So, what was the question that sent me on a year-long journey in search of the answer? It came at church while listening to a sermon on the Garden of Eden. Thinking I’d heard it all before is when the question suddenly popped into my mind, and the curiosity led pursuit was on!
The question that came to my mind that Sunday morning was: What if God did not create the tree of knowledge of good and evil? “What? That’s absurd!” was my first reaction. “Of course, God created it; He created everything.” But before I could even finish that thought, my mind went to the parable Jesus told about the wheat and tares. On the way home from church, my mind raced back and forth thinking it couldn’t be true–but what if it is? I’d heard various explanations as to why God planted the tree but had never heard anyone question “if” He planted it.
When I got home, I immediately went to my Bible. In the second chapter of Genesis, I read that God made every tree grow that was … good for food. Then in verse seventeen, God told Adam if he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would surely die. So I determined, that tree couldn’t be good for food. Could that mean God didn’t plant it, and it somehow came later? But how? Then I found the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew’s gospel which seemed to be the answer–the enemy planted it during the night. Still, it all just seemed too crazy. That’s when I decided to email my pastor with the whole thing and let him straighten it all out for me.
My pastor thought they were all good questions and was glad to hear I was wrestling with the text. He also said he’d not heard anything other than that God had created everything in the Garden, nor anyone connecting the parable of the wheat and tares to creation. Still, I couldn’t let it go. I had to find out why that question had come to me.
I couldn’t help wondering why God would plant a poisonous tree in His perfect peaceful garden. Was it to test Adam and Eve’s obedience as I’d heard Christians say? I’ve never liked the thought of God putting His children in harm’s way just to see if they would obey Him. It didn’t sound like the loving, caring, encouraging God I had come to know thus far on my journey. The idea that the serpent planted the tree and then deceived Eve into eating the fruit made more sense. But how? Perhaps the serpent crossed what was already there like scientists do today? Then when God noticed the hybrid in His garden, He was warning Adam, not testing his obedience? But why didn’t God just remove the tree? Jesus demonstrated how easy it would have been when He said to the fig tree “no one eat of you ever again” and by the next day, it was dried up from the roots. The answer Jesus gave the disciples in the parable was to let the tares grow with the wheat until harvest when they would be separated. But, both my pastor and my Bible teacher friend told me that in the parable Jesus was referring to people, not plants, which brought me back to the dreaded idea of it being a test.
As I continued to wrestle with the questions, it was all I could talk about, and it drove my friends crazy. Exploring all the scenarios was interesting at first, but when no real answers came, it just got frustrating. When I thought I’d exhausted even my Bible teacher friend, she came through with the answer that I was finally able to accept. She thought it through, studied it out, and concluded it all came down to choice. “It wasn’t about the tree,” she said, “that tree could have been like all the other trees in the garden. It was what God said about that tree that made it different.” Adam and Eve had a choice to believe what God said about it or what the serpent said about it. That was the answer that rang true for me! It’s a choice! God created man with his own “will” and is free to choose to do what God says or to go his own way. Once that became clear in my mind I began to see other things I’d read in the Bible differently.
Eve obviously believed the serpent who told her she would not surely die. I also saw the reason she chose to believe the serpent–he made her think the fruit would make her wise. Sadly, she hadn’t realized that God had already given her wisdom regarding the tree when He said they would die if they ate of it. That’s when I saw so clearly that wisdom comes from God, not creation. I also noticed something I hadn’t before. In front of the verses that tell of them eating the fruit, there’s the verse that says: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, they shall become one flesh.” Adam was commanded to stay with his wife! So after Eve ate the fruit and then handed it to Adam, what was he to do? If he believed God about the tree, he had to have thought Eve was going to die. Would he refuse the fruit and live, or would he eat the fruit and die to be with his wife? That’s a tough choice!
Though there’s no way to prove my scenario of Adam’s reason for eating from the tree, how beautiful to think he chose to die to be with his wife. It completely changed how I felt about him and revealed feelings of blame and resentment I didn’t know I held toward him. After being able to forgive Adam and Eve for bringing evil into the world, I realized it was already there before they ate from the tree in the form of a serpent speaking contrary to God. I also realized that I have the same choice Adam and Eve had–to believe God or to believe someone else.
All the questions that had me running in circles for so long eventually revealed doubts that kept me from fully trusting God. I came to suspect the real reason I’d come to Tree Circle was to resolve in my heart that it was not a test of obedience but instead a choice. Realizing that I have the same choice today–to believe God or to believe someone else–put the responsibility on me. No longer could I blame Adam and Eve or even God for what goes wrong in my life. It’s all made me more determined than ever to believe what God says, just because He said it. It’s also made me want to read my Bible more!
While sorting out what was true, what wasn’t, and what may have been a new revelation, my eyes opened to an entire section of the Bible that I wasn’t quite sure I believed. I’ll tell you about that next time.
To be continued . . . see Paul Boulevard
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