Who put the Tree in the Garden?

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Many people think that God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden so that man would have a choice.  They believe that God created evil, so that He could rescue man from it.  Why, that is so warped!

Let’s take a look at the Tree, and why I believe Satan put it there.

Gen 1:31a  And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good……

Not just good….very good.
But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not good.  It caused death in man, who was made in the image of God.  Man, who had been given dominion over every other living creature.  Man, who was to subdue the earth.

In Gen 1:27, 28 is laid out the “truth of God.”
1)  Man was created in God’s image
2)  Male and female they were created
3)  God blessed man
4)  God wills man to be fruitful
5)  And to multiply and fill the earth
6)  And to subdue the earth (manipulate the earth to his own advantage)
7)  And to have dominion over ever other living creature.

This is a single truth….with 7 (that I can see) aspects.  They all go together.  You lose one, you lose them all.  You can’t subdue the earth in a fruitful way without
the blessing of being in God’s image…..for example.
This truth was lost, but is found again in Jesus Christ, who is the truth of God to mankind. (Jn 14:6, Rom 15:8)

So eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought evil into the world.  A means to seek to destroy what God had created.  It was against God.
It cannot be of God……unless you think God contradicts Himself.  In that case, we may as well throw the whole Bible out.
It would  take the bloody, horrific sacrifice of God’s very own Son to overcome the loss of the truth of God which came about because of eating of the tree of the knowing of good and evil.
If the true God put this tree in the garden…..He is at cross purposes with Himself.  That cannot be.

I John 1:5b  …God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Look at Gen 2:9
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also was in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

At first reading, this seems to convey that God put all those trees, including the last two, in the garden.  But read it again.
God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food (maples, oaks, hickories, apple, lemon, etc.).  At the end of that thought, there is this thought added……that also in the garden were these two other trees…..without the indication that God caused them to grow out of the ground.  In fact, the indication is that these two trees were not the physical kind,  since it sets them apart in how they are listed from those that specifically were physical.

Adam & Eve were never told not to eat of the tree of life.  This tree represents the “feeding” by the spirit of God, which is eternal life.  The other tree represents what the enemy of God, Satan, had to offer mankind.  By our having to know and live by what we think are right and wrong, good and evil, we are “fed” vanity, lies and darkness.  Eating of this toxic substance is what kills us.

Now look at Eve, after she ate of the tree.

Gen 3:6, 7  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes (check, check for the first two qualities, which were ALSO the qualities of the trees which God caused to grow out of the ground….see 2:9),   and a tree to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat, And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked………

Satan promised that eating of this tree would add something they didn’t have. Instead, it took away everything of value.
Self-promotion (vanity) thus entered the world, with the resulting awareness of lack.
It did not exist in man before eating of the fruit of the knowing of good and evil.

Now look in:

Romans 1:21, 22 (Romans 1:18 – 3:18 are a parenthetical thought, laying out the fall of Satan, as reflected in mankind……the steps on the road down, and the need for God’s intervention).  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

This began with Eve & Adam in the garden, eating of the tree of the knowing of good and evil.
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Related studies are:
Does God Kill …. A More Thorough Response
Dark Christian Doctrines
Dark Christian Doctrines 2