Two Trees
Posted By on Saturday, June 04, 2016
“TWO TREES”
Dr. Wade E. Taylor
“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… And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:9, 16-17
The Lord placed man in a probationary environment so he could be tested. To accomplish this, two trees were placed in the midst of Adam’s daily activities as the means by which this testing could be accomplished - the “Tree of Life,” and the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
These two trees were diversely different in their intent and purpose. Adam was told to freely partake of the one; but he was forbidden to eat of the other.
The Tree of Life relates to the spiritual life that the Lord had breathed into Adam. In order to live, it was necessary for him to partake of the Tree of Life daily. This established his full dependence upon his Creator. The other, the Tree of Knowledge, related to his natural life, which afforded him the opportunity to become independent from God.
A description of the “Tree of Life” is found in Isaiah, chapter 53, which reveals that Jesus is the Tree of Life.
“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Isaiah 53:2
Jesus is seen by fallen mankind as being a “root out of a dry ground,” having no form or comeliness that would make Him desirable. The beauty of Jesus is within, and is recognizable only through redemption and revelation.
The “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” however, is quite different. It is pleasant to the eye and is not only edible as food, but tastes really good. In other words, the way of the flesh is attractive to every aspect of the fallen human makeup, whereas spirituality is uninviting.
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