Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 3/31/2007

Question
QUESTION: What does Genesis 3:22 mean, when god says now they have become like us,they know good and evil?
I thought man knew good and evil from the very time he was created?
ANSWER: Dear Dimitre,

Nice to hear from you again.

After Adam and Eve sinned they had learned of their punishment and the plan of redemption, and then had been provided clothing. By disobedience they had learned the difference between good and evil, whereas God had intended them to gain this knowledge through voluntary cooperation with the divine will. Satan’s promise that they would become “like God” was fulfilled only in that they now knew something of the results of sin.

Really, there was no need to eat the fruit to become like God, because they were created in the image of God "after our likeness." (Gen. 1:26) By eating the fruit, they were, in reality, trying to add to what God had made them to be, and actually, what God did was enough. To try to add to it was to deny that God created them in His image. And that denial was sin. Disobediance never works. It only leads to trouble--in this case, death.

Always be ready for Jesus to come.

Thurman C. Petty, Jr., Instructor
Allexperts.com
petty@hyperusa.com

Check out my web site, where, in addition to 16 of my books, I’ve posted 40 Bible lessons, over 100 Bible questions answered, and much, much more. www.PettyPress.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again
Hypothetical scenario:Eve refuses to eat the fruit and tells the serpent to go away,now everything is in perfect bliss. Adam and Eve start a family,their children grow up and have children and so on and so on. Generations go by in this perfect world..however..that tree is still there and that ol snake he's still lingering around.
Would it have only been a matter of time before someone get's overly curious and takes the fruit?

Also if Adam said "God you have told us not to eat of this tree so i'm going to get an axe and chop it down."
would he be allowed to do it? he's removing temptation after all.

cheers  

Answer
Hello, again, Dimitre,

Thank you for your additional question, but you’re asking me to guess at something that has not been revealed in the Bible. I cannot do that. But there are certain facts to which I can point you:

The lives of Adam & Eve’s children are not the only lives at stake: God’s life is at stake too. If Adam and Eve, or any of their children sin, then God (in Jesus) would die to save them (It’s in God’s nature to do this.). I don’t think He’s going to leave that tree there any longer than He has to.

Also, if Adam and Eve trained their children properly to obey God, the presence of the tree would be no problem. Their children would obey God just as their parents did.

Beyond that, I don’t think we should speculate. Perhaps God would remove the tree at some point. I don’t know. But remember, it’s God’s tree, not Adam’s.

Feel free to write directly to me if you have other questions. Petty@hyperusa.com

Check out my web site, where I’ve posted 16 of my books, 40 Bible lessons, over 100 Bible questions answered, and much, much more. www.PettyPress.com

Thurman C. Petty, Jr. Instructor
Allexperts.com