Which tree couldn’t Adam and Eve eat from?

 

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When we read the first chapters of Genesis, we discover that there are two trees placed in the midst of the garden of Eden:

 

Genesis chapter 2:

 

⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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 in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

 

So note there are in fact 2 trees, the tree of life AND the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they were the same tree there would be no reason to say AND, this is separating both trees as two distinct separate trees. Also if it was the same tree, it would have said something like this:

 

tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and which is also  the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

That’s how it would have been said if it was indeed the same tree. But it simply says the tree of life AND the tree of knowledge of good and evil, hence they are two different trees we have here.

 

We read from Genesis that God prohibited Adam from eating from one of the trees:

 

Genesis
Chapter 2
KJV

 

¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

So God forbids Adam from eating from the tree of good and evil. Eventually both him and Eve break this command:

 

Genesis
Chapter 3
KJV

 

⁶ And when the woman 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, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ⁸ And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

⁹ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? ¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. ¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? ¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. ¹³ And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 

So they both eventually ate from the tree of good and evil.

 

Later on in the chapter we read:

 

²² And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: ²³ Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

 

So we now see what the tree of life is. The tree of life is a tree that if you eat from it, you will live forever! Can you believe that? What makes this more interesting is that Adam was free to eat from it! Remember earlier in Genesis we read:

 

Genesis
Chapter 2
KJV

 

¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

 

So note EVERY SINGLE TREE except the tree of good and evil is lawful to eat from, therefore this means Adam was allowed to go and eat from a tree that would have caused him to live forever! We only have to guess at what would have happened if Adam ate from that tree. We must always ask why would God allow Adam to eat from such a tree?

 

The problems don’t end there, because notice at the ending of Genesis 3:

 

²² And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: ²³ Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

 

Notice the major problem. God now realizes the tree of life is something dangerous for Adam to eat from, and God realizes it is a huge risk to allow Adam to eat from the tree, so he goes to such lengths as placing a flaming sword to guard the tree of life to make sure that no one eats from the tree of life!

 

So note, it took a sin from Adam to make God realize this major problem! If Adam had not committed the sin of eating from the tree of good and evil, God would have never guarded the tree of life from Adam and other people, so it had to take a sin from Adam to make God realize of what a major mistake and problem he had by placing such a tree for Adam to be allowed to eat from!

 

So this question arises, why did not God know the problems of placing such a tree in the midst of Eden, and allowing Adam to eat from it? Why did God not prohibit both the tree of life and the tree of good and evil? Why did it take a sin from Adam to realize the problem of having such a tree in the midst of Eden and free to eat from? Didn’t God already know? It seems he did not, and he needed Adam to sin for him to realize the risk of placing a tree of life free to eat from!

 

Now in case people are getting confused and saying God prohibited Adam and Eve from eating from the tree! I am NOT TALKING about the tree that was prohibited, because remember, there are TWO trees, the tree of good and evil, which God prohibited to Adam and Eve, and the tree of life which God did not prohibit to Adam nor Eve.

 

 

 

Two trees:

 

1- The tree of good and evil, which was forbidden to eat from. The tree which both Eve and Adam ate from leading to their downfall.

 

2- the tree of life which was NOT forbidden to eat from, and if you did eat from it you would live forever!

 

So God had to have a sin make him realize the problem of putting a tree of life in the garden of Eden free to eat from, and we ask why? Isn’t God all knowing? Why didn’t God protect the tree of life with a flaming sword from the beginning before Adam and Eve sinned? Secondly, why would God place such a tree in Eden? Why would God place a tree that if you ate from it, would make you live forever, and you were allowed to eat from it!

 

So a lot of problems here. This all proves there are problems with the story of Genesis, and that the God of the Bible is not all-knowing.

 

So we must ask, which tree couldn’t Adam and Eve eat from? Because both trees should have been banned from consumption! Not just the tree of good and evil.