The Knowledge of Good and Evil
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Though created innocent and holy, our first parents were not placed beyond
the possibility of wrong-doing. God might have created them without the
power to transgress His requirements, but in that case there could have
been
no development of character; their service would not have been voluntary,
but forced. Therefore He gave them the power of choice--the power to yield
or to withhold obedience. And before they could receive in fullness the
blessings He desired to impart, their love and loyalty must be tested.
In the Garden of Eden was the "tree of knowledge of good and evil. . . .
And
the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat." Genesis 2:9-17. It was the will of God that Adam and Eve
should not know evil. The knowledge of good had been freely given them;
but
the knowledge of evil,--of sin and its results, of wearing toil, of
anxious
care, of disappointment and grief, of pain and death,--this was in love
withheld.
While God was seeking man's good, Satan was seeking
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his ruin. When Eve, disregarding the Lord's admonition concerning the
forbidden tree, ventured to approach it, she came in contact with her foe.
Her interest and curiosity having been awakened, Satan proceeded to deny
God's word, and to insinuate distrust of His wisdom and goodness. To the
woman's statement concerning the tree of knowledge, "God hath said, Ye
shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die," the tempter made
answer, "Ye shall not surely die: 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." Genesis 3:3-5.
Satan desired to make it appear that this knowledge of good mingled with
evil would be a blessing, and that in forbidding them to take of the fruit
of the tree, God was withholding great good. He urged that it was because
of
its wonderful properties for imparting wisdom and power that God had
forbidden them to taste it, that He was thus seeking to prevent them from
reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness. He declared
that he himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had
acquired the power of speech; and that if they also would eat of it, they
would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence and enter a broader
field
of knowledge.
While Satan claimed to have received great good by eating of the forbidden
tree, he did not let it appear that by transgression he had become an
outcast from heaven. Here was falsehood, so concealed under a covering of
apparent truth that Eve, infatuated, flattered, beguiled, did not discern
the deception. She coveted what God had forbidden; she distrusted His
wisdom. She cast away faith, the key of knowledge.
25
When Eve 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." It was grateful to the taste, and, as she ate, she
seemed to feel a vivifying power, and imagined herself entering upon a
higher state of existence. Having herself transgressed, she became a
tempter
to her husband, "and he did eat." Genesis 3:6.
"Your eyes shall be opened," the enemy had said; "ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5. Their eyes were indeed opened; but
how
sad the opening! The knowledge of evil, the curse of sin, was all that the
transgressors gained. There was nothing poisonous in the fruit itself, and
the sin was not merely in yielding to appetite. It was distrust of God's
goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority, that made
our first parents transgressors, and that brought into the world a
knowledge
of evil. It was this that opened the door to every species of falsehood
and
error.
Man lost all because he chose to listen to the deceiver rather than to Him
who is Truth, who alone has understanding. By the mingling of evil with
good, his mind had become confused, his mental and spiritual powers
benumbed. No longer could he appreciate the good that God had so freely
bestowed.
Adam and Eve had chosen the knowledge of evil, and if they ever regained
the
position they had lost they must regain it under the unfavorable
conditions
they had brought upon themselves. No longer were they to dwell in Eden,
for
in its perfection it could not teach them the lessons which it was now
essential for them to learn. In unutterable sadness they bade farewell to
their beautiful
26
surroundings and went forth to dwell upon the earth, where rested the
curse
of sin.
To Adam God had said: "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou
eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it
bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of
thy
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Genesis 3:17-19.
Although the earth was blighted with the curse, nature was still to be
man's
lesson book. It could not now represent goodness only; for evil was
everywhere present, marring earth and sea and air with its defiling touch.
Where once was written only the character of God, the knowledge of good,
was
now written also the character of Satan, the knowledge of evil. From
nature,
which now revealed the knowledge of good and evil, man was continually to
receive warning as to the results of sin.
In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the
first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact
that
every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life depended,
bore the seeds of death.
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the
lower
creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal to God,
all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this dominion
was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had given
entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only the life
of
man,
27
but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest, the grass of the
field, the very air he breathed, all told the sad lesson of the knowledge
of
evil.
But man was not abandoned to the results of the evil he had chosen. In the
sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption. "I
will put enmity between thee and the woman," God said, "and between thy
seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Genesis 3:15. This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents,
was
to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the
toil and sorrow that must be their ****tion, or of the dust to which they
must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them
hope.
All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through
Christ.
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks
not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony
to
the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in
the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to
be
robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new
beauty;
and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance
that
we may be created anew in "righteousness and holiness of truth." Ephesians
4:24, margin. Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so
vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope.
As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His
children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the
evil, and inviting them to receive the good.
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