8/9/2023 0 Comments Forbidden passion fruit![]() Rather than the personal freedom they hoped to achieve, they feel trapped in guilt instead of liberation, judgment. This is seen as Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness and rush to make coverings. As they bite down on the forbidden fruit the goodness and purity of their lives become corrupted. ![]() The death that occurs for Adam and Eve, and by extension, all of humanity is the spiritual death caused by sin. Given this, of what “death” was the Lord speaking? Yet, have you ever noticed that, despite this warning, Adam and Eve do not die after succumbing to temptation? The two remain very much alive. The consequence of eating the forbidden fruit is clearly spoken: Death. What Was the Consequence of Eating the Fruit? Adam and Eve ultimately conclude that their happiness in life is tied to their own self-mastery, and not to faithful obedience to the Lord. When the serpent whispers to Eve that “God knows that your eyes will be opened and you will be like God” ( Genesis 3:5), Eve is led to question the goodness of her creator. This was exactly the serpent’s temptation. Thus, eating the forbidden fruit represented the conscious decision to usurp God from the center of life. Personal desire, rather than faithfulness to God, would govern their lives. Would they remain faithful? Would they understand that their life’s satisfaction was rooted in the blessings of their Lord? Or would they take their existence into their own hands? Eating the forbidden fruit would indicate Adam and Eve’s desire to be the arbiters of their own existence. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented a choice for the first couple. Otherwise, faith would be non-existent, love would be a mirage. For Adam and Eve to truly abide in faithfulness to God, there must be an option to choose an alternative path. A coerced relationship is never a free relationship. Yet in God’s gracious love, God desires that we choose to love God. The very act of creation speaks to God’s longing to interact with God’s own people. This is the very heart of who God is the foundation of God’s trinitarian existence. The answer to these questions is found in God’s desire for a loving relationship. Why did God not remove this obstacle? If this one temptation could potentially destroy Adam and Eve, why not allow them to live in the garden temptation-free? One must wonder why God would allow the forbidden fruit to exist in the garden, given that the consequences were so dire. When Eve is tempted by the serpent barely 12 verses later, Eve reports “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God did say ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die” (3:2-3). What is more, both Adam and Eve clearly understood this instruction. There is not much wiggle-room to miss the point. The Lord says to Adam “You may eat freely of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day you eat of it, you will surely die” ( Genesis 2 16-17). When it comes to the instruction given to Adam and Eve, God is forthright and clear. ![]() The account of the forbidden fruit is not one of those places. In these places, one must sit and wrestle with the image or story, allowing it to germinate within us. God frequently clothes the divine plan in parable, imagery, prophecy, and mystery. There are plenty of places in Scripture where God’s message is obscured to the plain hearing. In fact, the Bible never mentions the type of fruit at all! This undoubtedly leads us to all types of questions: What, then, does the forbidden fruit represent? What was the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit? More to the point, how do we understand the forbidden fruit today, particularly considering Christ’s death on the cross? What Did the Fruit Represent? Yet the Bible never actually states that Adam and Eve ate an apple. Jobs’ message was clear his computers were the modern means of obtaining a knowledge of good and evil. In fact, so iconic is this association, Steve Jobs chose the bitten apple as the logo for Apple computers. This is the fruit typically associated with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Modern depictions of Eden frequently place the couple standing by an apple tree. Now, scripture does not record for how long the couple held out. Adam and Eve know exactly from which tree they are not allowed to eat. This divine command is not wrapped in riddle or mystery. One tree, placed in the center of the garden, is off limits. The entire garden is open to them, every fruit-bearing tree ripe for the picking. Adam and Eve are blessed to enjoy the vast delights of Eden.
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