THE TREE OF DEATH
But there was another tree in the Garden, a very different tree. It was beautiful too, and its fruit looked very inviting, but it was a tree of death. The Bible calls it the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." God told Adam and Eve that they should not eat of it or touch it; for if they did, they would surely die.
Of course Adam and Eve could not know what it meant to die; for they saw that God had given life to all things, but He had never taken life away. And that was death. God gave them this tree to test them, to see whether they would obey him or not. If he had not given them such a test, they would have been just like babies, who cannot choose for themselves, but had to be guarded and cared for all the time. It would have been a very sad thing, wouldn't it, for Adam and Eve to always be like babies.
So God gives us tests today. For instance, He tells us what is good to eat and what is bad to eat. If we use what is bad, like whiskey and tobacco, which are poisons, it will bring death to us. And every boy and girl and every man and every woman who knows what God says, must do His commandments, or they will be eating of the fruit of the tree of deth.
So Adam and Eve went about their work in the Garden. And maybe it was many days and many months that they kept God's commandment. The Bible does not tell us how long it was, but they must have been good and happy for quite awhile. And Adam probably said to Eve, "Stay right with me, and don't go near the tree of death, for there is danger there."
Now Eve did not mean to leave Adam; but she got so interested in tending a bed of flowers and watching the hummingbirds and the bees visiting then flying away that she forgot, and kept following them until suddenly she found that Adam was not with her. And when she looked around, what should she discover but that she was right under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!
"Well," she thought, "I'll just look at it. That will not hurt anything." But as she looked, she thought she saw that it was a very fine tree, as pleasant to her eyes, maybe as the tree of life. And then there was fruit on it that looked very good to eat. And she never thought to stop and call Adam. She just kept on looking, and wondeing why God had told them not to eat the fruit when it seemed so good.
And then, suddenly, she was startled by a smooth voice coming from amid the branches of the tree. She looked and she looked, and what did she see? Why, there was the most beautiful creature that God had made, next to man. It had a beautiful body that gleamed like gold. It had great gauzy wings that enabled it to fly like the birds. Adam and Eve had often seen it, and perhaps it had come to them and they had petted it. Of course all the animals loved to be near Adam and Eve, and sometimes to be petted; but none of them, nor even this beautiful and wise creature, could ever talk to them in human speech.
That beautiful creature was the serpent; not like the snake we know today, but altogether diferent, the highest next to man. And now the serpent was talking to Eve. "Why!" thought Eve, "however did he learn to talk?"
"The serpent said, "Has God told you you could not eat of any tree in the Garden?"
"Oh no," said Eve. "We may eat of the fruit of every tree except this one; but God has said we should not eat of it, lest we die."
And the serpent said, "You shall not die. God knows that the minute you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be like God, knowing good and evil. Just see! I have eaten of it, and now I can talk, like you. You are very beautiful, Eve, but wouldn't you like to be very wise too? Just eat of this fruit, and you will be like God."
Poor Eve! The serpent deceived her, and she fell. She put out her hand and took the fruit the serpent had picked for her. It felt good. She smelled it, and it smelled good. Then she took just a little bite, and it tasted good.
"Now," said the serpent, "see! You have eaten of it, and you are not dead. Eat some more."
"Oh," said Eve. "I must take it to my husband." And she ran with some of the fruit in her hands, and found Adam. "See!" she cried, "I have eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and I didn't die. Adam, the serpent can talk because he has eaten of it. He says that if we eat of it, we shall be like God, knowing good and evil."
Adam was stricken to the heart. He knew that what God had said was true. But here was Eve, his lovely wife, who had disobeyed and eaten of the forbidden fruit. He made up his mind that he would die with her if she must die. So he took the fruit and ate it. Together they ate the fruit of the tree of death. And they must die!
CAST OUT
At first, after they had eaten of the fruit of the tree of death, Adam and Eve had thought they felt better. But in a few moments they began to feel bad. They had been clothed in garments of soft light, which John in Revelation calls the righteousness of the saints. Because in the beginning they had been innocent and good and righteous, their faces and their bodies shone with the light of God, more beautiful than any garments man can make. But now it was slowly disappearing, because they had lost the righteousness. More and more it faded, until they found themselves naked, without any covering.
In terrible fear they ran into a thicket, and plucking some leaves from a fig tree, they fastened them together by their stems, and made aprons for themselves. But, oh, how changed they were! No longer happy looks, but anxious faces. No longer the soft light of God clothing them, but draggled aprons of wilted leaves. The day moved on to the evening, and the air was chill.
Soon they heard the voice of God in the garden, calling, calling. How happy had they been before to hear that lovely voice! But now they shrank in fear, and hid. And God called, "Where are you?"
Seeing they could not be hid from the eye of God, they crept forth, and Adam answered, "I heard your voice in the Garden, and I was afgraid because I was naked, and I hid myself."
And God said, "Naked! Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I told you that you should not eat?"
Adam trembled. Now his terrible sin was before him, and he could not face it. He said, "The woman You gave me, she gave me of the tree and I ate."
"What is this you have done?" God asked Eve.
And Eve, like Adam, tried to throw the blame on someone else. She said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Then God said to the serpent; "Because you have done this, you shall crawl on the ground.
Then God said to Eve, "You shall have much sorrow. And you shall depend on your husband, and he shall rule over you."
And he said to Adam; "Because you have disobeyed, the ground which has brought forth food for you is cursed. Thorns and thistles it will bring forth. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground. For out of the dust you were made, and to dust you shall return. Dying, you shall die."
So the Lord God sent the man and the woman out of their Garden home, and probably the serpent with them. God shut the gates of Eden, and placed their cherubim, or angels, with a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life, so that no man might come to it anymore.
Sorrowful, sorrowful were Adam and Eve as they left the Garden and went out on earth. How changed it was! While still more beautiful than anything we see today, it had the seeds of death in everything. The leaves faded and fell. The birds and the animals fought among themselves. Some of them grew very wild, and turned upon their kind and killed and ate them. And the plants themselves fought for first and higher place. Some of them made thorns and thistles, and all of them struggled against the other.
Adam and Eve tried to help the good ones. They kept the seeds of the good plants and sowed and cultivated their little gardens. And they took god care of the beasts, and defended them against their enemies. They were very sorry for the wrong they had done. They did not die at once, but they knew that death awaited them. How could any good come out of all this evil? Oh, God was good, and He made a way.
: )
Remember Jesus loves you
1|1|Thank you!|Skaytes|skaytez@gmail.com|06:31:48|03/30/2010|
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