So Wise!

“The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!" Genesis 3:6

Poor Eve! She just wanted to be wise! Don’t we all? The serpent in the Garden of Eden was very cunning and shrewd, and all he wanted was for Adam and Eve to disobey God and to follow him instead. First, he plants seeds of doubt about the goodness of God, and Eve suddenly agrees with him. "God says we must not eat of the fruit of good and evil, or EVEN TOUCH IT!" Eve told the enemy. God never said anything about not touching the fruit! How harsh she made God seem! She can't even touch this beautiful fruit, and now all Eve can think of is touching, taking and tasting this forbidden fruit. Sounds so familiar! 

When God made the world, and put man in it, there was a clear distinction between good and evil. There was absolute good and absolute evil. Separate, defined, with a very clear division. The word knowledge is da'at in Hebrew, which can also mean union. Da'at was also used in the Bible to describe the union of Adam and Eve. So we can say that the tree with the forbidden fruit may also be named the Tree of the Union of Good and Evil. How can good and evil ever be one? 

I can see why God did not want man to eat of this tree. Just see what is happening in the world today. So much ambiguity. Moral issues are cloudy. There is so much argument even among Christians about right and wrong. We are so enamored of what "looks fresh, delicious and will make us wise"! The world thinks nothing of killing babies now. We are more concerned about killing of animals. We are just getting farther and farther away from the true wisdom we claim to seek, farther and farther from the source of that wisdom. And that is why, just like Adam and Eve, more and more people are hiding from God, in shame, in frustration, in anger, in rebellion, in confusion.

If we only turn back to God who is all good, and all forgiving. We will find the wisdom, love and peace we all need and want.