Trees are essential to life on earth - providing 28% of the oxygen we and other mammals breathe. But oxygen is not the only thing that trees give us. Trees also provide us with the lumber to frame our houses. Trees provide us with beautifully different woods to make cabinets, doors & furniture. And trees also feed us with a variety of fruits and nuts.
You may not be aware that over the span of 1 year, just 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, along with 419lbs. of various pollutants.
Because of good forest management and the encouragement of people to plant trees on their own property, the United States has 119% more trees today than it did in 2007. Americans plant over a billion trees a year and Canadians 600 million.
Trees are also aesthetically pleasing, with over 60,000 species to choose from in landscaping our homes.
We read in GENESIS 2 that “The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil… And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
What is the Tree of LIfe? What does it symbolize? Are these 2 trees singled out by God - polar opposites of one another? They seem to be - since the consumption of one leads to death - while consumption of the other leads to Eternal life.
There are only 3 sources of knowledge: The Scientific method; Philsophical reasoning; and Revelation. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil symbolizes the first 2 sources of knowledge - both produced by Man. But the 3rd source of knowledge, Revelation, comes only from God Almighty: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever…” (DEUT.29:29)
Your Bible warns: ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs .14:12) This verse, more than any other in the Bible, symbolizes the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, because Eve was convinced that eating of this tree was the right thing to do, but instead it led to her death! It’s not that Science and Philsophy don’t contain some true knowledge - they do. It’s that they both contain a mixture of truth and error - and are void of some truth that can only be found in the revelation of the Bible! Important truths like the real origins of Man, why we were born, and what is the basis of authority.
The Apostle Paul was inspired to write: “Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world - and not according to Christ.” (COLOSSIANS 2:8) He also warned us through his letter to Timothy, saying: “Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge - by professing it some have strayed concerning the Faith.” (I TIMOTHY 6:20,21) How many Christian families have sent their kids off to college in search of a career preparing degree, only to have them brainwashed of 18 years of Biblical teaching?
The fruit of the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil’ is easy to find in your Bible! Its all the behaviors that bring forth death: A lying tongue (PROVERBS 21:6); Carnal mindedness (ROMANS 8:6); Leaving the natural (heterosexual) use of one’s body, Covetousness, Envy, Murder, (ROMANS 1:26-32); and Sin (ROMANS 6:23)
Too many Christians put more stock in Man’s words and the traditions of men - than in the revelation of God found in the pages of their Bibles - and it is leading them towards eternal death if they don’t repent and turn back to God and His Tree of Life, which is the Bible!
The fruit of the Tree of Life is also easy to find in the pages of your Bible. It’s all the behaviors that lead to eternal life: Wisdom (PROVERBS 3:13-18); righteousness (PROVERBS 11:30); Hope (PROVERBS 13:12); A wholesome tongue (PROVERBS 15:4); Overcoming (REVELATION 2:7); Commandment keeping (REV.22:14); Giving attention to God’s words (PROVERBS 4:20-22); Fear (reverence) of the Lord (PROVERBS 14:27); Sowing to the Spirit instead of the flesh (GALATIANS 6:8).
If we want to live forever, we need to stop eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - and eat only of the Tree of Life! As the prophet Jeremiah said, “Your words were found and I ate of them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” (JEREMIAH 15:16)
If the Tree of Life had a subtitle it would probably be this:: “I AM THE LORD your GOD, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (ISAIAH 48:17)