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In the foregoing messages, we have covered God's eternal purpose and some of the points regarding God's way of fulfilling His purpose. God's way of accomplishing His purpose was firstly to create man as a vessel to contain Himself as life and then to place him in a garden before the tree of life, indicating that God's intention was for man to partake of the fruit of this tree. However, along with the tree of life, Gen. 2:9, 17 mention the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, we need to consider very carefully the significance of these two trees.
Although God wanted man to eat of the tree of life, He did not force him to do it. Neither did God put the tree of life into him. Instead, God gave man free will. He gave him freedom of choice. When mothers feed their infant children, they seem to force the children to take the food. Nevertheless, the baby still has free will, for often he refuses the food that has been put in his mouth. The mother wants her child to eat, but she must recognize that he has a free will.
God created man with freedom of choice. Why did God do this? God is great. He is not small. Only a small man forces people to accept his opinion. If you compel others to take your way, it proves that you are a small person. If you are a great man, you will never force people to accept you. You will always give them a choice, saying, "If you love me, you may take me. If you do not care for me, you are free to forget about me." No man who is great or honorable will coerce people. Likewise, God is great. He is so attractive as the God of glory. God did not place man in front of Him exclusively, thus compelling man to choose Him. He placed man before two trees, confronting him with a choice.
When I was a young Christian, I was bothered by this. I said, "Why did God put man into such a dangerous situation? If I had been God, I would have removed the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I would have left the tree of life, placed man in front of it, and built a high protective wall to keep him safe. Why didn't God do this? Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden as a temptation? Every problem comes from this source. Why didn't God take it away? If He had removed this tree, it would have saved us a great deal of trouble." I was not the only one who had these questions. Many young people asked me the same thing. However, if God had not given man a choice, He would have forced him to take the tree of life. God is too great to do such a thing. God is honorable and attractive. In order to display His greatness and prove His attractiveness, He needs the second tree.
According to the book of Job, Satan, the adversary of God, accused Job to God. He seemed to say, "Why does Job worship You? He worships You only because You bless him. If You take away all these blessings, Job will forsake You and renounce You to Your face" (Job 1:9-11). In other words, Satan told the Lord that He was bribing Job to worship Him and that if He did not bribe him, Job would forsake Him. Thus, Satan was slandering God as well as Job. God seemed to answer Satan, "Do as much as you can. I only command you to spare his life. I will prove to you that Job has not been bribed, but that he has been attracted by Me. Job worships Me out of his own free will."
God is the same today. He never forces anyone to accept Him. When the Lord Jesus came, He did not coerce people into following Him. He presented Himself to people, but always respected their freedom of choice. The Lord seemed to say, "If you like Me, you may take Me. If you don't like Me, you may forget about Me." Some of us may feel that we have been compelled by the Lord's mercy to believe in Him. To a certain extent, I feel the same way. His mercy has conquered us, persuading us to receive Him. Nevertheless, I can testify strongly that if you force me to reject Him, I will still take Him. I will never give Him up. Why have there been so many martyrs throughout the centuries? The Lord God stayed away, allowing His people to make a choice, that the actual situation might be proved to His enemy. God seemed to say, "Do your best, Satan. My people still choose Me." Our brother Watchman Nee was imprisoned for twenty years, from 1952 until his death in 1972, where he was tested and tempted. He never changed his choice because his Lord was too lovely and too attractive. We have received the Lord Jesus, not because we have been forced or pressed, but because we have been called by His glory and attracted by His virtue (2 Pet. 1:3). We all can confess that regardless of what people might offer us, we would never renounce the Lord Jesus. Our Lord is too dear, too precious, and too attractive. We have made Him our unique choice.
The same principle operated in the garden of Eden when God placed Adam before the two trees, which denoted two sources. God wanted man to choose Him as the tree of life.
The tree of life was a symbol, signifying God as the proper source (cf. Psa. 36:9; John 1:4; 10:10b; John 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:4). If we only read Genesis 2, we will be unable to understand the meaning of the tree of life. However, the Gospel of John reveals the life denoted by the tree of life in a concrete way. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life," and John 15:5 tells us that the Lord Jesus is a vine tree. If we put these two verses together, we will realize that Christ is the tree of life. Jesus, the embodiment of God, is the tree of life. Therefore, the tree of life in Genesis 2 is a symbol of God as the source of life.
