The Two Trees

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil images the way of qualifying through our own efforts under the law. The Tree of Life images Jesus and total reliance on His merits that come to us by faith alone. Yet, some still insist the law is the path to life. It is a path, sure enough, but not to anything good.

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This topic has been staring everyone in the face now for millennia. It is right there in the earliest commentary of Genesis, in plain sight, overlooked, ignored by generations. Recorded and presented through typology regarding perhaps the greatest deception that exists. It is the contrast between law and faith. A law of faith versus a law whose fruit is death. All represented by two trees in the garden of Eden.

There was a tree of Life and a tree of death, curiously titled 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil'. No one seems to ask the important questions:
“What does this tree represent, topologically”
“What does the other Tree of Life represent?”

"How is it, after God’s explicit command that Adam and Eve must not eat of its fruit or even so much as touch the tree, did they so readily decide to do so?"

(Matthew 13:35)  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

(Revelation 13:8) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the dragon; v4], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The sin of Adam and Eve was reflected, through typology, by their nakedness and unwillingness to come before God. God in turn covered their nakedness with the skins of animals. Dwell a moment on that. Animals were sacrificed in order to ‘cover their sins’ even as the sacrifices in the law were a temporary covering of sins that could not forgive sins. This was a form of a “stay of execution”; a temporary respite from the death penalty imposed on them for having disobeyed God - but with one interesting departure which carnal people overlook: their motive for having partaken of that tree and its forbidden fruit.

This is not to overlook what God said regarding how they would, in the day they partook of that fruit, they would die, for there was indeed a death; a spiritual death.

(Ephesians 2:1-6) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The choice between the two trees is the same choice today, between the law, represented by that tree of death, and faith in the author of Life, represented by that Tree of Life. Access to the Tree of Life had been cut off, which was the price of disobeying God and abandoning faith in Him, but access is now being reopened as a result of the perfect sacrifice for sin and man’s reconciliation with God.

How do you get people to choose that which condemns over that which saves from condemnation? This question - and an observation of what happened in Eden, and what happened at Sinai, and what happened when Jesus arrived, and what presently happens today - is a testament to just how susceptible mankind is to deceptions. For there could hardly be a broader spectrum between the law that kills - the law that produces wrath; the law that makes all guilty before God - and the God Himself that rescues mankind from the ravages of his own sins, and from the law they embrace which condemns them to death for their sins, due to the wiles of that serpent, the devil.

Why do people still choose the law? Why do people still opt for the law that admittedly condemns sinners, where all have sinned?

They, like Eve, were convinced there was something to be gained by partaking of that fruit of the tree that represents the law, and it boils down to ego… a desire to sate the flesh and mind. It is like a rat-trap with pride as the bait. In order to acquire what is offered, all you have to do is not set off the trap; don’t sin! But we have all sinned already. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. With no concept of the pervasiveness of sin that encompasses the fleshly desires of the mind which, being a carnal mind, desires to elevate the self above others; to gain bragging rights that glorify the self, while castigating others who do not measure up to their elevated status; vainly imagining they are something to look up to and that they can and have achieved their lofty status based on their own efforts and merits. So strong is the pull of the flesh and mind that they are willing to risk the death demanded by the law against sinners, where they raise themselves up as having conquered sin by "keeping" the law so as to qualify for a greater position, role, and status in the kingdom of God.

There is a glorification of the self, not unlike what God revealed to be the sin of Satan, who sought to elevate himself and be like God is God. Law-keeping is an attempt to do the same; to elevate the self; to become “perfect” and sinless as a result of your own efforts. And like the devil, they seek to try and convince others to join them in their vain attempt at transforming themselves into superior beings. Wouldn’t it be ironic if a third of mankind followed this path to their own destruction.

The law is designed to ‘weed out’ those with a love of their own selves and a hatred of others that refuse to do as they do. The Pharisees and other ‘religious people’ of Israel hated Jesus and the Father in heaven, replacing their dedication to God with a dedication to law; viewing the law as ‘giving them an advantage’ they otherwise would not have among men. They saw it as a pathway to being superior to others, and the bragging rights that goes with it. God is relegated to the back pocket, to be presented whenever they need forgiveness for failing miserably at the game of law-keeping.

(John 7:49) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

This was the view of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin - that no one knew the law like they did, and the ignorant masses were accursed. Those following the very Lawgiver “didn’t know the law” and didn’t keep the law according to their dictates and interpretations. The ignorant didn’t keep the law and were cursed as a result, and it was their job as the administrators of the law to see they were punished. They thought they knew the law - they thought they were the law - yet they neglected the weightier matters of the law.

It isn't those who are unfamiliar with the law who are cursed, it's those who don't understand the Messiah.

How is the behavior of the Pharisees any different than the condemnation you see spewed out by Adventists and other Sabbatarians, like Armstrongism, against those who have left their groups and headed out the exits? They discovered "keeping" the law was not following Christ Jesus; the Way, the Truth, and the “Tree of Life”.

Also see:
Two Trees - Two Covenants

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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