“Silent witnesses: the Knowledge tree”
Genesis 3:3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Born in December of 1886, Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American poet, critic, teacher, and writer. And after serving for a time in the New York National Guard, he was deployed to France with the 69th Infantry. He died in the Second Battle of Marne at the age of 31, cut down by a sniper’s bullet.
But among the many writings for which he is still so well-known, the most famous of all is a poem called, Trees. You probably know how it goes.
“I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree/A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed/Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast/A tree that looks at God all day/And lifts her leafy arms to pray/A tree that may in summer wear/A nest of robins in her hair/Upon whose blossom snow has lain/Who intimately lives with rain./Poems were made by fools like me/But only God can make a tree.”
If you think about it, we can’t live without trees. Without them, there’d be no such thing as apples, oranges, peaches, or pears. Even more, without trees, we couldn’t build our homes or rest in their cool shade.
And think of some of the world’s strangest and most amazing trees. For example, there’s an odd, umbrella-shaped tree called, the Dragon’s Blood tree. It’s called that because its sap isn’t clear like most other trees. Instead, it’s a deep, dark red, just like a dragon’s blood might be.
Or think of the Monkey Puzzle tree, found originally in Chile and Western Argentina. Back in the 1800s, when a man named Sir William Molesworth showed one to a friend, the friend said, “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that.” Hence, the name, Monkey Puzzle tree.
And one more--think of the Rainbow Eucalyptus tree. A native of the Philippines, its bark changes color as it ages, from green, to blue, to purple, to orange, and finally to brown. There’s no other tree like it in the world.
And were it not for trees, we wouldn’t have drugs like Aspirin, (that comes from the bark of the Willow tree), or Taxol, a chemotherapy drug, (that comes from the Pacific Yew tree), or Quinine, (that comes from the Cinchona tree). And let’s not forget about Coffee bean trees, and their little gift called, “caffeine.”
But of all the trees the world has ever known, the strangest and most dangerous one of all is found in the words of Genesis chapter 3. I’ll begin at verse 1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ 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. 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 3:1-7).
Imagine how it all must have been. Just as soon as God created the heavens and the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, He made a paradise on earth, a garden He called Eden. Then as He formed man from the dust of the ground, and Eve from Adam’s rib, He placed them in that garden to live in it, to work it, and to care for it. And as the Bible says, it was all very good.
But of all the plants and trees that God planted in that garden, as amazing and beautiful as they all must have been, He planted two more. As it says in chapter 2, verse 9: “The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
And along with those two trees came both a command and a test. Chapter 2, verse 15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And 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 2:15-16).
Now before we go any further, there’s a very important question we have to ask--since God knows all things, and since He knew Adam and Eve would disobey His commands, why would He even create that tree in the first place? After all, wasn’t He setting them, (as well as us, for that matter), up for disaster?
The answer is simple--it was a test. That tree in the very center of the garden gave them a choice--would they do what God wanted or what they wanted? Would they obey Him from their heart, or would they rebel against His commands? The choice was clear.
Eve had absolutely no idea what was about to happen. After all, she was, quite literally, living in paradise. But while she wasn’t looking for the serpent that day, the serpent was most certainly looking for her.
Can you see her walking along the banks of the river that ran through the Garden of Eden? The sun warmed her shoulders, deep green grass prickled beneath her feet, and a soft breeze blew through her hair. The flowers were in full bloom, and birds were calling to each other through a forest of trees. It was the sort of day that we all dream about, a perfect day in paradise.
And that’s when she spotted the serpent. She didn’t recoil in fear. Why should she? It was, after all, paradise, and there was no fear in paradise. Besides, the creature before her was a stunningly beautiful creature. When he spoke, his voice was captivating, inviting, alluring. Who or what was he, and, in her innocence, she wondered, what did he mean to say?
Can we stop there for just a moment? It’s easy to say that, just like Eve, temptation comes when we least expect it. After all, if it were to ever give us a warning call, we’d be much better prepared.
And while we might think that temptation comes when life is hard and everything is going against us, we’re just as likely to be tempted when everything is going well--when our bills are paid, when our boss likes us, when our spouse loves us, when our doctor says we’re in perfect health, and when our children are well behaved.
Instead, when everything is going well in life, beware! Just like Eve in the garden, you’re a prime candidate for temptation.
Then what? Chapter 3, verse 1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’”
It was a brilliant move. In essence, Satan challenged Eve to a game of “Bible Trivia,” a three-part conversation in which he speaks, Eve responds, then he speaks again. It could have all been over in less than a minute.
And his question was this--”Did God really say…?”
Now notice that, when she answered, she made three very subtle, yet very tragic mistakes. First, she lessened the Word of God. While God had said, “You may eat from any tree,” Eve said, “We may eat from the trees.” Second, she added to the Word of God. While God had said, “You shall not eat of the tree,” Eve said, “You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it.” And third, she lessened God’s judgment and punishment. While God had said, “You will surely die,” Eve said, “You will die.” The differences are subtle, but they’re differences still the same.
Then what did Satan say? Ever so quietly and craftily, he defied the Word of God. Verse 4, “You will not surely die...” Or as another translation puts it, “Die? No, you won’t!”
Why this temptation rather than some other? Because if you’re convinced you can get away with it, sooner or later, you’re going to do it. If you think no one will know, that no one will notice, and that no one will ever call you to account for your actions, eventually you’re going to give in. If there are no consequences for sin, then there’s no reason not to indulge in your wildest desires. That’s why Satan said, “You won’t die! For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
And in that moment, that earth-shaking, heart-breaking moment, the downward spiral began. Eve listened when she shouldn’t have listened. She talked when she shouldn’t have talked. And she wanted what she never, ever should have wanted.
He had her hook, line, and sinker.
And what happened next came quickly. Notice the verbs in verse 6: “saw”...”took”...”gave”... ”ate.” “She saw that the tree was good for food”...”She took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
Then what? Verse 7: “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
Law broken. Innocence gone. Pride condemned. It was the absolute worst moment in all of human history.
How did Adam and Eve end up like this? It was all a series of short, little steps in the wrong direction. Yet it was those steps that added up to one huge catastrophe--pain, sorrow, sadness, sickness, death, despair, loneliness, trouble, murder, hatred, mayhem, and every form of evil--that continues to haunt the world even today.
In his book, The Me I Want to Be, Becoming God’s Best Version of You, author John Ortberg tells of a time when he and his wife went fly fishing for the very first time. And before they fished, their guide told them two things--one, he said, to catch a fish, you have to think like a fish, and two, as far as fish are concerned, life is all about maximum appetite fulfillment with minimum energy expense. To put it another way, to a fish, life is, “See a fly, want a fly, eat a fly.” Rainbow trout never seem to reflect on where their life is headed. Instead, they’re just a collection of appetites--a stomach, a mouth, and a pair of eyes.
And while John and his wife were out on the water, they were struck by how dumb fish are--”You think it’s the real thing? No, it’s not! It’s just a lure. And you think it’ll feed you? No, it won’t! It’ll trap you. Silly fish, don’t you see the hook? And once you’re hooked, it’s just a matter of time before I reel you in.”
Now you’d think that, somewhere along the line, fish would wise up and notice that, once all of their fish friends grab the lure and fly up out of the water, they’re gone--never to be seen or heard from again. But they don’t. And though they swim together in “schools,” they never learn.
And as much as we might hate to admit, it’s just that way with us. For when temptations come, and they do come in all shapes and sizes and many different kinds, we never see the hook on the end of the line, and the hurt and the pain and the heartache it always leaves behind.
Everything in this message so far has been bad news, for what happened that day in that garden was bad news. And were it not for the second Adam, Jesus, who gave His life on another tree, Calvary’s tree, there would be no hope at all for all mankind.
So we give thanks be to God for the life He lived, and the death He died. For as Paul once wrote to the Romans: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It will take all of eternity, dear Father, to give thanks for all that You have done. Help us to follow the example of our Lord Jesus, never doubting His Word, His gifts, or His promises, for His sake. Amen