. God Himself subjected the creation to the present futility. Why? In the same way that Adam had to choose between life and death, you and I are called to make our own choices. (i.e. As an atheist, I’ll attempt to share my thoughts on your question. We associate it with Adam and Eve and their sin that separated them from God.We may not be as aware that this tree is mentioned in other Bible passages and that from them we can draw some conclusions about the value of the tree and its properties. It was a morally sterile environment, and it would remain that way, unless another being used their “free will” to open the door. God said, “I would love for you to stay with me here forever. It's not like God said, 'Thou shall only eat broccoli, but the the chocolate, you may not eat.' . There was literally NO way to disobey God without the tree. It’s not like he built a staircase that they had to use every single day and said, “Thou shalt not step on the 4th step. The inspired writer James declared: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (1:13, emp. Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, … The Creation account of Genesis is one of the most sublime narrations recorded in the Bible. Man has continued in his endless search for ever more subtle, sophisticated, and convincing excuses that could set him free from his moral and/or spiritual responsibility. added). By locating this tree very close to the other tree, God reminded man that he had the freedom—and thus the option—to choose obedience over disobedience, life over death. Click To Tweet. I’ll answer that question in the next post! It didn’t initially appear as if the first one went through. Moreover, the Old Testament also uses trees as metaphors for the life that God gives, especially since trees remain perpetually green in the arid climate of the Middle East and thus, in a certain sense, “eternally alive” (Jer. Because there was a promised consequence for his actions, there also was the fear of enduring this terrible consequence. To partake of the tree would have been to seek not only the knowledge of good but also of evil. The Creator’s masterpiece is a harmonious symphony that delights our ears. If He did not know it then He was not wise, and if He knew it He was wicked (Alba, n.d., emp. What … Click To Tweet. It may simply be that God created the Tree of Life with the particular effects to help heal from the impact of aging that would lead to death (hence, living forever). [The truth is that if God is accused of our tragedies, errors, and corrupt actions, then man becomes “free” of his responsibility to God—and it is this freedom (or licentiousness) that many want to attain]. We are His beloved creation. But perhaps they will help you. “Out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. We don’t really know, but we can be sure that it didn’t have a 10-foot diameter. No. I was feeling down, and fluffy things are like opium for me. Adam, as has every man after him, enjoyed the free will that would allow him to choose to do right. I can hold her tightly, and prohibit her from using her free-will to escape, but it doesn’t facilitate a very loving relationship, and it’s not very satisfying. He gave Adam and Eve every reason to … Love can only be given freely. It's not like God said, 'Thou shall only eat broccoli, but the the chocolate, you may not eat. Something wonderful happens? He plans on creating a new proverbial “sterile” environment in the future. Freedom means that there is both choice, and responsibility.” God’s very nature mandated that He give Adam and Eve both choice and responsibility if his end-goal was a loving relationship! The argument about not knowing which God exists isn’t relevant here, since sentence 1 is required for the rest of the argument to work. He didn’t hide the consequences of eating the fruit. Now, approaching the subject as an atheist, I’ll attempt to share my thoughts on your final question. I could be mistaken here, so please correct me if I am, but it seems as if the objection you raised really does not offer any sort of defeater towards the defense made by Hillary. I still pull him out of the closet occasionally on insecure nights. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you think would be a better way to achieve the goal. If something made the fruit of this tree not ideal to eat, surely it had nothing to do with the nature of the tree itself (since everything God had created was “very good”), but instead had to do with God’s command and prohibition. Actually, the situation has not changed much since then. God also has no interest in forcing us to “act” like we love him. And here a dilemma is posed, either God did not know what was going to happen with this bothersome little tree, or if He did know, then why did He make the tree? Let’s say that we don’t want our kids to go outside. If a friendship ensued, I would support you and you would support me. The tree was planted by God in the Garden of Eden: “The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. The Tree Devotions. If this question has plagued you, you are not alone. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. For many, the question, “Why did God create this tree,” is unanswerable, since they cannot reconcile the idea of a benevolent God with the fact of the creation of something that resulted in man’s fall. God did not want robots, and he will not force His love on us. This boggles the mind! I wanted to snuggle with my cat. How big was the garden of Eden? However, I feel like regardless of the scenario, God will always get a pass. The Tree of Life stood in the centre of the Garden of Eden which elsewhere is called ‘ The Garden of the LORD ’.1 It was a real tree, to be sure, but let me suggest that it was also symbolic of the fact that God was, and is, the source of eternal life and blessing. Stating that God didn’t want a bunch of robots or that he won’t force you to love him or force his love on you does nothing to quell this cognitive dissonance. Who Made the Tree Good or Bad? He created it ALL and then did with what He created His own perfect intention and will. The argument is that if 1. there was a omnibenevolent God like the Bible teaches, then 2. evil shouldn’t exist, and 3. since evil does exist, 4. god does not want us to be curious for such things but we are so dull that we do not understand what god wants for us and therefore continuously make the wrong choices, that tree makes us blind spiritually. In spite of that, some still see the creation of this tree as a fundamental proof of God’s “dark side.” Yet we should not level such a charge against the God Who created a perfect world for man, endowed him with free will, and provided so much warning to keep man from sinning. While it may seem that God created it like this, that’s only a symptom of not knowing our history. For today, I will take some of his arguments and condense them into a kid-friendly version, with lots of concrete examples. He didn’t want to create robots. Very few of us reasoned our way into Christianity. Consider the child that has been subjected to unspeakable evil. Like I had the kids repeat: God is love. It is real. God didn’t trick Adam and Eve. I can pick my cat up and force her to snuggle with me like I did last night. "And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Because the tree was located in the midst of the garden, there was no way that man could eat of its fruit by mistaking it for another. If God Knew Adam and Eve would sin, why did He put the tree in the Garden of Eden in the first place. The truth of the matter is that love requires free will—and free will, for its consummation, requires the possibility that a choice one way or the other can be made. So, let me try to unpack that and explain how that is. You and I are engaged in a conversation. [Consider the fact that God likewise could have prohibited man from eating of the tree of life (alluded to in Genesis 2:9). 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