EXPOSITION FROM GENESIS CHAPTER 2 AND 3

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The devil has been very wicked and deceitful towards man right from creation. Do you know that two trees were in the midst (middle) of the garden; "the tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen.2:8-9) ⁸Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. ⁹The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Have you also thought or have been taught that only one tree was in the middle of the garden as I have always thought?

A lot of people even teach that only one tree was in the middle of the garden but a more careful study of Genesis Chapter 2 will make you understand that two trees were there. I was astonished the day the Lord opened my eyes to this verse.

The Lord God instructed man not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but can eat the fruit of any other tree (Gen.2:16-17) NIV

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.”).

Did you see that? The instruction was very clear, "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil".

Why didn't the devil lead Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of life, but rather deceived Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen.3:3-5) which God strictly commanded them not to eat. Do you know that man wouldn't have had issues if he ate the other fruit? Yes, because the instruction didn't say they shouldn't.

My worry: These two trees where in the middle of the garden but why didn't Eve notice the tree of life when the devil projected the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? I guess that the fruit of the tree of life was not pleasant to the eyes. Just as living righteously and building on God's standard is not pleasant to the people of the world.

Till date, the devil still brings suggestions to you and I, what makes the difference is the choice you make at every point he comes suggesting. He is still leading and deceiving many to choose death instead of life. He is telling beautiful lies which he mixes with the truth and so many like Eve are actually falling for his tricks. A lot of us have sidelined the truth we know for the lie. What fruit are you currently eating?

You can put a stop to the manipulations of the devil. Choose life, choose Jesus that you may live. In every situation, you always have two options. One is life and the other is death. Make your life choices wisely. Stop living like Eve who allowed her eyes and flesh to guide her decisions and Adam who followed his wife rather than obeying God. Choose to obey God for your own good.

2 Comments

Adeniyi Tolu said…

The trees are a temptation to man. Especially the one with the beautiful fruits, what a man sees as always being a cause of his rise or fall. The modern day challenge of what we see on the social media is a time bomb waiting to explode. How do we immune ourselves from what we see on these media on a daily basis? We need to know the truth from make believe, social media is a virtual reality but not the reality itself, guide your heart diligently.

May 17, 2019 at 3:00 AM