Have you ever wondered why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was considered so bad? Didn’t the tree provide the knowledge of good as well as evil? Can’t you take what is good and discard the evil? As the saying goes, “Chew the meat and spit out the bones!” The scriptures shed a light on the mixture of good and evil.
Genesis 2: 8-9 “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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.” Genesis 2:15-17
While the tree of life represented ongoing fellowship with God and the fullness of His provision, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolized the choice to trust God’s wisdom or seek moral independence apart from Him. The tree of the Knowledge of good and evil represented a life that wants to have both- a life of mixture- that God wasn’t pleased with. We can’t have both.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil serves as a powerful analogy for many situations we face in life. We often need to discern the right course of action in challenging situations by examining God’s Word and seeking His heart. Scripture is very clear that when sin enters the life of a believer or a congregation, it must be dealt with radically and cannot be excused with the good we have done.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:29
Jesus declared that even lusting with the eyes is committing adultery in the heart. Although the eyes have a powerful function for the body, if they are defiled, God considers it better for a person not to fall into sin than to have eyes that lead them into evil. Good mixed with evil is not acceptable to the Lord!
In the case of Adam and Eve, the knowledge of good and evil was part of the very fabric of the tree and could not be separated. The good was contaminated with evil and could not exist independently. That is why the Lord didn’t want them to eat any fruit from that tree. The good was spoiled by evil!
When we are born again, we may sometimes think, “Now that I have salvation, I can just go back to my old way of life and live like we used to.” That is not true. If you have been walking with God for a period of time but your old ways, patterns of thinking, feelings, or actions have not changed much, it is time to examine them before the Lord.
In Matthew 9:16-17, Jesus said: “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.”
The old has to be put away, or there will be a mixture of the old life and the new life. God is not pleased with mixture, and our growth will be stunted, because the old life cannot handle the growth of the new life. The old must be done away with to allow the new life to take root and become established.
Is there a part of your old life you have been resistant to giving up? Meditate on the above scriptures and allow the Lord to highlight those areas in your life where good and evil are mixed.
Determine in your heart that you do not desire a mixture in your life. Ask Him to forgive you, and pray that His grace would give you the courage and faith to follow through with your decision today.
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