Besides this source, there is another tree, another source in the universe — death. However, this tree is not called the tree of death; it is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is such a tree in this universe. These two trees oppose one another, the tree of life denoting God as the source of life, and the tree of knowledge signifying Satan as the source of death. As God is the source of life, Satan is the source of death. Therefore, in Genesis 2 we find two sources signified by two trees.
Throughout the course of this life-study, we have pointed out several times that nearly everything in Genesis 1 and 2 is a seed of the divine revelation. The two trees are such seeds. Along with all the other seeds sown in Genesis 1 and 2, these seeds grow in the following books of the Bible and are reaped as a harvest in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 20:10, 14 we see that death is cast into the lake of fire. In Revelation 22:2 we see that life abides in the New Jerusalem. At the beginning of the Bible we find death and life, and at the end of the Bible we again see death and life. Between the two ends of the Bible two lines are set forth — the line of death and the line of life. Both lines begin in the book of Genesis and end in the book of Revelation. Death begins with the tree of knowledge of good and evil and ends with the lake of fire. Life begins with the tree of life and ends at the New Jerusalem. Before we were saved, we were on the line of death. After we were saved, we were put on the line of life.
The first of these two choices was the tree of life, which denoted God Himself as life. The content of the tree of life is life. It is life, simply, purely, and absolutely. The nature of this tree and the result of this tree are also life. Life is the content, nature, and result. Everything is life.
The principle of the tree of life is dependence. Perhaps many of you are not clear about this principle of dependence. Allow me to use the illustration of graduation. Nearly everyone reading this message has graduated from some kind of school, either elementary school, high school, college, or university. Although we may graduate from such schools, we can never graduate from a restaurant. We may graduate from studying, but we should never graduate from eating. Furthermore, we cannot graduate from drinking water or from breathing air. I encourage you to study well and to graduate from school as soon as possible. However, I would never encourage you to graduate from breathing, for if you do that you will die. What is the meaning of this? It means that knowledge creates independence and that life demands dependence. Obtaining a certain body of knowledge permits us to graduate and to act independently. For example, I may not know how to cook. After studying the art of cooking under an expert chef, I will eventually become knowledgeable, independent, and able to cook without the aid of my instructor. However, in the things pertaining to life we can never be independent. We are dependent upon life constantly. I have been breathing since the day I was born, and I continue to breathe twenty-four hours a day. I have never graduated from breathing. I can never be independent of breathing and stay alive. I should not say, "I have practiced enough breathing. Now I am an expert. I can teach you to breathe, but I don't need to breathe myself." Regardless how old we are, we remain dependent upon breathing because breathing is a matter of life.
When God called Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees, He did not give him a map. God did not say, "Abraham, here is a map for your journey. I want to bring you out of Ur of the Chaldees and into the good land. This map is very clear. If you follow every turn accurately, you will arrive at your destination." God simply told Abraham to leave his country, kinsmen, and father's house. God did not tell Abraham where he should go. Why did God deal with Abraham in this way? God led him in this manner because, prior to the call of Abraham, the human race had fallen far away from God. Man had forsaken the presence of God and was living absolutely according to knowledge, not according to God as life. God intervened to call Abraham out of that situation and bring him back to Himself. God did not give Abraham a map or directions, because His intention was that Abraham had to live and move continually in His presence. God's presence was the map. God's presence was the direction, the leading, and the guidance. If Abraham had asked God, "Lord, tell me where I should go tomorrow," He would have replied, "My child, sleep well and be at peace. Do not be troubled. Tomorrow I will be your guidance. I will be your living map."
No automobile driver likes a back-seat driver. However, if you are the driver of a heavenly automobile, you need a co-driver. If you have the living God as your co-driver, you will not need a map. He will be your living map and your living guide. Actually, you will even cease being the driver and let Him drive. You may sit near Him and enjoy His driving saying, "Why must I labor and take care of all the turns? Lord Jesus, You do it. Lord, You drive in my place. Let me simply enjoy Your driving." This is what it means to be dependent on life.
