Justin Taylor's Blog, page 292

The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Some exegetical notes, observations, and tentative conclusions:

1. Among all the trees in the Garden of Eden, God identified two special trees: of life, and of the knowledge of good and evil.

"And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9)

2. God allowed Adam to eat from all the trees except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning him that death would result.

"The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" (Genesis 2:16-17)

3. After being tempted by the serpent, Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Adam did the same.

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:6)

"Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." (Genesis 3:7)

4. After eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—in part to become "wise"—Adam now possesses the knowledge of good and evil like God does, as well as knowledge of their nakedness.

". . . the woman saw that the tree . . . was to be desired to make one wise." (Genesis 3:6)

"Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." (Genesis 3:7)

"Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.' (Genesis 3:22b-24)

5. After Adam disobeyed God's command regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God forbade Adam to eat from the tree of life lest he live forever in that state; therefore God guards the tree.

"Then the Lord God said, '. . . Now, lest [the man] reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:22b-24)

6. What does the Hebrew idiom "knowing/understanding/discerning good and evil" mean?

6.1. It is something God—and probably the angels—possess.

"Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:22a)

"And your servant thought, 'The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,' for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!" (2 Samuel 14:17)

6.2. It is something that young children do not possess.

And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it." (Deuteronomy 1:39)

"He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good." (Isaiah 7:15)

6.3. It is something that elderly people may no longer possess.

"I [=David] am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? . . ." (2 Samuel 19:35)

6.4. It is something that God may grant.

"Give your servant [=Solomon] therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" (1 Kings 3:9)

6.5. Perhaps it is best there to regard it at as something like "mature or independent wisdom, insight, discernment," with the tree representing an improper way to attain it.

Franz Delitzch:

The tree of knowledge was to lead man to the knowledge of good and evil; and, according to the divine intention, this was to be attained through his not eating of its fruit. This end was to be accomplished, not only by his discerning in the limit imposed by the prohibition the difference between that which accorded with the will of God and that which opposed it, but also by his coming eventually, through obedience to the prohibition, to recognize the fact that all that is opposed to the will of God is an evil to be avoided, and through voluntary resistance to such evil, to the full development of the freedom of choice originally imparted to him into the actual freedom of a deliberate and self-conscious choice of good. By obedience to the divine will he would have attained to a godlike knowledge of good and evil, i.e. to one in accordance with his own likeness to God. He would have detected the evil in the approaching tempter; but instead of yielding to it, he would have resisted it, and thus have made good his own property acquired with consciousness and of his won free-will, and in this way by proper self-determination would gradually have advanced to the possession of the truest liberty. But as he failed to keep this divine appointed way, and ate the forbidden fruit in opposition to the command of God, the power imparted by God to the fruit was manifested in a different way. He learned the difference between good and evil from his own guilty experience, and by receiving the evil into his own soul, fell a victim to the threatened death. Thus through his own fault the tree, which should have helped him to attain true freedom, brought nothing but a sham liberty of sin, and with it death, and that without any demoniacal power of destruction being conjured into the tree itself, or any fatal poison being hidden in its fruit.

C. John Collins agrees:

God intended that through this tree humans would come to know good and evil: either from above, as masters of temptation, or from below, as slaves to sin.

7. In the book of Proverbs, the tree of life is used as imagery in conjunction with a virtuous woman, the fruit of righteousness, fulfilled desire, and a gentle tongue.

"She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed." (Proverbs 3:18)

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30)

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." (Proverbs 15:4)

8. Those in the new heavens and the new earth will enjoy the fruit of the tree of life for all of eternity.

"To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7b)

"On either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:2)

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates." (Revelation 22:14)

"If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." (Revelation 22:19)

Martin Bashir Interviews Tim Keller

MSNBC journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Tim Keller about Christianity, at Columbia University in February 2008, related to his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The interview lasts for a half hour, followed by Q&A with the audience for an hour.

Q&A with Martin Barshir

0:18 – Why did you write Reason for God now?

2:22 – Are faith and reason contradictory?

5:35 – Is God just a projection of our cultural circumstances?

9:10 – Is belief in God a mental defect?

11:39 – Is it narrow to believe in one God? Is everyone else going to hell?

18:30 – Is the Bible trustworthy?

23:59 – What about the behavior of so-called Christians?

30:33 – Are you resolutely convinced today that Christianity is true?

Q&A moderated by Dr. David Eisenbach

35:25 – How could God allow evil and suffering?

44:04 – Is there any reason to believe in God in a chaotic world?

45:48 – Does giving a reason for faith undermine its value?

48:49 – Does it take faith to be an atheist?

50:48 – What does Christianity have against homosexuals? Are they going to hell?

57:29 – Why is Christianity so exclusive?

1:03:58 – What do you believe about politics?

1:11:25 – How do you get to heaven?

1:13:13 – Why would God make people who sin?

1:16:58 – Why did God put that tree in the Garden of Eden to begin with?

1:199:34 – What happened for you to have so much peace?

Jesus: More Full of Grace Than I of Sin

From Charles Wesley's hymn, Weary of Wandering from My God:

O Jesus, full of truth and grace

More full of grace than I of sin

Yet once again I seek Thy face:

Open Thine arms and take me in

And freely my backslidings heal

And love the faithless sinner still.

David Ward has done a beautiful modernization of this hymn.

The Entire Gospel of Mark: Recited Word-for-Word

I've posted this before, but thought it might be worth highlighting again. You can watch below Max McLean's hour-long interpretation of the Gospel according to Mark, recited word-for-word from the NIV.

