The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Men as Trees Walking
from pamphlets #6218, #6219 and #6220
OK, it is now time to "grow-up"
and mature in the Word of God.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
OK, it is now time to "grow-up" and mature in the Word
of God.
Who is this serpent who was more subtle, meaning wise,
than any other living, created being, human or otherwise,
in the garden?
... a literal "snake" standing upright like we see in
the Bible story books?
Please!
Perhaps when we first begin reading the Bible
and have only gotten to chapter 3 of Genesis,
we might not be quite sure who this serpent is.
But if we read the whole Word of God,
there can be no doubt who he is and what he looks like.
Rev.
12:9
And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him.
That "old serpent" in the garden was Satan himself,
not disguised as a snake, but the creep is a "snake",
in the figurative sense, of course!
I've done business with some snakes before and they really
are cunning and conniving.
Anyway, this old serpent has perpetuated a lie,
a tradition, about the "snake" and the "apple" long enough.
It is his plan to deceive a Biblically ignorant people
with such trot,
"because it ministers to the acceptance of his lie, the
hiding of God's truth,
the jeers of the infidel, the opposition of the critics,
and the stumbling of the weak in faith."
(Companion Bible, appendix 19, last paragraph.)
Again in Revelation 20 we see who that serpent was.
He is to be bound during the millennium for 1000 years.
Rev.
20:2
And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years,
The apostle Paul also made it clear who this serpent was
in 2 Cor. 11:3:
2 Cor.
11:3
But I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The Greek word for "serpent" is ophis, which
means "an artful, malicious person; (figuratively a snake).
Satan was beautiful and charismatic and charming,
truly a glorious "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14).
Let's repeat Gen. 3:1.
Genesis
3:1
Now the serpent
was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?
Notice that Satan is about to tempt Eve with God's
Word.
He is quoting God!
Remember he tempted Christ in the wilderness with God's
Word.
It is his MO, his greatest method of deception.
By misquoting and twisting the scriptures and causing
people to believe the "letter" of what is written,
instead of the "truth" of what is written,
he is able to perpetuate mass deception on an uninformed
populous.
[2]
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden:
Eve knew that she and her husband could freely partake
of all the trees created for food.
She also knew that there was a special set aside "tree",
in a specific geographical location (in the midst of
the garden),
that they had better stay away from.
[3]
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Satan has now brought into question the Word of God.
So Eve, in her reply, omits the word "freely" (preceding
'eat thereof'),
adds the words "neither shall ye touch it",
and alters the certainty "thou shalt surely die"
into a contingency "lest ye die".
[4]
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Satan now contradicts the Word of God and tells the
first of many, many lies, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44).
Let's talk about TREES.
Trees are used throughout the Bible
to symbolize people,
including the children of God, Satan,
Jesus Christ and even God the Father,
who likens Himself to an "evergreen" fir tree in Hosea
14:8.
So before we go any further in the Word of God
we must learn to tell the difference between a "tree"
and a "person",
between a tree trunk and the trunk of a person's body,
between tree limbs and human limbs,
between the branches of a vine and the people they represent.
It is in fact, with just a little observation,
very easy to make these distinctions.
It would serve a person well to do a study of trees in
the Bible,
for there are many passages where trees are used symbolically
to represent people.
You could start by reading the account of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream in chapter four of Daniel
and the interpretation thereof.
It is a great example of "tree symbology".
However, we will focus on identifying the "trees" in the
garden of Eden.
The following passage from the Book of Ezekiel will document
without refute,
not only that trees are used symbolically in the Bible
to represent people including Satan,
but specifically those persons present in the garden
of Eden!
Ezekiel
31:3-12
Behold, the
Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing
shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
The Hebrew word for "Assyrian" used here is te'ashshur
and it means "a box tree".
It represents Satan, a plain old box cedar who wants to
become the greatest tree of all,
as we will see in a few verses.
[4]
The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers
running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all
the trees of the field.
Note: Waters
also represent groups of people!
[5] Therefore
his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs
were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude
of waters, when he shot forth.
You should start to get the sense that we are not
talking about actual trees.
Verse 10 of this same chapter shows that this "tree"
exalted
himself above all the others.
Let's keep reading.
[6]
All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches
did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his
shadow dwelt all great nations.
Wow!
That must be some giant tree,
with a shadow big enough for all great nations to dwell
under!
[7]
Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his
root was by great waters.
[8] The cedars
in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his
boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree
in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
No tree (person) in the garden of God could compare
in beauty to this one.
Trees = people.
Again, this is not difficult at all.
[9]
I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the
trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Of course trees can't envy other trees,
nor do they have the brains to know the difference between
good and evil!
These are characteristics of people, not trees.
The trees are symbolic. Remember, trees = people.
Can you now "see" that Satan is referred to as a "tree"
in the garden of Eden?
Remember, aside from the trees created for food,
there are two specific trees mentioned there:
1) the tree of life,
and 2) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is ironic that no one seems to have a problem with
the "tree of life"
symbolizing Jesus Christ.
