The Choice at the Tree

We make choices every day. We choose when to get up, what to wear and eat. When we choose, we use our judgement on what is the best choice. We do most or all of this without really thinking about it. Sometimes we come to an important decision and then we agonize over the right thing to do. But for most of us, our daily life is full of choices that we don't even think about.

For my second installment in this series, The Trees in Eden, I want to talk about the second tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Like the tree of life, we see echos of this tree throughout scripture. Where echos of the tree of life pointed us to temples, echos of this tree point us to crucial decisions. What I find fascinating about the echos of this tree is that every decision is really the same decision that Adam and Eve had in the garden.

I've had this post planned for almost a month now. I actually have four posts planned for this series. I came up with the idea weeks ago, but I've been holding off on this one because I couldn't figure out the right title for it. Every time I went to write it, I got stuck on the title. I never seemed to have one that fit what I wanted to say. I chalked this up to my procrastination. But i think maybe it was God forcing me to wait for His timing. As I sat here today, I realized that this is the perfect post for our current situation.

The Daily Walk

In my last post I mentioned that there were two trees in the center of the Garden in Eden. For years I read Genesis 2:9 and didn't think much about it. God made Eden and the author mentions two trees that are in it. But here is the thing: the garden was not called Eden, it was in Eden. Take a look at verse 8. It says that God made a garden in Eden and it is in this garden that God put the two trees.

This changed things for me. The garden was not all there was. The garden was the focal point of Eden. There were probably trees outside of the garden, but in the garden were trees good for eating and these two trees. If you haven't read the first post in this series, go back and do that now because what comes next builds on that post.

The choice that Adam and Eve have to make is a choice of who to trust, a choice about who they will follow. Are they going to continue in relationship with God? ... Or are they going to break that relationship off to do what they think is right?

Adam and Eve were the first priests. The garden in Eden was like the Holy of Holies and the tree of life was like the Arc of the Covenant. We know from Genesis 3:8 that Adam and Eve probably met with God regularly in the garden. It would make sense that they met God at the tree of life. What this means is that they made daily walks to the tree of life and probably had to pass the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What strikes me about this is what each tree represents.

Life, Death, and Trust

God tells Adam and Eve that if they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil then they will die. The discussion of what God means by this is complicated enough that it is better suited for a dedicated blog post. Let's just take God at His word here. This means that the trees represent life and death. Eat from the tree of life and live forever. Eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and die.

So every day Adam and Eve make a choice between life and death. It seems fairly simple. Anyone would choose life right? Well here is the problem, it's only easy if you believe God. If God is right, then it makes sense to pass by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But if God is wrong, then maybe they are missing out on something. This is the temptation of the serpent.

Until Adam and Eve encounter the serpent they believe that God is good. They trust that what God says is true. They have no problem passing by the tree of good and evil. But the serpent changes all that. The serpent plants the seed of doubt. The serpent asks two questions, but really both questions are asking the same thing: Is God good?

When we think of the test at the tree, we need to think of it this way. This is not God setting Adam and Eve up to fail. This is in essence God asking them the question "Do you trust me?"

This question is the crucial part of the story. Are Adam and Eve going to believe God or the serpent? Are they going to do what God has commanded or are they going to decide for themselves what is good and what is bad? The choice that Adam and Eve have to make is a choice of who to trust, a choice about who they will follow. Are they going to continue in relationship with God? Are they going to continue to trust that God is good and righteous? Or are they going to break that relationship off to do what they think is right?

Testing the Unknown

Many people have problems with this part of the story of Genesis. It seems like God is setting Adam and Eve up to fail. There are a couple of answers to that question that fit with scripture. The one that I think best fits with scripture is that this is not a test like we typically think of it. When I think of a test I usually think math test. There is only one right answer and anything else is wrong. But I think there is evidence in this passage (and some others I will get to) that indicate that maybe this is more like a test done in a science lab.

I always liked science lab because it meant I got to actually do stuff. Often times I was given an unknown sample and had to use a test to determine what it was. One way to do this was to test the hardness of an object with other known objects. Basically you scratch a known substance with the unknown substance. If the unknown makes a scratch then you know that it is harder than what you scratched. If it scratches glass then it is harder than glass. That kind of thing. What I want you to see is that this is not a pass / fail test. If it doesn't scratch the glass it didn't fail the test per se, it just let you know that it's not as hard as glass.

Abraham had a choice to make and he chose to believe that God is good -- despite everything pointing to the contrary.

When we think of the test at the tree, we need to think of it this way. This is not God setting Adam and Eve up to fail. This is in essence God asking them the question "Do you trust me?" I know this is going to make some of you uneasy because this way of thinking calls into question God's sovereignty and omniscience. Let me simply say that a static relationship is a dead relationship. If you are having trouble with this way of thinking I would love to have a conversation with you about it.

Is God Good?

Anyway, I mentioned other places where we see this type of a test. I think the best one is the story of Abraham and Issac. You can read the story if your unfamiliar, but let me give you some background. God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham with a son. Abraham had to wait 25 years to see that happen. In between Abraham decided to "help" God by having a son with his wife's servant Hagar. At the time, both Abraham and Sarah thought this was a good thing to do. It was not, and almost lead to the death of both Hagar and her son Ishmael.

This is the background of the command by God to sacrifice Issac. God had finally come through on His promise and now He was asking Abraham to give it up. God was backpedaling on His promise. Previously Abraham had decided that God was not good and tried to have a kid his own way. Now God was asking him to do something unthinkable. It certainly did not seem like God was asking Abraham to do a good thing. It doesn't seem that way to us.

So we find Abraham on top of a mountain next to a pile of wood (a tree) and he has a decision to make. Is he going to trust that God is good? Is he going to have faith that God would not ask him to do something evil? Or is he going to decide for himself yet again what is good and what is bad? We have a hint even before we get to the top of the mountain. Abraham tells Issac that God will provide a lamb.

As Christians we have a choice to make... We can declare that God isn't good because a good God would never let this happen. Or we can recognize that our judgement of good and evil is not as good as it looks. It is fruit that leads to death. 

Abraham chooses to trust that God is good. God stops Abraham right before he thrusts the knife into Issac and provides a lamb for the sacrifice. It is only after Abraham's willingness to follow through with the sacrifice of Issac that his faith in God is confirmed. The relationship is now clear. God says exactly that. Abraham had a choice to make and he chose to believe that God is good -- despite everything pointing to the contrary. Abraham shows up two separate times in the faith chapter of Hebrews. The second time it is because of this choice.

Choose God

Originally this part of the post was about how we have to make the choice daily to trust that God is good. I was going to talk about the daily choices we make (the daily walks in the garden) that cause us to trust or question the goodness of God. I thought it was going to be a hard sell. How do I convince you that you have to trust the goodness of God everyday? Well that's not such a hard sell right now.

We are currently in the midst of a global pandemic like the world has not seen for a hundred years. The news isn't making anything better. People are hoarding food and supplies. Parents are homeschooling their kids and finding out that teachers deserve a raise. The politicking has only ratcheted up, not down. Everything is chaos. At least that's one perspective.

As Christians we have a choice to make. We can look at the chaos that is around us and say that God has abandoned us. We can try and solve the problem on our own like Abraham. We can declare that God isn't good because a good God would never let this happen. Or we can recognize that our judgement of good and evil is not as good as it looks. It is fruit that leads to death. We can chose to trust that God is good, no matter our circumstances. We can have faith that God knows what He is doing. We can choose our relationship with God over everything else. I hope you choose God.

May you see the blessings of God every day. May you trust in the goodness of God. May you chose God over everything else. And may God bring peace to us all.

Amen!