WHAT IF GOD HAD MADE THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

INACCESSIBLE?

          The garden was beautiful beyond compare. Luscious vegetation abounded, and its hills and valleys teemed with vigorous animals. Every corner of the Garden of Eden reflected God’s creative greatness and, in this place of stunning beauty, He placed the first two humans. God’s only requirements for them were to look after the Garden (Genesis 2: 15), and, most of all, to never touch nor eat of the tree of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that was in the midst of the garden (V. 3:2). The penalty for doing so would have been certain death for both and for their descendents.

            The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was, therefore, of great importance and eating of it would have led to disastrous consequences. Yet, the Tree had the kind of characteristics that, inevitably, would have led Adam and Eve to transgress. Genesis tells us that the tree “was good for food, …it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise”(3:6). To make matters worse, it was located “in the midst of the garden” (2:8), and, therefore, it was very easy to access.

            But what if God had made the tree less accessible? What if it had been placed in a corner of the Garden rather than in the middle of it? What if God had placed guard dogs or lions around it to prevent Adam and Eve from approaching it? After all, the tree was potentially dangerous. Should not God have done His best to make it difficult to access?

            No doubt, the above measures would have made the approaching of the tree very difficult, if not impossible. But, if He had done so, His plan would have taken a totally different course. After all, Adam and Eve would not have sinned, therefore the death penalty would not have followed and humanity would have inherited eternal life without any intervening test.

            By closely analyzing the Garden of Eden scenario, any perceptive mind can see that, when God created the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, He had something very profound in mind. The Tree of Knowledge was meant to represent sin and its magnetic power. Sin doesn’t lurk in the corner of life-- it is ever present; temptation is perennially before us. Sin is alluring, magnetic and potentially irresistible. Thus, a tree in the midst of a garden effectively captured the totality of sin.

            The fact that the Tree was so alluring and accessible is not a coincidence. A master planner planned every detail in the Garden. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was intentionally placed in the middle of the Garden to be seen and to exert a strong pull on the human inhabitants. Without doubt they passed by it several times and its fruit must have attracted their attention and they must have wondered how it must have tasted. Yet, for a time they resisted.

Also very important is the fact that God allowed Satan to be in the Garden and deceive Adam and Eve without intervening. Eve was alone. She had no knowledge of Satan and what he stood for. Her mind had not been seasoned by experience and was therefore quite naïve and easily deceived. The arch-deceiver, who has one of the most brilliant minds in all creation would have had no problem convincing Eve that the Tree in the middle of the Garden was the way to greatness and glory.

 Finally the Bibl tells us that Christ was preordained to be sacrificed before the foundation of the world (I Peter 18:20, Rev. 13:8). Why preordain a sacrifice for humanity if humanity had not yet been created. Clearly God knew the consequences in advance. God knew not only because He can foresee the future, but also because He would have orchestrated everything so that Adam and Eve would take of the Tree. If He did not want them to take the fruit from the fateful Tree, He could have made the Tree less attractive, He could have made it less approachable, He could have prevented Satan from entering the Garden, He could have given Adam and Eve greater wisdom and self-control or He could have been present during Satan’s. But He did none of these things.

 e HeHHe could have God placed the Tree in the midst of the Garden and allowed all the various events to happen because they all fit into His plan for humanity. According to God’s plan, Adam and Eve were going to transgress and they and their descendents were going to taste of the fruits of Satan’s ways for thousands of years. Millennia later, Christ would rescue them through His holy blood so as to make eternal life available to all of humanity once again.