Suppose, on the contrary, that I learn every doctrine, every book of the Bible, and compose hundreds of messages to supply me for a whole lifetime of ministry. If I were such a person, I could only give you the tree of knowledge. Knowledge does not require our dependence. Once you have acquired knowledge, recording it in your memory or in your notebooks, you may stay far away from the Lord's presence and still work for Him. When you have knowledge, you do not need to depend on the Lord Jesus. The Lord could be in the third heavens and you in a remote region of the earth and you could still conduct your ministry.
The way of life is absolutely different from this. Many times I have been burdened about what I should speak in a forthcoming meeting. For example, once I prayed the entire afternoon and evening saying, "Lord, give me a word. O Lord, what is Your burden?" Although I had a burden, I had no clear guidance relating to the content of the burden. I had to speak that night. As I entered the meeting hall, I had no word. As the congregation was singing and praying, I was burdened, but still had no word. I continued to pray, "Lord, what is Your burden? What is Your message? O Lord, what do You want me to say?" Although it was time for me to deliver the message, I still did not know what to speak. I stepped up to the platform and said, "Let us open the Bible..." Even at that very moment I did not know what book. Then I said, "...and read the book of Genesis," although I did not know what chapter. Then I said, "Chapter three," yet I did not know which verse. Only then was I clear to begin a message on Genesis 3:15, which says that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. A living message came forth. From the beginning to the end I was dependent. I had no knowledge. All I could do was depend upon the living Lord. This is the principle of the tree of life.
We may apply this principle to the teaching about marriage in Ephesians 5. All Christian wives know the verse in Ephesians 5 which tells them to submit to their own husbands. All Christian husbands know the verse which tells them to love their wives. Nevertheless, wives and husbands fail to fulfill the requirements of these verses because they take Ephesians 5 as the tree of knowledge, not as the tree of life. Husbands and wives, you should not live according to the tree of knowledge. You must live by the tree of life. As a wife you should say, "Lord, I don't know how to submit to my husband. Lord, even if I do know, I cannot do it. I will forget about it, Lord. I won't use my effort or energy to fulfill this requirement. Lord Jesus, I simply stay in Your presence. I want to abide in You and enjoy You twenty-four hours a day." If you do this, submission spontaneously will flow out of your inner being. It will be the overflow of your enjoyment of Christ as your inner life. This is dependence on the tree of life.
What is the principle of the tree of life? Its principle is dependence. We all must be dependent. Do not take the way of knowledge, for the result of that way is death.
The second choice was the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:17), which was the opposite of the tree of life. Note that this tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, not simply the knowledge of evil. Both the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil come from the same tree. It does not matter whether knowledge is the knowledge of good or of evil. As long as it is knowledge, it does not belong to the tree of life. It belongs to the tree of knowledge.
Although the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, it does not signify him directly. It firstly signifies everything apart from God and then it signifies Satan indirectly, because Satan is hidden at the back of the things that are apart from God. Satan likes to conceal himself. Thus, the tree of knowledge represents him indirectly.
Satan is not as frank as God. God is very frank and always comes to the front. Satan, however, is subtle, always staying at the rear. If Satan wants to trouble you, he will not do it openly and frankly. He will do it subtly, acting through your wife or through a part of the world, such as a department store. Sometimes, Satan even utilizes the Bible, operating through the letters of the Scripture to harass you. Remember how the Jewish religionists, the Pharisees and the scribes, used the Bible to condemn the Lord Jesus to death (John 19:7). Because Satan is subtle, the tree of knowledge does not signify him directly. It signifies everything apart from God, including good things, scriptural things, and religious things. Regardless of whether a thing is good or evil, as long as it is not God Himself it can be utilized by Satan.
The things apart from God fall into three categories: knowledge, good, and evil. Suppose you have the intention of doing a certain good thing. Deep in your spirit, however, you have the sense not to touch it and not to do it. You are not convinced by this inner sense which forbids you to do it and you go to one of the elders saying, "Brother, look at this good thing I have in mind to do. It is very good. Why don't I have the peace to do it?" The elder may say, "It does not matter whether or not you have the peace. You should do it because it is good." If the elder gives such a reply, he will certainly be an elder of knowledge, not knowing the principle of life. Every proper elder should say, "Brother, we should never go along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Our principle is not good and bad, right and wrong. Our principle is life." Do not employ the principle of good and bad, but cooperate with the principle of life. If you do not have peace within, it means that the Spirit of life does not agree with what you intend to do. You need to cooperate with Him. If you do, you will receive life. Have you not had this kind of experience repeatedly in the past? Whenever you acted according to the good, you were killed. You experienced death. However, when you acted according to the inner life, you received more life.
