Two Trees In The Garden

by Ivan Maddox

West End Bible Fellowship

Atlanta, GA

In the second chapter of Genesis, the man and the woman God has created are placed in a garden, at the center of which are two trees. One of these is called “The Tree of Life,” and seems to offer the possibility of eternal life. The other is called “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” and seems to threaten to bring about God’s judgment against His newly created man and woman.

Genesis 2:8-9

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

An obvious question comes to mind: are these real trees? Or do these trees each represent something else? How could the fall of man have possibly been caused by something as insignificant as eating a piece of fruit from the wrong tree?

The question of whether or not these were literal trees is answered, at least in part, by other references to the tree of life in the scriptures.

In some of these, it is clear that a literal tree is not being referred to.

Proverbs 3:18.

18 She [Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Proverbs 11:30.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Proverbs 13:12.

12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Proverbs 15:4.

4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

In other passages, though, the reference seems to be to a literal tree that does not now exist on the earth, but which will exist at some time in the future. One such passage is found in the Book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 47:1-12.

1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

This passage looks forward to the time of Christ’s thousand year reign on earth, when there will be a Temple in Jerusalem. These verses describe a river of living waters that begins at the Temple, and flows from Jerusalem both to the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. On either side of the river grows a tree which brings forth new edible fruit each month, and whose leaves serve as medicine.

These trees are described again in Revelation 22, which jumps ahead to the new heavens and new earth in the age after Christ’s thousand year reign.

Revelation 22:1-2.

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

This passage tells us that in this age also the tree of life grows alongside the river of living water, that it bears twelve different kinds of fruit, that it bears fruit once a month, and that the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, or Gentiles.

According to the scriptures, then, the tree of life is a literal tree. It does not exist on the earth right now, but it will exist in Israel when Christ returns.

We learn something else from these passages, though, that shed some important light on the record in Genesis. In Genesis 3 we read:

Genesis 3:22-24.

22 And the LORD 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:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

From this, some have presumed that if one were to eat once of the tree of life, on would live forever. But that is not what the other records indicate. The twelve different kinds of fruit on the tree of life are, according to Ezekiel 4:12, fruit for food. Eating the fruit provides nourishment and, presumably, enjoyment, but no other benefit.

It is the leaves of the tree of life that are exceptional. Genesis 3:22 suggests that they are meant to be eaten. But eating them does not impart eternal life. Instead, the leaves of the tree seem to act as a universal medicine. Regardless of what is wrong with you, if you have access to the tree of life and eat of its leaves, you will be healed.

God’s concern in Genesis 3:22 does not seem to be that the man would eat of the tree of life and immediately gain eternal life. Man had unrestricted access to the tree of life before the fall. There is no reason to believe that he had not already eaten of it. Instead, God’s concern seems to be that continued access to the tree of life would provide man with a way to cheat death. This is important because God’s plan of salvation was based on death: death as the penalty for sin, and the death of a righteous substitute as payment for the sins of the guilty. Fallen man having access to the tree of life undermined God’s provision for man’s redemption; therefore God had to remove access to the tree of life from sinful man.

If the tree of life in the midst of the garden was a literal tree, then the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had to be a literal tree also. It makes no sense for two trees to be described together, in the same location, and one be literal and the other figurative.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil never appears again in scripture after Genesis 3. We are given no description of it. Even if we were standing right next to it, eating of its fruit, we would have no way of knowing what it was. But the fact is, its identity now is irrelevant. The damage has already been done. Man has already eaten of the tree once, and fallen. Eating again of the tree would do no further damage.

Both the trees in the middle of the garden were made and put there by God.

Genesis 2:8-9

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

God did not put one good tree and one evil tree in the middle of the garden. God didn’t put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden as a trap for man. In fact, after He had finished all His work, God determined that everything He had done was “very good.”

Genesis 1:31.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

And, as James pointed out in his epistle, God does not tempt man with evil.

James 1:13-17.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

In fact, the two trees in the garden each fall into the category of “good” and “perfect” gifts from God. Both were designed by God to be a blessing to man when used as God intended.

What possible godly use could there have been for the tree of knowledge of good and evil? We don’t know; God’s word does not tell us.

At least two possibilities present themselves to us. These are speculation, not the testimony of God’s word.

One possibility is that God may have meant for the tree to remain in the garden indefinitely, and for man never to eat of it. In that case, the tree would have continued to serve as the standard by which righteousness with God was determined: One either did not eat of the tree and remained righteous, or ate of the tree and became unrighteous.

Another possibility is that God may have intended for man to eat of the tree at some future time, at His command. Had man not fallen, he would have needed a way to understand evil without participating in it. It may be that this tree was God’s provision for providing for such an occurrence

One thing is certain: the tree did drive home the point that it takes very little sin to destroy a right relationship with God. Adam and Eve did not fall by committing murder or adultery; they did not fall by stealing or lying. It was not violence that brought about their downfall. It was eating a piece of fruit that God told them not to eat. That’s all they did. Today that might not even register on our sin meters! But that’s all it took to corrupt mankind, for we were all counted as being in Adam when he sinned, and thus as having participated in his sin.

God’s answer to this problem is Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins so that we don’t have to. When we confess Christ as Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10), we receive God’s gift of life in the ages to come.

Through Jesus Christ, God will once again give man access to the tree of life.

Revelation 2:7

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 22:14

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.