What Does the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Really Represent?

Genesis 2:16-17: “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.”

There are some who claim that the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents living by rules. Yet that is not true. The command to not eat from this tree was in itself a rule that Adam and Eve were bound to obey. Breaking this rule was the very thing which resulted in their spiritual deaths. Note that the serpent was enticing Eve to be a rule breaker rather than a rule keeper.

Genesis 3:4-5: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

The serpent was not being a friend to Eve. However, he acted very friendly and seemed to be greatly concerned for her well-being. That is how those who minister false gospels and false jesuses typically act. Many of the most deceitful people come across as being extremely, extremely nice people.

Along the same lines, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil could not represent true morality. The moral law of God is a reflection of God’s own morality. As with God Himself, the moral law existed before anyone and anything was ever created. In being made in God’s image, mankind is inherently bound to God’s moral law.

With those things established, Adam and Eve in their innocence were unaware of specifically how to express evil- besides by eating of the tree which the Lord had commanded them not to eat from. Adam and Eve were innocent when they were created. However, they were not virtuous, faithful worshipers of the true God. They could only be made so by continual choices to believe and obey Him. The Lord knows about evil from His omniscience. This knowledge does not corrupt Him. Man cannot handle the experiential knowledge of evil without great harm to himself.

Genesis 3:6-7: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.””

The serpent got to Adam through Eve. In Adam’s case, the wife which he had in God’s will became a snare to him because of her transgression. Since Eve had transgressed, Adam knew that he could not be with her anymore unless he transgressed too. Eve’s transgression left him in a position where he could not have his wife without choosing spiritual death for himself. Pathetically, he chose his wife and died.

After Adam and Eve fell by transgression, they became conscious of ways to break God’s moral law that they were unaware of before. This was not because God’s moral law had not existed beforehand nor because they had not been bound to it already. They knew that they needed clothing after they fell because their fallen souls were exposed to temptations which they had not been confronted with before.

In relation, those who justify public nudity are promoting evil. They discount the real consequences of sin being in the world which did not need to be accounted for before sin was actually in the world. It is seen later in Genesis chapter 3 that God had an animal killed to make better, more thorough clothing for Adam and Eve after they fell. To not thoroughly clothe oneself, and all those under one’s authority, is to practically tell a lie and make a mock of sin by acting as if evil is not present in the world.

Were Adam and Eve’s eyes opened when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Yes, but not in the way that the serpent said they would be open. They had not become divine. Their eyes were rather opened to expressions of evil which their previously innocent souls had not been aware of. Did they indeed die despite the serpent saying that they would not die? They surely did die. Their fellowship with their Creator and the joy of their pure state were taken from them.

The serpent’s assertion that Adam and Eve would be as gods by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil implied that they would each actually be as God (“Elohim”). Satan himself had been banished from heaven for aspiring to be like the Most High. In heeding the serpent, Adam and Eve didn’t become like God. They rather came under Satan’s dominion. The serpent basically told Eve that she could be like God in the sense she could govern herself and not need God to reign over her. That is blasphemous, vain, presumptuous, etc.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil does not represent choosing to live by God’s rules. It rather represents choosing to live by one’s own rules. In this context, that also includes choosing to live by rules made by others which conflict with the Bible’s rules.

Since God’s image is not totally destroyed in any person, the self-chosen morality of those who remain at enmity with Him inevitably does include things that coincide to one degree or another with God’s moral law. In relation, people also often like to borrow Biblical principles in certain areas in order to make their own lives better as they continue to basically refuse the true God’s authority over their lives. The solution to being rescued out of sin does not involve downplaying morality nor throwing away rules that align with Biblical morality in any way. As a man on earth, Jesus used the rules stated in God’s law to overcome Satan’s temptations. This proves that no one is above or beyond needing to do the same thing.

Does the Lord want people to follow His definition of good and evil as defined by the Bible’s whole counsel? Yes.

Isaiah 1:16-17: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

Does He want people to be very skilled in discerning good and evil in the midst of the complications of life? Yes. Through diligently seeking Him and consistently making right choices in His eyes that are in accordance with the knowledge which one already has concerning what He requires. Not by endeavoring to be autonomous and defining good and evil according to one’s own wisdom.

Isaiah 5:20-21: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

No one can even truly repent and walk in a living faith in Jesus Christ that saves from sin who does not wholeheartedly renounce living by their own rules in every area of their life in order to make a good faith effort to walk in truth as defined by the Bible. These will also gain greater insight into evil through becoming well acquainted with the good which doing evil in God’s eyes is opposed to.

Hebrews 5:14: “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

If morality is subjective, then anything could be justified through anyone’s arbitrary interpretation of morality. There can also be no absolute standard of morality without an absolute definitive, rightful authority. The greater the authority who is disregarded, the more unthinkable and egregious the offense.

Revelation 14:6-7: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

It is no wonder that many, both within and without churches, seek to separate Jesus Christ from the principles and requirements set forth in the Bible. That is utterly wrong. Satan continues to preach false grace, especially through false Christian ministers, in order to keep people in his service and to bring back those who have escaped from it (see 2 Peter 2:18-22).