What is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Before we begin with the study, let us take a quick detour to better comprehend what we are about to read. There is a Scripture in the Bible which states that we should put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things.
This brings to mind something Jesus said:
Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Tell me friend ... If we are to put away childish things, how can we become as a child as to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Perhaps the answer is within the next verse:
Matthew 18:4
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
It appears that it is the humility within the child within us, that
God seeks to bring forth.
Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is
humility.
Let's look at the whole story of what Jesus said about the little
child we are to bring forth.
Matthew 18:2-4
2 And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in
the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you,
Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Note: Keep in mind what Jesus told us of the Spiritual Realm:
Luke 17:21
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
Kingdom of God is within you.
To learn more check out the Kingdom of Heaven study sometime:
Jesus continues:
The Tree of Knowledge and the Inner Child
Matthew 18:5-9
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name
receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must
needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence
cometh!
8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them
off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into
life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be
cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it
from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye,
rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Jesus now seems to be talking about the child within us being hurt by
someone and a warning is issued by Jesus to those who do so. In fact,
it goes on to speak of physical parts that should be removed from us
before we should hurt the inner child of another ... So, Jesus is
talking about physically or Spiritually abusing the little child
within another person.
Matthew 18:10
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say
unto you, That in Heaven their Angels do always behold the face of
my Father which is in Heaven.
Each inner child has an Angel. That means you. Is that cool or what? And when it says these Guardian Angels behold God's face, it sounds like when Angels stand in line to talk with God as we read about in the book of Job and they report to God on the condition of each inner child.
Job 1:6
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
Job 2:1
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself
before the Lord.
Jesus continues:
Matthew 18:11-14
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one
of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and
goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he
rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went
not astray.
14 Even so it is not the Will of your Father which is in
Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Suddenly we are talking about lost souls ... We see by the last
sentence that Jesus is still talking about the little child that we
must bring forth as to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So these inner
children are as lost souls that must be brought forth.
So what else does it mean to be "as a child?"
Let me give you one example. When we were a child of 2 or 3, when
we were finished being bathed, we would jump out and run around naked
as a Blue Jay, singing ... Roadrunner, if she catches you, you're
through,
while our Mom chased us around with a towel (or a wooden
spoon, depending on your mom's style) ...
We did not know that we were naked in the sense that most do. Kind of like Adam and Eve before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge
between Good and evil.
Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
What is the Tree of Knowledge Story About?
But, when Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree that would make them know the difference between good and evil ... They changed from within. And now, because of their choice, we have the sin within us. We are now capable of knowing the difference between good and evil. God has always given mankind free will. See the Free Will Study to learn more sometime:
Let me share the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Bible story with you, so that you can feel the message. God created a garden for Adam and Eve and gave a simple rule:
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou
shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die.
God allowed Adam and Eve to eat from every tree but asked that they
not eat from this particular tree.
Genesis 3:1-3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die.
But, as it is with us now, the enemy of our soul comes a calling and
asks us to go against what we know within, is righteous and from
God.
Genesis 3:4-6
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely
die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
What is the Tree of Knowledge Warning?
First off, Adam and Eve had eternal life and after their choice, they were then able to die. So, the Lord shared Truth and as usual, the enemy of our soul ... Lied. But, he did say something that was correct, when he said that the day they eat the forbidden fruit their eyes would be opened. He just forgot to mention what they would see and how it would negatively affect the innocent child within.
Genesis 3:7-8
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
What used to be an awesome visit from their Creator became very frightening, as they knew they were guilty of disobedience. They suddenly knew the difference between good and evil. How did they suddenly know? Let that be the reason the Tree is called the tree of Knowledge.
Genesis 3:9-10
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was
afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
They suddenly knew that they were naked, when they did not
know before.
Genesis 3:11
And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of
the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
In like manner we now live in shame and fear when we sin.
We become aware of our sin being present within us and we try so very hard to bury it, but it just keeps coming back to our mind. We sometimes feel that because nobody knows the sin within, that even though some may see us as being Christian by many of our words and deeds, secretly we believe we are not worthy of being a Christian and are encaged in our own Spiritual prison.
But, we now have the ability to reach out for Grace by simply repenting. God wants that little child within to be free from the sin of knowing, because two souls long ago ate from a tree that gave us all the ability to know the difference between good and evil.
The reason most cannot be free is because they hold sin. Pride, guilt, anger, jealousy, lust, greed, fear and depression are the fruits of holding onto sin. These are Spiritual reactions to our thoughts and are usually our reactions. Free yourselves ... Take the sin and confess it to your Lord and repent. Do this every day. Ask that even secret sins be removed.
Psalms 90:8
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
What is the Tree of Knowledge Bible Summary
Remember that our ancestors ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We now have this within us. But, it said we know the knowledge of good and evil. So if you repent, then you will know that you have done that which is deemed as good and you will be set free because you know. Set that inner child free and the Holy Spirit will strengthen the inner child:
Ephesians 3:16
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
What is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Bible message? It is to free the inner child of the sin curse by repenting, being forgiven and forgiving yourself so the inner child can run around stripped of the sin, not allowing the enemy to capture you, while singing:
Roadrunner, if he catches you, you're through.