Rev.
2:7
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.
But when we say that the "tree of the knowledge of
good and evil", i.e.
the tree with evil knowledge, is Satan, that old serpent,
the devil, they go "bonkers" and say,
"No, it's an apple tree!" Really?
The word "apple" does not appear in the entire Book of
Genesis.
Let's now examine what Eve told that "glistening one",
Satan, in the garden:
Genesis
3:2
And the woman
said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Eating physical food, nuts and fruits, is OK.
But it is spiritual food (bad fruit) that can kill your
soul.
Genesis 3:3 But
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die
Don't you see that "life" is the subject in verse three?
The consequence of eating "bad fruit" from a corrupt tree is "lest you
die", i.e. death!
You can eat all the "bread" you want, but you better partake
of the "bread of life" if you want to live forever.
Christ is that "bread". He is that "tree of life".
If you eat of the "leaven" of the scribes and Pharisees,
you'll die.
It's bad bread!
Beware!
Here is Christ's own words:
Matthew
16:11
How is it that
ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that
ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Matthew 16:12
Then understood
they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the
doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Christ said, "get your mind off of physical bread
and elevate your thinking to that which is important,
i.e.
beware of the poison leaven of the bread of the scribes
and Pharisees".
The same thought process must apply
here to the trees in Genesis or you'll miss the point.
Genesis
3:3
But of the fruit
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
But, you ask, if the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil,
which is in the midst of the garden, is Satan,
what is the fruit spoken of here?
It is real simple. Fruit is that which is "produced" by
a tree. Here is what Christ said:
Luke
6:43-44
For a good tree
bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. [44] For every tree is known by his own fruit...
Question! Is Christ talking about trees or people?
Good, you've got it!
So the instruction to Adam and Eve is quite simple,
"Do not partake of the fruit produced by the evil, corrupt,
tree,
which is in the midst of the garden!"
In fact, don't even "touch" it, lest ye become seduced.
Finally, as background to understand that which is about
to happen in the fig grove,
look up the Hebrew word that is translated "touch" in
verse 3.
The word is naga and it means
not just to "lay the hand upon"
but it is an euphemism for "to
lie with a woman".
Check it out in a Strong's concordance.
Let's continue now in Genesis, repeating verse four, Satan's
first lie:
Genesis
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
[5] For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
It is their "spiritual eyes" that will be opened!
Again, we are not talking about eating apples that wake
you up in the morning.
[6]
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat.
When is the last time you saw
a tree and said to yourself,
"you know self, if I eat the fruit
from this tree it will instantly make me wiser.
I'll bet these are some kind of
smart apples".
No, that which just took place in
verse 6 of Genesis 3,
is not the chomping of an apple
from a fruit tree.
There has been a seduction, the
truth of which has been hidden for a long time
to those who don't know their trees,
to those who have allowed the deceptive
stories of the traditions of men to blind their eyes,
that in seeing they don't see and
in hearing they don't hear.
[7]
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Their spiritual eyes were opened all right!
But why in the world do they now "know they're naked"?
You will find it is because of the SHAME they have brought
upon themselves,
for disobeying God, yes, but in a much more perverted
way than biting bad apples.
"And they sewed aprons together...".
Do you suppose these were itty
bitty little aprons that they sewed together to cover their mouths
because they just ate bad fruit?
The stupidity of tradition!
[8]
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Uh oh!
There's big trouble in the garden!
Adam and Eve hear their Father coming!
And now that they know good and evil,
they know what's coming is not going to be good!
I'd hide too!
Will you believe Christ or hang
on to the apple tree teechings?
When we last left Adam and Eve they were hiding from the
LORD God who was walking in the garden.
They had been in the fig grove with the "tree who had
evil knowledge".
They were naked and unashamed when they went in,
but they were naked and ashamed when they came
forth.
Why?
Satan had beguiled Eve, which is to say, he totally,
wholly seduced her.
That is why the apostle Paul would say in his second letter
to the Corinthians,
that he had espoused them (the church) to one husband,
and he wanted to present them as chaste virgins
to Christ.
But he was fearful that they would become "spiritually"
seduced,
even as Eve was "physically" seduced by the serpent.
You see, Eve was a chaste virgin before Satan seduced
her.
2 Cor.
11:2-3
For I am jealous
over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that
I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
The subject is virginity.
[3]
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ.
Has your mind been corrupted
with fairy tale stories about "apples" and "snakes standing upright"?
Or do you have the eyes to see and ears to hear the simplicity
that is in Christ and His Word?
You must look up the word "beguiled" for yourself in Strong's
concordance or a Greek dictionary.
The word is exapatao and it means "to seduce wholly".
Check it out.
You will also find later on, in verse 15,
that God will put enmity between Satan's
seed and Eve's seed,
meaning their offspring, i.e. Satan's
children and Eve's children.
That which has transpired here is explained, in "simplicity",
by the greatest teacher of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will you believe Him or hang on to the apple tree?
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
This
"American
Wisdom Series"pamphlet
is
Published
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