Three Trees, a Curse, and a Blessing

The fall and the depravity of man started with a choice; one simple choice that changed the eternal fate for
the rest of the posterity of mankind. This choice had to do with choosing to do right or choosing to do
wrong. Most people today who are outside of the grace of God will most times do wrong—they will always
do wrong when it comes to spiritual matters. Most today find themselves faced with a number of choices
that seem almost impossible for them to decide which is right and which is wrong; and no thanks to society
who tell people that it is okay for them to follow the wicked desires of their own evil natures. But what if
the choices were clear cut and direct? What if all the choices were dwindled down to only one command?
“You shall not eat.”

This was the very circumstance that Adam was placed in. He only had one command that needed to be
obeyed. There were no other prohibitions that might have skewed his thoughts or caused him to think that
maybe it was wrong, but maybe it was right. There were no other choices that had to be made; no other
laws to be considered. It was just this one! God had clearly laid the commandment, as well as the
consequences, before Adam and his bride:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
die." (Gen 2:16-17).

Now, one might be tempted to think it easy to keep just one commandment. But our human natures are evil
and the very thing that is forbidden will be that one thing that will be most tempting to us. Tell a child he
cannot have a cookie until he eats his vegetables and see which one he will cram in his mouth first. For that
matter, tell an adult what he can and cannot do and that rebellious nature will most assuredly come to life
and override all other common sense; and all this just to prove that he can do as he pleases and no one, not
even the proper authority will stop him if this be his real desire.

Grant it that Adam did not have the depraved nature until after the fall we see that with a little coaxing from
an outside force that the prohibited desires spring to life. It takes very little convince a person that he really
needs something. Even if the consequences are dire our natures will tell us to gratify ourselves now and
worry about the due penalty later. The interesting thing about this situation is that one can be almost certain
that disobeying God may have never even crossed the minds of the first parents until the serpent arrived on
the scene to twist and corrupt the minds of his enemy. This is the very character of Satan. In John 8:44
Jesus attributes to Satan three different characteristics: (1) Lies are his very character, or as the NIV
translates, “His native language.” Every time Satan speaks he lies. He cannot tell the truth about anything
for that is who he is. (2) He is a murderer. Satan has been planning the murder of the human race ever since
his defeat and his being cast from God’s presence. He hates God, God’s people, and the human race in
general. He will do everything in his power to kill and destroy us. (3) He has been this way from the
beginning. By the time Jesus became incarnate and spoke these words it had been several thousand years
since the Fall. Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees in this text but His main point was that if Satan
had not changed his tactics in several thousand years he would certainly not change them now. His only
goal was to lie, kill, and steal. The same was true in Jesus’ time and the same is true today.

Satan entered the Garden with the purpose of defeating God. But little did Satan know that he was a
defeated foe long before God ever created him. This is where we pick up the text of Genesis 3.

In Genesis 3 there exist for the first time a choice of obeying the voice of God and obeying the voice of
Satan. We obviously know the outcome for all one needs to do is look out his front window and see the
results of that choice. The pain, the death, and the diseases that plague all mankind is a horrible reality and
we are told that the entire earth groans in expectation of being redeemed. Adam’s choice not only brought a
curse to man himself but to the earth as well. I would like to focus attention, not so much on the curse, but
on the parallels of the two trees that were present as well as the third tree, which was only present in
promise but not yet made a reality.
 A. The Tree of knowledge of good and evil / The Tree of Life
In the second chapter it is revealed that there were actually two trees in the middle of the Garden. The
second being the Tree of life:

And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good
for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(Gen
2:9)

It is interesting indeed that God would place the two trees before them. Here, they would directly be placed
with the choice of eating that which held eternal life or that which would cause death. God had purposely
placed this choice right in front of their faces. What conclusions then can we draw from this? There are two
parallels that I would like to point to.

First, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents man’s wisdom and the Tree of Life represents
God’s wisdom. Man has always been endowed with intelligence from his Creator. But it is when he allows
this intelligence to be the guiding factor in all areas of life that problems arise. Romans 1 records for us
what happens when man becomes the ultimate authority of his own fate:

Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Ro 1:22)

Within this context we see that man though himself so wise and intelligent that he no longer needed to
worship God. He decided to give up worship of God for the worship of four-footed creatures. He sough
wisdom but instead became a fool. It is interesting to note that the word ‘fool’ is the Greek word from
which we derive our word ‘moron.’ A moron is someone who, despite knowing truth, refuses to believe or
act upon that truth. These morons in Romans 1 were the same way. They changed the truth of God for a lie,
and they did it gladly and without a second thought. Man’s wisdom is really no wisdom at all and we are
told so from Scripture in a number of different ways. There are two that would suffice for the illustration:

1. Man’s wisest thoughts are God’s lowest thoughts.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
(1Co 1:25)

Paul is not obviously stating that God is foolish. He is using a metaphor to these Gentile
believers that no matter how wise they think they can become God is always wiser. In fact,
God is so wise that His lowest of thoughts (which would be considered foolishness to the
Greeks) was even more wise than their highest thoughts (‘high’ being things such as
philosophy and the like). The Gentiles seemed to have a real problem, as do we that nothing
could be done as to obtain salvation on their own. They were looking for something that had
the appearance of wisdom, but Paul plainly explains to them that it is the very foolish things
to which God makes known His salvation. This salvation came through the cross. But the
cross is a stumbling block. It is a stumbling block because it represents the worst of deaths,
and no one could possibly choose this way as a way of salvation. Yet we are commanded to
“Look and live,” just as Moses commanded the children of Israel to look up to the bronze
serpent upon the pole so that God might heal the wound received from the plague of serpents
He had brought upon them. If it is this simple why do we always seek another way? Why do
we constantly strive to “help” God in our salvation? We have in mind to do as much good as
we possibly can so that God will be pleased with us. We wear ourselves thin trying to impress
God with our own righteousness. But is all foolishness! The only thing that needs to be done
is to look to the cross for our salvation for we are told firmly in Scripture, Salvation belongs
to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

2. Man’ wisdom produces selfish ambition and is called demonic.

 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false
to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual,
demonic. (Jas 3:14-15)

James describes that wisdom which is from man in one word: demonic! How is it that
something like wisdom be demonic? It is because it has its source from Satan himself. Think
back to the tree and remember the words Satan used to deceive Eve: “God knows your eyes
will be opened.” Eve’s eyes were certainly open, only not the way that Satan had told her they
would be opened. Eve came to know what good and evil was experientially. This was not at
all God’s intention for them to come to this knowledge. Yet Satan was crafty and knew where
to strike. His wisdom caused death to all. Today, Satan tempts sore those who rely on their
own wisdom. He gives to them the “knowledge” of good and evil, so to speak. His wisdom
produces pride, which in turn produces self-superiority, which in turn produces quarrellings,
and in the end kills other men who are created in the image of God. Not one bit of wisdom
that he offers is sound. His is that which is totally opposite of the wisdom of God, and this is
why James can say that the wisdom of men is demonic.

What else can we reckon the two trees as?

Second, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the cursed state of destruction whereas the
Tree of Life represents the blessedness of eternal life. God’s clear command to Adam and Eve was the
promise of death upon passing the forbidden fruit through their lips.

In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Gen 2:17)

“Dying, you will die,” is the literal translation of the Greek Septuagint. God was serious about the business
of obeying Him. He promised death and death is what they would receive. Of course there are two kinds of
death being spoken of by God.

1. A physical death. The moment they ate the fruit their physical bodies began to break down.
God had created them with perfect and whole bodies; bodies without disease or weakness;
bodies without sickness or corruption. Now, the former things had passed upon the violation
of God’s commands and the perfect had become imperfect. This is the current state of all
living things. We are prone and subject to sickness and disease. Because of the curse of sin
our bodies are literally rotting from the inside out. Age takes its toll upon the internal and
external organs and appendages of men. None can escape the consequences of our father’s
first choice.

