why did god even create this tree of knowledge if he didnt want humans going near it. why was there a tree of knowledge when it wasnt even being used by anything. so my first question is WHY DID GOD CREATE THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE?
now answer my second question. WHY DO PEOPLE ASSOCIATE SATAN WITH THE SERPENT. nowhere does it say that satan is the serpent and if u say otherwise u must not be reading the same bible because im telling u what it says not what i think
2007-03-27 13:00:51 · 17 answers · asked by its not gay if... 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
ok please stick to old testament because it could have been so easy to say "oh yea i forgot satan was the serpent" and BOOM he is
2007-03-27 13:09:25 · update #1
you bring up an excellent point i think all christians need to pay attention to.
lets put it in another perspective and hopefully we can see how absurd this is.
daddy has a gun. daddy tells little billy that the gun is in his closet, in a shoebox. daddy tells billy that if billy touches the gun billy will get punished.
billy, out of curiosity, goes to the closet and finds the gun. billy accidentally pulls the trigger and makes a hole in the wall. daddy punishes billy.
so okay i understand this may be a bit basic. but lets examine billy's daddy to see what he did wrong.
1. daddy knows that the gun is dangerous. daddy chooses to leave the gun there anyways. apparently daddy doesent care about the safety of billy.
2. daddy tells billy that if he touches it he will be punished. instead of denying billy access to it he puts it in a place where its easily accessible.
3. daddy tells billy that the gun is there. immediately piquing billy's curiosity. daddy, who knows billy is curious and WILL go looking for the gun decides to still do nothing, decides not to remove the gun.
4. when billy gets in trouble daddy punishes him. whose fault is it? billy's or daddy's?
its daddys gun. he brought it into the house. he put it somewhere where billy can get his hands on it. the only safety precaution daddy places on the gun is his warning. then he leaves the room/house. billy goes searching and finds it.
should billy be punished or should daddy?
maybe this way the christians will have an easier time understanding it.
here is a simple and quick answer: IF GOD HAD LEFT THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OUT OF THE GARDEN WE WOULDNT BE HERE. but since were dealing with archaic metaphorical stories im not surprised. the story is nothing but a stroy. there is no fact to it whatsoever.
2007-03-27 13:03:04 · answer #1 · answered by johnny.zondo 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
1 God created the tree of knowledge so that we can eat of it when we have His permission to do so. The tree of knowledge is one of the two trees we will have access to when we live in heaven. All the things we want to know we will know once we eat that fruit. It is a good tree. The tree itself does not carry a death penalty. it is not poisonous. The one rule in the garden for Adam and Eve was not to eat of it. The death penalty came from disobedience to god's one rule. not from eating of the tree. Adam and Eve had the free will to obey or not. In fact, they probably lived quite happily for a very long time not having a problem with the rule. The devil came as the serpent or dragon as he is otherwise known. He made Eve doubt God's word and question His motives making God seem selflish by not letting her eat this beautiful fruit. That was the sin.
2 the serpent is also called the dragon and you can see his demise in the final battle for earth and the people of Israel (the woman) in Revelation 12:7 That is why people associate satan with the serpent. Hope that helps a little..
2007-03-27 13:33:32 · answer #2 · answered by Yo C 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You asked a question I asked years ago myself. First of all a NEW creation would be as a babe, but Adam and Eve "supposeably" are created as adults, and "supposeablly" without "knowledge." So how did God communicate himself to them, and how did Eve or Adam know what a tree WAS.
As for you second part of the story, SATAN is not written as the serpent, and is "assumed." Chapter 3 of Genesis starts out, "Now the serpent was more subtil........." etc., etc.
If you know anything of Egyptian culture, the "serpent" (Apophis) was used in rituals by priests "symbolizing" evil while they prayed in the early morning hours for "Ra" to make it back from the underworld. (The "sun.") As you have read, many hebrews believed the faith of Egypt to be evil and is probably where the serpent got "pegged" to be "Satan." This word for the devil, or serpent doesn't appear in the Old Testament until first Chronicles, Chapter 21 and then throughout the Book of Job. "Assumption" is what bases that the serpent WAS "Satan."
2007-03-27 13:28:50 · answer #3 · answered by Theban 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
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.
Revelation is not in YOUR Bible?
The tree of knowledge of good and evil was one of two trees in the midst of the garden.. The two trees represent God's nature his righteousness and his mercy. They also represent the Law and Salvation. When man partook of the law he could not live up to God's righteousness and this caused his death...The tree of life represents God's loving mercy through the atonement provided by Christ Jesus god brought his people back to his righteousness...Genesis the first book of Moses shows God's plan for his creation.
Friend nothing is forgotten and all things have meanings it is YOUR free will decision to seek God and his truth or choose to believe a lie...The Serpent of the Garden is explained many different ways throughout the Bible if yous eek the truth you will receive a gift from God and this gift is faith and through this gift of faith comes revelation and a true relationship with a living God. The word of God is like a two edged sword it can Save you or kill you and usually both at the same time. May you find the truth that you are seeking God Bless.
2007-03-27 13:06:26 · answer #4 · answered by djmantx 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The tree of knowledge was probably suppose to be give to Adam and Eve at his time, I guess God wanted to test them, to see if they would be obedient to him. If Adam and eve were good, then God probably would of gave them the knowledge of all things good and they would not have died from the tree. As per the snake I believe It was like all the other creatures in the garden. God said now the snake was the serwodst of all of Gods creatures. He was even punished(doesn't sound like a devil) like Adam and Eve, the only thing I can think of was the snake allowed him self to be possessed by the devil, Just a guess, as per the new testament. About the snake the devil was casted into the lake of fire.
2007-03-27 13:14:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Based on my own interpretation:
1. I don't think there was a specific tree. I think that this is a parable more or less to indicate that obedience to God is the number one issue. God apparently told them not to do something and they did it anyway.
2. The serpent is mentioned in two ways in Genesis. First, when God cursed Satan, he told him he would crawl on his belly in the dust for all time. (pretty well describes a snake although I don't think it necessarily had to be a snake). Secondly, when Eve responded to God's question about why she had done what she did, she said that "the serpent had deceived her". Again, this may simply be a paraphrase.
2007-03-27 13:07:11 · answer #6 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i'll answer you from the qu'ran.God created the tree to test Adam(PBUH) and Eve if they would obey him and left the whole eden for them,that explain that curiosity is in the human nature.as well as greed.why we associate satan with the serpent?that's because when satan was banned from eden because he disobayed God,he couldn't enter it,so the serpent is the one who let him enter and when God banned Adam and eve to earth,sent satan AND the serpent as well.
2007-03-27 13:15:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one can truly know the mind of God, but I believe that He created the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil so that we woul have a choice. For example, if you are going to war, do you want people fighting for you that are there because they want to be or because they have to be? Those who want to be, of course. Would you rather marry someone who loves you and wants to marry you, or someone who is marrying you because their parents arranged it? Same thing with God, HE WANTS us to WANT Him. He won't make us love Him, He gives us a choice. That tree was Adam's and Eve's test, are you here because you love Me, or because I created you? Those who love Him will be the ones He surrounds Himself with for all of eternity.
2007-03-27 13:12:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe it was a test.
JOB gives us more of a clue than anything else.
GOD and SATAN seem to be in some kind of CONTEST about IF A MAN GETS A PRETTY NAKED GIRL will he feel her up or won't he.
God takes the Won't and Satan takes the Will.
2007-03-27 13:08:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Lord wanted to see if the people whom He created would choose Him or someother serpant who says he is God.
2007-03-27 13:07:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