Read Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17- 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... 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 notice, in the middle of the garden, in the middle of all that is to be enjoyed, God highlights two trees? Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
First tree I want to talk about is the tree of life. This tree symbolizes God’s gift of life, a source of life. Remember, we were created as mortal beings, we were created from desolation and dust, we were not created with immortality. Which means, we needed life beyond death. Through the imagery of the tree of life, God is showing us that we have access to eternal life, which is through His life source and His presence.

Let’s take some time with the other tree; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yes, we see that we are given a choice, but I want you to wait on what that means and unpack this statement of the type of tree we are talking about. Because it would be easy to surmise what we think is good and what we think is evil. For some that is obvious, for others, not so much. If we are honest, we have a sliding scale as to what is good and evil; right or wrong, what is lawful or unlawful.

If we only see the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as the choice between good and evil, right and wrong, then whose scale are we using? Yours? Mine? Or is there more to this tree than meets the eye?

Let’s look at the words, good and evil, in the original language for a moment. Good = tov and evil = ra, which actually means bad.

Seeing this “knowing” good and bad parallels in other areas of scripture in regards to children and their innocence of not being able to discern what is good and what is bad. They need assistance, guidance, even direction of what that means, they need help in choosing, not only good or bad, but better and best.

Not only that, good and bad can refer to fruit. Read Jeremiah 24:1-2- After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good (tov) figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad (ra) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

This is a reference of two baskets of fruit, one is tov fruit and one is ra fruit. One is good fruit, good for eating, being filled, nourished and one is bad fruit, spoiled, doesn’t bring benefit, broken, not the original intent or condition, non-functional.

God is getting our attention that there are two ways to experience life. One way is trusting in the Tree of Life and having God be the life source. The other way is putting ourselves in control of the decisions, where left to our vices, we are but children, struggling to decide what is good and bad, struggling to decide what gives life and builds up or choosing what is broken, improper, doesn’t bring benefit, but harm. It’s choosing between good fruit or bad fruit.

What does it mean for you to see that life choices is more than just good or evil, but it is being guided accordingly to God’s wisdom of life? Choosing between what is good fruit or bad fruit within life? How could that change how you make decisions?