The tree of knowledge firstly signifies everything utilized by Satan, regardless of whether it is good or evil. It does not signify Satan directly, because he likes to hide. When Satan first entered into man, he did not do it in a frank way. He came in the form of a serpent. At the beginning of the Bible, the serpent was very cunning and apparently was quite attractive (Gen. 3:1), unlike the ugly serpents under God's curse. As Eve conversed with the serpent, she did not realize that Satan was in it. Herein lies the principle of Satan's appearing: he never appears frankly, but subtly.
We find another example of Satan's subtle appearing in the case of Peter in the Gospels. Peter was an honest, faithful disciple, and he loved the Lord Jesus very much. When the Lord spoke of His coming crucifixion, Peter said, "God be merciful to You, Lord; this shall by no means happen to You!" (Matt. 16:21-23). The Lord Jesus turned to Peter and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!" Apparently, Peter was the speaker; actually it was Satan in Peter. Satan was also in Judas when he betrayed the Lord Jesus. Judas was filled with Satan and called "a devil" (John 13:2, 27; 6:70).
By all these examples we can see that Satan never acts frankly. He is always subtle, using others as a covering. You may say, "That is not Satan. That is my wife. That is my dear husband." Nevertheless, the wife and the husband have been used by Satan. Therefore, we must be careful.
The contents of the tree of knowledge are all things apart from God. Even the Bible inspired by God and the law given by God may be utilized in letters by Satan as the tree of knowledge. Even the experience of Christ that you had today can become the tree of knowledge tomorrow. I have already illustrated the experience of giving a message on Genesis 3:15 in complete dependence upon the Lord. That message was very living. Suppose, however, I am invited to speak in another city, and I think to myself, "I gave such a good message on Genesis 3:15. I think I'll repeat the same message." If I do this, that message will become the tree of knowledge. Two months ago that message was the tree of life; now, once it is repeated in the way of knowledge, it becomes the tree of knowledge. You may have a similar experience after offering up a living prayer to the Lord. One night you may be offering up a living prayer in dependence upon the Lord. Because that prayer was excellent and living, you decide to repeat the same prayer, word for word, in the next prayer meeting. To your surprise, the prayer that once was the tree of life becomes the tree of knowledge. Thus, even a living prayer can become the tree of knowledge.
Let us take an example from our family life. Parents often instruct their children by saying, "Don't you see that John is such a good boy? Why don't you act the way he does?" If John's behavior comes from a dependence upon the Lord, it is the tree of life. If another child imitates John, his imitation is the tree of knowledge. We need to apply this to ourselves. If we act in a certain way according to life and then repeat that action according to the knowledge derived from our first experience, that repetition becomes the tree of knowledge.
Even the one Bible can be two trees to us. If you depend on the Lord and exercise your spirit as you touch the Word, the Bible is the tree of life. However, if you exercise your mind and investigate the Bible as a book of letters, it will be the tree of knowledge. We can make the Bible in letters the tree of knowledge. The Lord Jesus told the Jews, "You search the Scriptures..you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). To merely search the Scriptures is to come to the tree of knowledge; to contact the Lord through the Word is to come to the tree of life. Never make the Bible the tree of knowledge. Always keep it as the tree of life. The determining factor is whether or not you are dependent upon the Lord as you come to the Bible. If you are independent of Him, whatever you may get is the tree of knowledge. If you are dependent upon Him, everything you receive is the tree of life. We should never think that the two trees mentioned in Genesis 2 are ancient history. Genesis 2 is not an antiquated record; it is a living, up-to-date, divine revelation of two principles.
The nature and result of the tree of life are both life because it is a tree of life. But the nature and result of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are both death because knowledge, good, and evil are all of death and bring in death. Anything that is not life is of death and results in death. Actually, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the tree of death; yet it is not called the tree of death, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Death is not only behind evil; it is also behind knowledge and good. The title of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is subtle because Satan always likes to conceal himself. Satan has the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Since the tree of knowledge of good and evil is actually the tree of death, it signifies Satan.
