Prelude to the Fall – Genesis chapter 2, verses 8 to 17
9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ….16 And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’
Genesis 2:9 & 16-17 New International Version – UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Parents want to lavish good gifts on their children. They also give them prohibitions, rules for their good.
God’s gracious and bountiful provision, 8-14. A garden in the east, with all he needed. Food that sustains and delights, a river, and beauty all around.
The tree of life. An everlasting life of delight with God for those who obey his commandments. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A good tree, beautiful and good to eat. They were innocent, already knowing good by experience, but evil only in theory.
Man’s Worship, V15 – Work was not a command. Not slaves of the gods as the pagan creation stories put it. Man was to be God’s Lord of the Earth.
God’s Command and Warning, 16-17
- To man, as the head under God. (Note: Eve ate first, but death came when Adam willfully ate).
- Positive first, “you may eat of any tree”, then the prohibition. “You may not eat of that tree”.
- The possibility of evil. True love is shown by obedient choice. God gave them abundant reasons to obey.
One tree doomed mankind, but another tree redeemed him.