The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

The first command from Elohim to man is written in Bereshith (Genesis) 2:16-17 which says: “And יהוה  Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Eat of every tree of the garden, but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly die.” What YHWH was saying here is that if you disobey the Command of YHWH, you will die. This statement stays true throughout the entire Scriptures even till now and will be so until the end of days.

What does it mean to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Well for Adam it meant a physical fruit from a certain tree that was forbidden to eat. When Adam ate of the fruit, he decided at that moment what was write and wrong. Just as when we sin, we also partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Let me explain further. Firstly we need to know what determines the difference between righteousness and sin. “So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and good” (Rom 7:12) “For not the hearers of the Torah are righteous in the sight of Elohim, but the doers of the Torah shall be declared right” (Rom 2:13) “Therefore by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right before Him, for by the Torah is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20).

So as you can see in the above verses, the Torah is the knowledge of sin and that only the doers of Torah are declared righteous.

So if the Torah is the knowledge of sin, then we are not to transgress the Torah. Even the Mashiyach established the Torah when he said: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done” (Mat 5:17-18). Clearly, heaven and earth has not passed away, so the Torah is still to be guarded today. We are to study the Torah and have an excellent knowledge of it, otherwise we will be deceived and fall away from the truth. We are to consult the Torah in every situation to know what the right decision to make is or how to react to a certain situation etc. This is because the Torah is the Instruction of YHWH unto righteousness and life. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!” (Mat 7:21-23)

Just like Adam was commanded not to eat of the tree on the knowledge of good and evil, we are also commanded not to eat of it or we will certainly die. What does this mean? Let’s say that your daughter, of 4 years old, had a bunny as a pet, and you one day drove over the bunny while reversing your car out the driveway and killed the bunny. And then your daughter asks you where her bunny is. Now you decide that the best thing to do is not upset her or have her mad at you or have her go through that anguish, so you tell her a little white lie to spare her much heartache, and tell her that her bunny has run away or something like that. You would have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is because you decided what is good or not and rejected the instruction of YHWH (Do not lie).

As soon as we decide for ourselves what is good or not or what is righteous or what is sin, then we are eating of the tree or the knowledge of good and evil. The church is the greatest culprit in doing this as it has decided what is right and what sin is. The church has thrown the Instruction of YHWH out the window and now claims to be the authority to decide if you are sinning or not, for example, when they say that it is okay to substitute the pagan name "Jesus" for the name of the Messiah who's name is Y'shua, even thought the Torah commands us not too! read Exodus 23:13

To eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to transgress the commands of YHWH.

Now why was Adam and Chawwah driven out of the garden of Eden? “And יהוה  Elohim said, “See, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” so יהוה  Elohim sent him out of the garden of Ěḏen to till the ground from which he was taken” (Gen 3:22-23). Because Adam and Chawwah transgressed the Command of YHWH they were to die, so YHWH drove them out of the Garden of Eden so that they could not eat of the tree of life, for if they did, they would not die.

Now where else in Scripture does it talk about the tree of life? “Blessed are those doing His commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city” (Rev 22:14). So, if we do not keep the Commands of YHWH (Torah), then we are eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and will not be able to enter into the heavenly city and have access to the tree of life, for we shall certainly die.

On the other hand, if we do guard to keep the Torah, which is the instruction of YHWH unto righteousness and life, then we WILL enter into the heavenly city and we will eat of the tree of life and have life everlasting.

It is not a coincidence that this story of the tree of life is written in the very beginning of the Scriptures and in the very end too.