2. A spiritual death. More so than the physical is most assuredly the spiritual. The spiritual life
is more important and far outweighs anything in the physical realm. God certainly had it in
mind a spiritual death when He warned Adam and Eve of the consequences. What is death but
separation? Physical death is separation of the soul from its compartment, the body, whereas
spiritual death is the separation of the soul from its Creator, God. It is a peculiar word that is
used in the Septuagint to express this death. As already stated, it can be used to convey the
idea of both physical and spiritual death. But the curiosity comes in the fact that the death is
one that is deserving. The same word is used by the crowds when they wanted to crucify
Jesus. The shouted that He was worthy of death, meaning that His so called crime should be
punished by death. It is also used in Exodus at the giving of God’s holy law that certain
penalties could only be resolved by the death of the individual. What God is in essence telling
Adam and Eve is that breaking of their actions is worthy of death; the only way to resolve
their disobedience would be death. Most people have a real problem with this. They gripe that
the penalty God laid upon them was too severe for the crime. They accuse God of being
unjust and that even the strictest of judges today would never impose such a sentence. What
we must try to keep in mind here is not necessarily the nature of the crime but rather the
 consequences that would ensue as a result of the crime. God had created a world of order and
goodness. Not one thing had been misplaced. The fact that God saw everything that he had
made, and behold, it was very good is an attestation to the fact that there was no chaos
breaking loose from the creation to wander on its own. The chaos was produced as a result of
a failing choice. Not only did this choice throw all of creation into a mortified state, but the
results would continue on and never stop until such a time as God’s plan of redemption would
be accomplished. Adam and Eve’s choice would bring death, misery, and destruction to
creation itself as well as every human being that would ever be born. This one selfish act
would cause more people (namely the entire human race) to be separated from God than any
other choice that would ever be made. In short, Adam and Eve were responsible for sending
countless of millions of souls to separation from God in eternal Hell. That is why the penalty
had to be so severe!

B. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil/The Cross

There is one more set of parallels that I would like to point to and it is very noteworthy to point out. These
are the parallels of the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and the Cross. Both trees are a central focus in
God’s plan on redemption. One was the beginning of the curse; the other the redemption from the curse.
One brought sin; the other brought righteousness. So these parallels are important and give us insight into
the mind and heart of God.

1. The first tree brought a curse. The cross brought a blessing. We pointed out that
Adam’s decision brought a curse for all mankind and that the only suitable penalty could
have been death. But more than this Adam’s decision would be that which brought
physical death for the Prince of all Glory, Jesus Christ. We are told two specific things in
Scripture regarding the connection of the Curse with the death of our beloved Savior: (1.)
He became a curse for us (Gal 3:13). Christ became cursed for our sakes. It was for us
that He willingly hung and bled and died in a cursed way. To the Jews, being hung on a
tree in any fashion was considered being cursed by God. Those who were executed in this
fashion were seen as being forsaken by God. We can see this in Jesus’ cry from the cross,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” As a matter of fact, it was so
despicable to be hung upon a tree in execution that the bodies of those misfortunate souls
would be cut down before the sunset. This is seen in Moses’ second giving of the law
before Israel enters the promised land:

"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you
hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him
the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the
LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.(Deut 21:22-23).

This was the death that was despised worse than anything. God told Israel that the leaving
of a body overnight on a tree would defile the land. Christ died the unthinkable death in
order to secure our righteousness. He endured sham and the humility that common
thieves deserve. But surely God had in mind the death of His beloved Son when giving
these instructions to Moses. Surely He knew what the ultimate end of this command
would produce through the cross. (2.) He became sin for us. The perfect and spotless
Lamb of God became undefiled became defiled (in a sense) for us. He took upon our sin
having none of His own:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God. (2Cor 5:21)
 Christ bore our sin so that we may not have to experience the death of sin. He was
separated from the Father for a time so that we may not have to be separated from Him
for eternity. This truth is brought out in the Old Testament archetype of the scapegoat.