There is also a DVD edition of McLean's one-man show, "Mark's Gospel." In 2009 I interviewed McLean about the production, when it was running as a live show in the Chicago Theater District.

I found this interpretation—absorbed in one sitting rather than piecemeal—to be an enriching, edifying experience.

Online Evangelical Culture & Self-Promotion

Dane Ortlund—recognizing the good of social media but troubled by all the mentions of "here's where I'm at," "here's who I met," "I'm humbled that so-and-so praised me in this way," "here's what I've written"—raises some good questions for all of us:

The amount of self-foregrounding that takes place on these media—by Christians—by pastors—is troubling. Promotion of our own books, letting everyone know where we've been and whom we've met, drawing attention to what others are saying of us—how easily we Corinthianize and employ the world's mindset for ostensibly kingdom purposes.

What are we doing, brothers? I am asking myself no less than you.

What if we made up our minds to refuse to quietly electronically parade whatever accomplishments the Lord grants? What if we let the Lord decide who knows of us and what we've done? What if every post, tweet, and FB update was passed through the fine filter of Matthew 23:12?

What are we of? What's driving us? Is this how true faith acts, faith in a God who one day 'will disclose the purposes of the heart' (1 Cor. 4:5)?

'Get a life, Dane. Quit the alarmism. I'm just trying to spread the gospel by alerting others to resources. Is it really a problem if that includes some of my own stuff?'

Maybe. Maybe not. That's between you and the Lord. There is certainly some gray in this conversation, it's not all black and white; there's room for wisdom here, not simplistic rules. And I have in mind individual 'marketing'; corporate marketing is, I think, in another category. But as far as your own personal online presence, why not determine to honor the Lord by getting up each day, keeping your hand to the plow, and letting him sort out who knows about you and what you've done? When you're unsure as to whether or not something is self-promoting, why not err on the side of blessed obscurity, to which God loves to draw near?

We are increasingly cultivating an online evangelical culture of self-projection. Trying our hardest, of course, not to look like we're self-promoting. This is not where God's power lies.

Ryle: Do We Really Use and Know the Bible Like We Should?

Bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) exhorts us on the importance of "Bible Reading":

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?

If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.

If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.

If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.

If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.

All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!

HT: J. I. Packer, 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, pp. 40-41.

The Gospel Song

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30)

The Speed of Information

"A critical fact in the world of 1801 was that nothing moved faster than the speed of a horse. No human being, no manufactured item, no bushel of wheat . . . no letter, no information, no idea, order, or instruction of any kind moved faster. Nothing ever had moved any faster."

—Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage (Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 52. (HT: Tim Challies)

Compare:

Why the Church Needs Plumbers

J.I. Packer:

. . . You have to define what a theologian is. His business is to make sure that the church has what I will call a pure water system—thinking of the word of God as the water of life. You could describe him, therefore, as a kind of ecclesiastical plumber, or sewage engineer. In the church, there's always going to be muddy water, there's always going to be mistaken ideas going around; theologians are the people whose business is to keep the flow clear and pure. In order to do that, they have to understand the faith as a whole, and that usually means that they have to do something like specialist work in the exposition of Bible truth—because the people who are stirring up the mud are also doing specialist work. . . . Any section of the church which doesn't have theologians—as point people and whistle blowers and plumbers and water engineers—is, sooner or later, going to be bogged down in muddy water.

The Power of Stories and the Habit of Understanding

Jonathan Rogers:

The moral benefit of a story goes far beyond the "moral of the story." Almost by definition, an avid reader is in the habit of understanding what it's like to be somebody else. Whatever the moral of the story, reading sharpens the skills of empathy, which is not only a moral virtue, but a huge advantage in any pursuit. Habit Five of Steven Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" boils it down: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Readers, you might say, are habitual understanders. A story allows a reader to join in the inner lives of its characters. Readers aren't mere spectators or audience members. A well-written book allows them to experience what it's like to be another person. And isn't that the very basis of empathy and kindness? Isn't it a key component of love?

Our natural tendency is to close in on ourselves, to be so concerned with our own interests, our own preoccupations that we find it hard to understand another person's perspective. More than that, we find it very hard to understand our own selves.

Consider the case of David and Bathsheba. Because I tell stories for a living, one of my heroes is the prophet Nathan. He's the one who had the unfortunate job of confronting David about his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah.

One has to be careful when exposing a king who has already demonstrated a willingness to murder in order to keep his guilt hidden. So Nathan made up a story. He told about a rich man with many flocks and herds and a poor man who had only one little lamb that he loved like a family member. When the rich man needed a lamb to feed a visitor, he took the poor man's pet lamb rather than slaughter one of his own.

David was enraged. He vowed that the rich man would die for this injustice. That's when Nathan brought the truth down like a thunderstroke: "You are the man."

It was one of the great moments in the history of fiction. Cut to the heart, David repented of his sin. And Nathan the prophet lived to tell more stories.

Nathan's story did what all great fiction does: it took David out of himself, and it gave him an emotional attachment to what it is good and right. Nathan didn't tell the king anything he didn't know already. David knew it was wrong to kill a man and take his wife. But he had built for himself a little world of self-justification and self-protection and self-indulgence that made it possible for him to ignore the moral facts of the matter. Nathan's story took him out of that world and let him see what it looked like from the outside.

As the prophet Nathan knew, it's not enough to know what's right. People have to desire what's right before they'll do it consistently. Stories have a unique ability to shape a person's sympathies—to change what they desire.

Read the whole thing.