THE TALE OF TWO TREES
(Genesis 2:16-17; 3:22; 24; Revelation 22:2;14,19)
(Genesis 2:16-17; 3:22; 24; Revelation 22:2;14,19)
Dr. Paul Manuel—2015
When parents talk to their children, especially when giving them instructions, those parents may wonder if their children are actually paying attention.
In the beginning, when God created the earth and man,1 He placed our first parents in an idyllic setting, the Garden of Eden, where there was an ample food supply, with a variety of options:
I. Initially, the two trees had the same accessibility.
Before the Fall of man…
As it turns out, this is only the first of many such choices man will have to make, often with no reason other than the one God gave Israel with the Sabbath command:
The rationale for some commands is obvious, even when God gives no explicit reason that man should obey:
When Adam and Eve violated God’s one restriction, He had to put rigorous safeguards in place to prevent serious consequences:
II. Subsequently, the two trees had different accessibility.
After the Fall of man…
For many of the decisions you have to make, especially moral decisions, you know already (even automatically) the right course of action, so you have no excuse if you make the wrong choice. The saying, “Let your conscience be your guide,”10 is a good rule of thumb for many situations, but some decisions require more information to resolve them properly. Consequently, the better you know the whole counsel of God, the better equipped you will be for the many decisions you will face.
The tree of knowledge does not occur again in scripture after the creation account, man’s conscience now having been activated. Later references to the “tree of life” in the Old Testament (just four verses) are figurative and appear (all anarthrous and thus idealized) only in poetic literature to describe the advantages of godly living:
III. Finally, the one tree will have different accessibility.
After the New Creation…
Paul makes clear several times in his epistles that God is not finished with what He has planned:15
As John goes on to describe the role the tree of life will play in man’s final disposition, he says that…
If a person does not stay on the road to perfection but forsakes even what progress he has made, he will lose his salvation and more, and the tree will be part of the vetting process, because…
While you should not focus exclusively on the future, being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good,21 neither should you ignore the future, being so earthly minded that you are unprepared for your heavenly life. You must balance your expectation of future (heavenly) reward with your dedication to present (earthly) responsibility.
The tree of knowledge presents man with his first test in the new world, a test he will retake innumerable times thereafter with mixed results. The tree of life plays a role at both ends of the biblical record, thus providing a fitting inclusio to God’s program. Such is The Tale of Two Trees. While the initial part of the story, depicting man’s failure, is troubling, the final part of the story, anticipating (redeemed) man’s success, is uplifting, as it holds out hope for the people of God.
A mother was helping her son review his math while her daughter was in the next room. “You have seven dollars and seven friends.” she said. “You give a dollar to two of them but none to the others. What do you have left?” From the next room her daughter called out… “Two friends.”When parents talk to their children, especially when giving them instructions, those parents may wonder if their children are actually paying attention. When God first gave instructions to Adam and Eve, they were not paying attention, and they ignored some very important instructions.
The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:9)They could eat anything they wanted, any of the leaves, nuts, or fruit.2 He gave them only one restriction:3
The LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17)This is The Tale of those Two Trees. Note that…
I. Initially, the two trees had the same accessibility.
Before the Fall of man…
A. The tree of life was unrestricted.
B. The tree of knowledge was unrestricted.There was no fence blocking man from either tree. The only thing stopping him (or giving him pause) was God’s verbal prohibition:
You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. (Gen 2:17)Why would God impose this limitation? Why would God keep from man such important information as discerning the difference between right and wrong? Why would God put such information within reach of man only to deny it for him? Is not full disclosure up front the best policy? Surely man would need to make (other) moral choices in the new world order, and handicapping him would make those decisions unnecessarily difficult. But the author of Genesis does not say if God intended the restriction to be permanent or temporary.4 Perhaps He was just waiting to see if man would obey.5
As it turns out, this is only the first of many such choices man will have to make, often with no reason other than the one God gave Israel with the Sabbath command:
In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. (Exod 16:4b)At their heart, many commands are simply a “test” of man’s willingness to obey God.
The rationale for some commands is obvious, even when God gives no explicit reason that man should obey:
Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. (Lev 19:11)6Adherence to such precepts enhances social harmony. For other commands there is incentive attached:
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Deut 5:16)7Whether or not God attaches some inducement, though, His expectation is still the same: obedience to His ordinances. One does not need access to the tree of knowledge to understand and follow that most important principle. Is God expecting you to do something, or have you finally realized something He has been telling you for some time? Perhaps it is a command He wants you to obey or lifestyle He wants you to adopt. It could be a simple thing, like repairing a broken relationship or making a change in your diet. As with our first parents, God may not tell you why He wants you to obey; He may just wait to see if you will obey. Whatever it is, you should not wait for a reason. Obey God!