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all
the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he
shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of
a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote
area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. (Lev 16:21-22)

The Jews’ custom was to take two goats and cast lots for them. The goat to which the lot
fell would be the goat that was sacrifices as a sin offering to make atonement for the
people. But the death was not enough. The sin of the people not only had to be atoned for
but also bared by the innocence of another. This would be the fate of the live goat. The
priest would place hands upon the goat’s head and confess his and the nation’s sins,
thereby signifying that the guilt was transferred from the guilty to the innocent. The
scapegoat would then be released into the wilderness, a remote area, to bear sin. This was
indeed accomplished by Christ. He bore the sins of many and had to bear them alone. No
one else could do it, and thus causing Christ to be remotely cut off for a time from the
Father and the people of God. What blessedness has resulted from the cross! Without its
curse we who have been redeemed would still be under the curse. And so the first tree
was a curse and the second, the cross, was a blessing.

2. The fruit of the first tree was forbidden by God to be eaten. The fruit of the cross is
commanded by God to be eaten. Because the fruit of the cross is the only source of
eternal life for all men then it should be no surprise that all men are commanded to repent
and believe in Christ through His death on the cross. Jesus’ own command for the Jews
was to take of His flesh. In the gospel of John we are told,

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks
my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.(Joh 6:53-54)

This was a difficult thing for many of Jesus’ followers to digest. They took Jesus as
saying that one must practically commit cannibalism in order to have eternal life. But
they missed His entire point. He had just explained to them the concept of manna, which
was the miracle that God had used to fee Israel in the wilderness. Just as the manna came
down from Heaven and nourished the physical bodies of those who ingested it, so the Son
of God descended from Heaven (sent by the Father, just as He sent the manna) for the
purpose of the nourishment of the soul. The crowd could not comprehend this spiritual
truth and so at the end of chapter six of the gospel of John you read that many, not a few,
but many of His disciples left Him and followed Him no more. They were more
interested in the physical bread than the Spiritual bread which brings life everlasting. This
is why Christ signified this as He ate the Passover for the last time with His inner twelve.
He broke the bread, symbolizing His body which was going to be broken for them and
commanded them to eat it. And He did likewise with the wine, telling them that it
represented His blood which would be poured out. In the same way, only those who eat
and drink of the fruit of the cross can have eternal life.

3. The fruit of the first tree alienated man from God. The cross reconciles man to God.
Adam’s choice caused Him to be kicked out of the Garden of Eden. But the penalty was
much more serious than it may appear. Being banished from the Paradise meant being
banished from God’s presence for we read that it was here that God walked in the cool of
the day to meet with the man. And not only that, God set His cherubim at the entrance
 armed with flaming swords so that no one would ever enter it again. But why all this fuss
over a garden? Why not simply let the man deal with his own consequences by keeping
him in the garden and instituting the rest of the curses? The answer should be quite
obvious. The Garden was in a perfect condition. It represented God’s perfect order of
creation. In this perfection was where God dwelt. It was his holy meeting place with the
couple. Just as God is said to have dwelled between the cherubim which covered the ark
of the covenant, so He dwelt and walked among the man and the woman in the Garden.
Likewise, just as no man could approach God’s dwelling place in his sinful state without
being put to death, so man had to be forbidden to come back to the Garden lest he die. If
this were not so then there would have been no need to, first of all eject the man from it,
and second of all to keep man completely out of it. But the cross is a totally different
story. This tree beckons men to come into the presence of God that they may once again
enjoy fellowship with God. Reconciliation is now possible with the Creator and the
cherubim with the fearful flaming swords have been commanded to step aside and allow
those who have been washed in the blood to enter into the awesome throne room of the
Father. Because Christ died once for the sinner, now the sinner no longer has to die twice
for his sin. The tree that was intended to be the curse of all curses has indeed been
transformed into the greatest blessing that an individual could ever receive.

Yes, the curse is still in effect for mankind today. Man is desperately lost and groping about in darkness to
find an anchor that he may firmly grasp. In all his wisdom and intelligence he clings to that which only
promises death. His curse is that he wishes to overlook the second tree which curse was turned into a
blessing for him. And as long as he considers his own wisdom to suffice him he shall always remain under
the curse of the first tree rather than being overshadowed by the blessing of the second tree; the tree that
contains the life-giving blood of the spotless Lamb of God.