What Trees Can Teach Us About God and His KingdomSample

A special tree

Genesis 2 tells us in more detail how God created a beautiful garden where the first humans could live. This garden was richly filled with all kinds of trees that were beautiful to the eyes, and provided Adam and Eve with food. But from one special tree they were not allowed to eat. This tree was called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.

Not eating from this tree was the test of Adam and Eve’s obedience to God. They didn’t need the fruit of this tree at all, since there was an abundance of fruits around them. And the warning was clear, eating of this tree would cause death. There was no reason whatsoever to try it!

And yet… one chapter later we read that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. They believed the lies of a serpent instead of God’s words, and wanted to be “like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:15, ESV). These first humans failed the test. They chose to eat of the forbidden tree, and thus disobeyed their Creator. In a way, Adam and Eve got what they wanted: they had experienced ‘good’, and now got to know ‘evil’ by experience. But the consequences were dreadful: from that moment on, sin and death entered God’s good creation.

Do you know where sin and death came from?