And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Why the Tree? Does God Tempt?
Why did God even bother making the tree of knowledge? In a perfect world such as Eden, it seems to serve no purpose except to actually tempt Adam & Eve to disobey which doesn't seem like something a righteous God would/should do.
Free will: The majority of the answer's that I read talk about how the tree needed to be there in order to give Adam & Eve a choice to obey God rather than do things their own way. And if you look at the significance of the name of the tree, it's not the "tree of knowledge" or "tree of good and evil", but the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". Were Adam & Eve incapable of distinguishing between good and evil before the tree incident? This statement seems like it would fall in line with my previous post about how they gained this level of consciousness following the fall.
So while God placing the tree there seems initially to me like a rather devious sort of thing to do, upon further examination it's ironically a very loving thing to do as it gave us the possibility of free will (that we screwed it up is besides the point I think). This makes sense to me although it's still an answer I'm admittedly somewhat uneasy with and it led to ponder the broader question of...
Can God Tempt?
If you're working with a perfect loving God, the answer obviously has to be an emphatic 'no': "for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." (James 1:13) OK, but then how do you explain verses like the one where God tells Abraham to kill Isaac in Genesis 22:1? Heck, many of the translations themselves use the phrase "God tempted Abraham...". Is this a contradiction?
Thankfully, I found an article entitled Does God Tempt Man or Not? Which helped to explain that much of the confusion has to do with the interpretation of the word used for "tempt".
"The original terms, rendered “tempt” in the KJV, are from nasah (Hebrew) [...] The Hebrew nasah can denote putting something to the test, proving it. Observe, for instance, that David refused to use Saul’s armor in his conflict with Goliath since he had not “proved” those implements (1 Samuel 17:39). Again, note how those Hebrew lads in Babylonian captivity challenged Nebuchadnezzar to “prove” them with a ten-day diet test [...] It is in this sense that Moses employed nasah of Jehovah’s action towards Abraham. The Lord put Abraham to the test in order to develop trust in the patriarch, and to demonstrate that Heaven’s promise concerning the Messianic seed was unfailing (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). [...]
James suggests that the Christian ought to rejoice when he falls into manifold “temptations” (James 1:2). Clearly, “enticement to evil” is not in view here. Rather, the inspired writer speaks of “various trials” (NKJV ), i.e., the tests that come to the Christian as a consequence of his godly living. In these one is to rejoice, knowing that the “proving” (dokimion) of his faith works patience (James 1:3). When properly understood, there is no conflict between Genesis 22:1 and James 1:3.
I like how this initially negative thought of mine can still be positively spun. Having had a rough few months myself lately and find myself quite often angry at God, it would be helpful for me to remember such things: that God is more glorified by you praising and obeying Him in hard times than when everything is going gloriously in your life, that any suspected spiritual attack you might be experiencing can be a reason for rejoicing as it's a consequence of improving, of living a more Godly lifestyle, after all, Satan has no reason to bug the person who's happily living in immorality.
(back to Genesis 3)
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1 comment:
So happy to see you posting again! And wanted to add the stories of Jesus and Job to the mix, because they, in a way, were also tempted, although not in such a "direct" way as it would seem in the story of the tree.
My current favourite book, Philip Yancey's "Disappointment with God" talks a lot about Job and God's "wager" with Satan, and how it was used to prove the faith of man, that he would continue to have faith even if his comfort were taken away from him, seemingly without explanation. I can't elaborate too eloquently about it, but I think it's cool that God seems to be essentially staking His faith in the human race on this one guy, because He knows he can't command us to love Him, or strong-arm us into it, but if we love Him despite trials and tribulations, then He knows our love is a true and faithful one, rather than one fuelled by our happiness at getting what we want like riches or wisdom or lots of children.
Hope that isn't rambly.
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