Two Trees in the Midst

God created man in his own image and blessed them and directed man to subdue and have dominion over all the earth. “God commanded the man saying, of every tree of every tree of the garden thou shall freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”.

There were two trees in the midst of the garden, the other being the tree of life. What was unique about these two trees is their location in the midst of the garden. To be in the midst means they were at the very heart and center of things. They are symbols for two differing sources of life. One was the way of life unto life the other was the way of sin unto death.

The decision was made to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in spite of the Lord God’s command, warning the man that death would be the result. As with all decisions, they are the result of influence by something or someone. The serpent influenced the woman, deceiving her into believing that she would not die, but her eyes would be opened and they would be as gods, knowing good and evil. The man listened or took council from the woman and partook as well.

Why was death certain, with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as man’s source of life? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a way of self -righteousness, which in affect is unrighteousness and the tree of life speaks of imputed righteousness. The one speaks of independence and the other of interdependence. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil resulted in death in all it’s forms and eventual physical death. Once man partook of this tree he had to be as God to sustain life, rather than knowing God as his life. As God said, “the man has become as us knowing good and evil. Then he was put out of that place of paradise, where God was his source to find the life of his own hand, of which the end thereof was death. Cherubim and a flaming sword were placed at the entrance of the garden, to keep the way of the tree of life.

What did the Cherubim and the flaming sword represent? They represented what man would need to go through to return to his God and partake of the other tree in the midst, the tree of life.

Both the Tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon’s Temple prominently featured the cherubim according to the pattern given by God. Instruction was given to embroider Cherubim in the veil of separation at the entering into the most Holy place, behind which was the ark of the covenant. The Ark of the covenant to Israel, was a symbol of the presence of God. The Lord God would speak with Moses from between the two “Cherubim” which overlooked the mercy seat above the Ark. The Cherubim, again indicating a separation between fallen man and the true God but the Cherubim looked to and typified the mercy of God to come. Only Moses and Aaron the high Priest could enter into this presence, being a type of the Christ yet to come, who would make a way into the presence of God for all mankind. Cherubim were not only a symbol of our separation from God but they were a symbol that the way back to the Father would be made as a result of His mercy. They overlooked the “mercy” seat. In the fullness of time God sent his Son to be our Passover lamb. When He cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom. A way was made by the mercy of God, of which the Cherubim spoke, into the paradise of God. The veil of separation, with the Cherubim embroidered upon it, which was representative of our fleshly nature, was rent by God in Christ. And the way was made for us through faith to enter boldly into the presence of God.

The flaming sword is a type of the word of God, or the sword of the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the word of God and he said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me”. It was also written of Him that he would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and He would thoroughly purge the chaff with unquenchable fire. We must enter in through His death as we partake of His life. For He not only is the way, He is the tree and the sword turns every way, to keep the “way of the tree of life”. The sword (word of God) is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edge sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So death reigned from Adam to Moses to whom the law was given. The purpose of the law being to judge sin, which entered in when our first father partook of the other tree in the midst. The law was Spiritual but man had become carnal. The law was good but man had become good and evil. The law was added because of the sin which already existed. Sin had been working death in man since the fall. The law entered that sin would become exceeding sinful. I had not known sin but by the law. The law, being good, revealed the evil (sin) that was working death in me. Sin was in the world since the fall, working death in all of mankind.

How is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the law of sin and death alike? Only in that they both spell death for man. Those who trusted in the law for righteousness had to live by the law but the end of the law for man is death because of the weakness of the flesh or his carnal nature. The law was spiritual but man being carnal, had to be delivered from the law by grace. The law was good but it’s purpose was to show man his sinfulness as a result of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is only one true God and judge of good and evil. Only one possesses eternal life, knowing good and evil and he is a tree of life unto those who partake of him. He is the way the truth and the life and we become one with Him through faith, as we know Him as our life. It is not by any righteousness which we have done, that we are partaking of Him. It is by the Grace and Mercy of God, the righteousness that is by faith in the promises of God, through the power of God to redeem. Faith renders self dead and opens the way for the resurrection power of God. We cannot partake of both trees in the midst, once we have partaken of the forbidden tree, we must die and rise from the dead to partake of the tree of life. By faith in the atoning work of God that He wrought in Jesus Christ, we have both died and rose again unto eternal life and have right to the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Even as the Apostle Paul warned, “ As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that does them shall live in them” (Galatians 3:10-12). Even as then, so is it today, we are constantly tempted to be as God through partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When we do, the law of sin and death is there to condemn us. We cannot live by either one. Only through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus can we become one with God and inherit eternal life. He alone is the way back to the Father. He alone is the door by which one enters in to the presence of God. Through grace and mercy a way is made for us to become one with this grace and mercy, that we might be come a door of entering in for others. Being a witness unto the truth, one with God through the body of Christ, we are the Spirit and the bride that say come. Come back to the Father, to the place where one can take of the waters of life “freely”. To the place of the tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Art Groesbeck