A DEADLY MIX

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die'" (Genesis 3:1-4).

When God made a perfect home for Adam and Eve, He gave them everything to make them happy. They had each other, a garden of tame animals, a variety of fruits to sample every day. Everywhere they looked, there was wonder to delight and fascinate them. "On every leaf of the forest and stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and sea and sky, God’s name was written. With both the animate and the inanimate creation—with leaf and flower and tree, and with every living creature, from the leviathan of the waters to the mote in the sunbeam—the dwellers in Eden held converse, gathering from each the secrets of its life" (Education, pg. 21).

In the middle of this garden, God placed a special tree called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was the only tree that God said they couldn't touch. All the others they could relish and enjoy, but this tree was absolutely forbidden. It was the only limitation God placed on them. Everything else was theirs. The Lord said, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). 

Why would God withhold something good from His children? Why would He create something banned that was accessible to both Adam and Eve? Was He setting them up for failure? Absolutely not! Because the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil gave Adam and Eve the choice as to whether they would follow the Lord or not. God had created them with a free will, but without options, they weren't free. They needed to have the opportunity to choose, even if that meant God could lose them. 

"Without freedom of choice, [their] obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character" (Patriarchs and Prophets, pg. 49). There could have been no opportunity to love. For love demands a choice in order to grow and deepen. For this important reason, God planted the Tree of Knowledge in the midst of the garden.

But God never intended for His creation to know anything about evil. "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). He created this perfect world to know only truth and love and harmony. He created us to know Him and to be one with Him in every possible way--to be in harmony with His will, to comprehend the beauty of sacred truths, to love with a pure heart that is under the control of principle and reason. And yet, God created a tree called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Now, if Adam and Eve had trusted God fully, they would never have wandered close to the tree. And for them it would only have been the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Good. For they would have only known God through what is good and what is truth. But because there was no fence surrounding the tree, meaning there was nothing that could prevent them from going there, it could become the tree of evil if they chose to disobey the Lord. Two ways were wrapped up in that tree because it gave them two options. To choose God's will was to choose the good. To disregard what God said was to choose the evil.

Sometimes we think we need both in order to feast on the Tree of Knowledge. We think growing in God is like sitting in a courtroom where we need to hear both sides of a question in order to make a rational decision. We might even relish the stimulating discussion as we play the devil's advocate in looking at his side of the issue. Somehow, at the bottom of all this, I wonder if we think we're smarter than Adam and Eve. Exposure to error isn't going to shake us. It's not going to effect what we believe or shake our confidence in God. But isn't this presumptuous?

ARE YOU SAFE FROM SATAN'S FIRE?

The Bible says, "Can a man take fire into his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?" (Proverbs 6:27) Can I really believe that listening or watching what is evil isn't going to hurt me? And if its cloaked in a program or message that blends truth with error, what is our guarantee that we'll be able to discern which is which? And how will we stop doubts from creeping in as it once did in the mind of Eve? We've already accepted the devil's lie if we think what happened to her can't happen to us. Our nature is weakened by a long history of sin. We don't have the same strength that Eve had as she stood in perfection in the garden of Eden. Our minds aren't as sharp or as pure. Satan has more ready access to us. So we can't afford to make the mistake of thinking, "I'd never do that. I'd never be deceived. Satan can't touch me like he touched Adam and Eve." 

Any kind of fire lit by the devil will burn us! And his most deadly fire is when he mixes truth with error.

An early 19th century preacher by the name of Harry Ironside (1876-1951) once put it this way: "Error is like leaven of which we read, 'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.' 1 Corinthians 5:6. Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error or any truth-and-error mixture calls for definite exposure and repudiation [i.e. rejection]. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died." 

To expose others to such a mixture is to plant the seeds of deception and possible compromise. For truth cannot exist as truth if it is blended with error. But we may think we have the truth when we only have a deadly mix of good and evil. And if we're listening to half truths about God, what makes you think you've got the good half?

The Bible says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness" (Isaiah 5:20). If only I could be a prophetess, I would add, "And woe to those who mix the evil and the good and feed this mixture to God's sheep and lambs. Woe to those who taste of the forbidden fruit, thinking that this is the knowledge of God." Any Christian who feeds this mixture to God's flock may be very gifted in preaching or teaching, but he is not a responsible shepherd. A true shepherd will not give grain or hay that is tainted by anything that will cause his sheep to stumble.

"If we would not commit sin, we must shun its very beginnings" (Mind, Character & Personality, book 1, pg. 325). 

So be on your guard, for the serpent that once deceived Eve isn't restricted to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Be on your guard against him and close your ears to his half-truths as you follow Jesus in the Living Way.