When Adam and Eve violated God’s one restriction, He had to put rigorous safeguards in place to prevent serious consequences:
The LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” …After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:22, 24)Evidently, eating from the tree of life, which they had not yet done, would have made permanent man’s imperfect condition.8 He would have been forever fallen. Nevertheless, despite God’s prohibition, despite the consequence of man’s action, he still chooses to disobey, and…
II. Subsequently, the two trees had different accessibility.
After the Fall of man…
A. The tree of knowledge remained unrestricted.The tree of life, which may be a metonymy (substitute) for eternal life, had limited access. It was no longer available to everyone, because “sin [had] entered the world…and death through sin” (Rom 5:12). Thankfully, God anticipated the problem and had a plan in place to rectify it: “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” (Rev 13:8b) The tree of knowledge, which may be a metonymy (substitute) for man’s conscience,9 continued to offer unrestricted access after the Fall, because “the requirements of the law are written on their hearts” (Rom 2:15a).
B. The tree of life became restricted.
For many of the decisions you have to make, especially moral decisions, you know already (even automatically) the right course of action, so you have no excuse if you make the wrong choice. The saying, “Let your conscience be your guide,”10 is a good rule of thumb for many situations, but some decisions require more information to resolve them properly. Consequently, the better you know the whole counsel of God, the better equipped you will be for the many decisions you will face.
The tree of knowledge does not occur again in scripture after the creation account, man’s conscience now having been activated. Later references to the “tree of life” in the Old Testament (just four verses) are figurative and appear (all anarthrous and thus idealized) only in poetic literature to describe the advantages of godly living:
[Wisdom] is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. (Prov 3:18)
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life…. (Prov 11:30a)
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Prov 13:12)
The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (Prov 15:4)The tree of life does not occur again in scripture until the last chapter of the last New Testament book (again, just four verses).
III. Finally, the one tree will have different accessibility.
After the New Creation…
A. The tree of life will still be restricted for the unrighteous.Chapter 22 of Revelation describes what life, eternal life, will be like in the New Jerusalem. The redeemed will be separate from the condemned, no longer troubled by their corrupting influence and free to enjoy uninterrupted their life with God.
B. The tree of life will still be unrestricted for the righteous.11
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev 22:15)As the author says earlier, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (21:4b).12 Yet what need is there in the new order of things for the tree of life,13 especially as the first reference in this chapter says that…
1. It will be curative (Rev 22:2).14
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2)If there is no more disease and death, what need is there for healing? The most likely interpretations vary only slightly and do not propose a change in man’s condition (subsequent to the elimination of the Fall’s detrimental affects in 21:4).
- According to one commentator, this verse refers to the elimination of disease rather than the curing of disease: “The healing leaves indicate the complete absence of physical and spiritual want. The life to come will be a life of abundance and perfection.” (Mounce 1977:287)
- According to another commentator, this verse refers to the company of the one who is perfect: “[T]he tree there represented the presence of God, which would impart eternal life to all who could enter it.” (Beale 1999:1107)
Paul makes clear several times in his epistles that God is not finished with what He has planned:15
- He is not finished with the nation, as Paul says, “all Israel will be saved.” (Rom 11:26)16
- He is not finished with the church, as Paul says, “[Christ will] present her to himself” (Eph 5:27a)
- He is not finished, period, as Paul says, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” (Phil 2:10)
As John goes on to describe the role the tree of life will play in man’s final disposition, he says that…
2. It will be completive (Rev 22:14).
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Rev 22:14)We tend to view salvation as a discrete act, which for the most part it is.17 Nevertheless, there are related aspects we do not immediately enjoy. The believer is a work in progress. As Paul writes about himself, “Not that I have already…been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil 3:12b).18 In this way, the final aspect of salvation will be completive.
If a person does not stay on the road to perfection but forsakes even what progress he has made, he will lose his salvation and more, and the tree will be part of the vetting process, because…
3. It will be corrective (Rev 22:19).
And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Rev 22:19)It is important to God that what He has revealed to us remain intact with us, so much so that the penalty for tampering with it is most extreme.19 It is important also to note that this warning is to the redeemed, to those who are saved, who have a “share in the tree of life.20 John assures this same group of their eternal security if they remain faithful to God:
He who overcomes…. I will never blot out his name from the book of life. (Rev 3:5a-b)The apostle offers no such assurance to those who might forsake their commitment. In this way, the final aspect of salvation will be corrective.
While you should not focus exclusively on the future, being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good,21 neither should you ignore the future, being so earthly minded that you are unprepared for your heavenly life. You must balance your expectation of future (heavenly) reward with your dedication to present (earthly) responsibility.
The tree of knowledge presents man with his first test in the new world, a test he will retake innumerable times thereafter with mixed results. The tree of life plays a role at both ends of the biblical record, thus providing a fitting inclusio to God’s program. Such is The Tale of Two Trees. While the initial part of the story, depicting man’s failure, is troubling, the final part of the story, anticipating (redeemed) man’s success, is uplifting, as it holds out hope for the people of God.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs