I was reading in Genesis – and this scripture that we have all read a bazillion times – got my curiosity. I have not researched it one little bit. It is curious and I thought it would be fun to investigate together, whoever is willing and I hope you all are.
The scrip – Genesis 3:22 And Jehovah 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-
Is this scripture telling us there was some kind of power in that tree? Is this a tree differently from those we have here on earth now? Or, if Adam and Eve were to eat from that tree and live forever, just as is written, would they live forever in sin? How does this come together for you?
I also want to consider-
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
And – Revelation 22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The only requirements are that you are respectful of others, and I know you will be, and that you bring some scrips to back up your thinking. Don’t be shy now.
Ok. Who wants to kick this around with me? I would love the company!
m'kayla's korner 
??????????
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Donna, just jump in. there’s some great comments! 🙂
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Interesting topic – I’ve been studying Gen 1-3 all week. Here is the best quote I could find from one of my commentaries:
To me it ties together the passages in Revelation and explains the difference between human life and eternal life.
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Id love to see what peoples thought are on this.
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Harry, we’d love to see yours toooo! 🙂
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The tree of life was a special tree that sat at the center of the garden. It symbols that god wants to be the center of our lives. When they age from it was a special fruit it brougt forth life. When adam and eve ate from the tree of knowledge it brought forth death. And disobedience to god. 4000 yrs later the bible talks about anorther tree of life. It is the old rugged cross. this tree brought forth life and we were again justified with god.
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”Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. (Genesis 3:17 NKJV)
I have always known Jesus to be “The Tree of Life”. But Gen. 3:17 sums it all up, I think, in saying, ‘Because you listened (to a voice other than My Own) and eaten the WRONG FRUIT, you’re going to be paying for it.’
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Ezekiel 47 v 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing
now this passage fits completely with rev 22… I think it is talking about the true nature of God & painting a picture of what heaven will be like & thus what Adam & eve experienced before the fall. A lovely picture of what is to come….
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The Tree of knowledge which is desirable, for fleshy things are desirable to the Eye, but is not desirable to the Spirit which is to the tree of life. But then the question arises as to why did God plant the tree of Good & Evil , to the temptation, but then again the Bible states that at no time has God ever tempted any Man. Which is to understand that God is straightforward & means what He says contrary to Gnostism. It goes on to say that he planted the tree & forbid eating of it so that keeping away from the tree by His word was to develop the power of resistance & this is exactly what is asked of us today by Christ “Overcome(temptations)just as i overcame”. To the disobedience which is the sin,God put a flaming sword which turns everyway whichever, not obtainable to man in sin meaning man can get to it but sin cannot get to it, for in the first place God did not forbid man to eat of the tree of Life. The fruit of the tree of Good & Evil becomes reverseable to calling good evil & evil good which basically is to not really knowing what is Good & what is Evil to the confusion, because of the sin inside, whereas eating of the tree of life(minus sin) is to everlasting life which is also to know as to what is good & what is evil in the correct prespective to not being defiled, but in the pureness which is to the Holiness.
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God is so merciful to have separated sinful humanity from physical immortality ! I can’t even imagine the hell on earth that living forever would have brought to sinful Adam and Eve and perhaps hundreds of billions of their descendants – endless war, with humans inflicting suffering on each other forever. Only Jesus brings eternal life to those who trust and obey Him. It is only in and through and because of Him that we can escape that eternal destiny.
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Makayla THIS MAYBE OFF OF THE TOPIC BUT IF I MAY LET ME BRING SOMETHING I HAVE OBERVED In gen 3:3 we read> But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of ith neither shall ye touch it, ye shall die. She already had access to both trees and probably was eating from the tree that brought forth life. To be tempted she had to be by the temptation. She asready was in the midst of where the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. She had to of been playing with the Idea of eating that fruit because it looked good and possibly would gain from it. She had to be close enough to talk to satan anyway. We dont know how close it was in proxcimity to the tree of life so we can only concluce that she first seen with her eyes and then maybe walked over to admire it. well she became deceived and Adam the scripture says wasnt deceived. I tim. 2 :14 And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgressiion . (15) Not withstanding she shall be saved inchildbearng, if they continue in faith and charity and hoiness wth sobriety. klNow adam did not transgress untill he partook of the forbidden fruit. It is the act that that causes the sin not the fruit it self. That is like saying I am a alcoholic because I have a disease. Well it is the only desease that comes packaged in a bottle or can. If eve would of not turned to that tree and got close enough to be tempted she would of never transgressed against gods law. But being justified and sanctifed assures us that we are eternal set free from the grips of satan and his tricks. The blood of Christ is very powerful. And because of that we can be assured along with the reserrction that we have eternal life.2
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It always interested me that the Tree of Life was available to Adam and Eve initially. In other words, they could have freely chosen to eat from the Tree of LIfe and forgone the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They would have had immortal life in paradise in God’s presence had they chosen it. Of course, satan understood that. His deception in the garden had one purpose, and that was to bring about death. It seems so basic, but the idea that Adam and Eve had that Tree of LIfe just sitting there available to eat from is a bit maddening. Had they simply reached out for that fruit instead…….
1/3 of the angels from Heaven who had been in the presence of God, followed satan to their doom. God allowed it. And He cut those angels off and is holding them in gloomy dungeons for the day of judgment. What an aweful thought! Today, the neo-gnostics (emergents, wof, hyper-charismatics) also have the Tree of Life in front of them, in Jesus Christ and His Holy Word. They choose “special knowledge” and forgo the freely offered fruit of Life. satan is the father of lies. When he lies, he speaks his native language.
Eternal life had always been a part of God’s plan for humanity. That is a very reassuring thought. But, He forces no one. It’s like God created the capacity to love in His human creation, but love is something that must be freely given.
How does Jesus know who loves Him? Those who obey His teachings and follow His Word. Same as in the garden.
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Michelle,
“The righteous perish,
and not one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death.”
(Isa 57:1-2)
I think that scripture greatly supports what you said. It is such a comforting thought, that for those in Jesus Christ, even physical death is a part of His peace; and that He spares us from evil through it.
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Genesis 2:17: “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.”
Genesis 3:4&5: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof. Then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:7: “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.”
I think that one of the main points through Genesis 2 and 3 is that this is the first time that man (Adam and Eve) put self before God. Once they had eaten the fruit they knew that they were naked. They became self-aware. Prior to this event they themselves didn’t matter. It was all about God and the task that God had given them. It is the same thing that ultimately happened to satan. He placed himself before God as well and that got him kicked out of heaven. Knowing this I think a good question to ask is had Adam and Eve then eaten from the Tree of Life would they have been redeemable? Once satan the his followers had been kicked out of heaven, if they could be redeemed wouldn’t God redeem them? Did God expel Adam and Eve from the garden knowing that they were redeemable still? That they and their children still had a chance? We know that Jesus came as the second Adam as previously stated and by His blood we have been redeemed. We know that the Tree of Life is available to those that choose the path that Jesus set before us as noted throughout the Bible and spoken of in Revelation. Maybe I am asking more questions currently then answering. That’s my inquisitive mind for you.
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The Tree of Life=Jesus “God The Son”
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil= Satan (Ezekiel 31 has great detail referencing a man as a tree in “Garden of God”)…
Which means there is more to the story than just what has been told by the surface level reading of the English words. The original language if “Paleo-Hebrew” words have over 4,000 words that can not be translated properly into English.
So if you want to seek The Lord God with “ALL your heart,mind,soul,and strength” you must be a STUDENT of The Living and Written Word of God within the measure of grace and faith He has given to you:-)
Hebrews 6:3
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Student/teknon, what is it specifically that you are seeing in Ezekiel 31?
Thanks! 🙂
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Ezekiel 31 gives repeated detail of a man described as a tree in the Garden of God…this lends to the principle that the Genesis 3 story included a need for metaphoric understanding alongside literal understanding to communicate the “whole truth” of what really happened to Eve-Genesis 3:15
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Student,
…Pharaoh…and verse 10 sounds like Lucifer. It is an interesting read! Still not sure how you are connecting this to Eve. I’m having a “stupid” day. lol Thanks
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Read Ezekiel 31…then read 1Corinthians 7:1-2…”touch”=sexual intimacy…now go back and read Genesis 3:1-15
Apply the understanding that scripture interprets scripture.
Genesis 3:15…”your seed” & “her seed”
Other Metaphors in Genesis 3:
Eat=”to commune with”
Fruit=”doctrinal evidence”
Put the pieces together…Acts 20:25-28
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You all have fantastic comments. I have been working 12 hour shifts and so have not been participating with you. I have some time off and want to take a closer look at your words and do a bit of research of my own. I am thrilled! 🙂 If you have comments that have not been posted they will be up soon.
Thanks everyone and God bless you all with increased wisdom and knowledge of His word! 🙂
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Someone said “But then the question arises as to why did God plant the tree of Good & Evil ” I remember one of my sons asking at a very young age “Why did God tell Adam and Eve not to eat from that one tree.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth and my brain went scrambling to figure out how to answer that age old “why” question, when the resident five year old older brother says “Cuz God knew the devil was over there!”
the mouths of babes, trusting God’s wisdom and good will.
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First, I would say that Adam already possessed “eternal life” or was “spiritually alive” or had “spiritual life”, however you want to say it. In Adam’s initial state, if he had not transgressed and eaten the fruit, he never would have died. He would have lived forever. Again, he was “spiritually alive” before his transgression because God told him in the day he ate thereof he would die. This would have had to be a spiritual death because Adam didn’t die that day physically. He lived 930 years. I reject the “day is as a 1000 years” as an explanation of Adam dying “that day” mainly because there is no internal biblical support for it, it isn’t taught in the Bible anywhere.
I believe he died spiritually in the same vein as Eph 2:1 speaking of those who are “dead in trespasses and sins”. They are alive physically while trespassing and sinning but they are dead spiritually. Paul says, “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died” Rom 7:9. Paul says he was spiritually alive once(in his innocence, in his childhood) but he died spiritually when he sinned, but he was obviously still physically alive as he wrote. This is the same as happened to Adam. Spiritually alive in his innocence until he broke God’s commandment which brought about spiritual death.
So the tree of life represents something additional to the conditional aspect of “eternal life” or “spiritual life” that Adam had because even in his fallen state Adam could still eat from the tree of life and continue to live physically forever even though he was spiritually dead.
Eternal life, besides being a present-tense possession (1 John 5:11-13; etc.), is also a hope (Titus 3:7) and a promise (1 John 2:24,25), yet to be reaped (Gal. 6:8, 9), in the age to come (Mk. 10:30). There is a conditional present tense aspect to eternal life in this world and there is a permanent future tense aspect to eternal life in the age to come.
So there is the “gift of eternal life” through faith in Jesus Christ that we possess now, for which we are on trial as to whether we will be faithful to what He has entrusted to us with the possibility of failure and loss just like Adam. And there is “inheriting eternal life” which will take place at our full redemption in the God’s future kingdom. So our partaking of the tree of life will seal the deal as far as the certainty and permanence of our eternal destiny and our access to God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
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Hello everybody!
I think the word choice is interesting – stretch forth, or put forth the hand, depending on which bible you are reading. This phrase is repeated throughout scripture, oftentimes just before an amazing event occurs. Hand, the use of the hand signifies strength, power and authority.
Here’s a few –
Exodus 9:22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
Exodus 14:16 And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Psalm 183:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, And thy right hand will save me.
Acts 4: 29And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, 30while thy stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus. 31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Still searching! 🙂
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Could it be power in the choice instead of power in the tree? Eve’s temptation and follow-through was a powerful choice and held incredible consequences. Put forth your hand to the tree of life….pointing to God’s remedy for sin, Jesus Christ….through whom life is received. Rev. 2:7 When the churches (people) hear what the Spirit is saying, God will extend His plan of redemption through His son, and they will too eat from the tree of life. Rev. 22:1 My Life Application Bible says, “The water of life is a symbol of eternal life. Jesus used this same image with the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-14). It pictures the fullness of life with God and the eternal blessings that come when we believe in him an allow him to satisfy our spiritual thirst”
Rev. 22:2 “Ezekiel 47:12 where water flowing from the temple produces trees with healing leaves. He is not implying that there will be illness in the new earth; he is emphasizing that the water of life produces health and strength wherever it goes”
Always searching and always learning…
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Clearly you are missing out on the latest, covert and overt movements of that Professor Moriarty of criminal Mountains – Lance Wallnau. He is the one who popularized that Cunnungham story and continues to spread his nefarious influence in places you would not believe…..even Beijing China!
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Lance Wallnau? Why are you using his name? And what does your comment have to do with this topic? Please stay on topic. It is important.
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We have two trees in the garden. One tree represented life and one represented knowledge. Why was they there? And why was satan the tempter there? Why did God allow eve to be tempted and what did she really see in this tree. Where was God when all this took place and is man mearly a pawn in the sceme of things. These the questions that may be hard to answer. I believe tht the tree of life represented the goodness of God. It represented eternal life and the fruit was the fruit of the spirit. The tree of knowledge represented the law of god. If you break the comandment by eating of this fruit it would produce the fruit of death. Satan was there and allowed to go in the garden to temp eve. God gives us free will and gracefully allows us to choose. We are not puppets. Why did he usher man out of the garden and put a flaming sword to stop adam and eve from eating from the tree of life. Because of his love. God knew that if they would eat of the tree of life that in their present condition they would live for ever.
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(comment moved by admin)
Michelle, I moved your comment to https://mkayla.wordpress.com/a-trip-in-charismania/#comment-8329 because it is better discussed over there. I would like to keep the comments here on topic. Thanks.
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Just burnt Dr Seamands book Healing For Damaged Emotions today. Its been in my book library for probably close to 30 yrs, having bought it after listening to Dr Seamand in an interview with Dr James Dobson. Good grief!
Gods most definitely cleaning ‘house’.
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