The Shade of the Forbidden Tree and the Shade of the Tree of Life
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. . .They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery."
Hosea 4:6, 13
In the Garden of Eden Adam was given command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He was, however, given opportunity to eat of the Tree of Life. Two covenant meals were before him. One was with God, and one was with Satan. This simple truth transcends even into the New Covenant.
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?...You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons."
1 Corinthians 10:16, 21
When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit from that forbidden tree they demonstrated their covenantal unfaithfulness to God by eating a covenant meal with Satan. What was being offered to them by the hands of Satan was not simply a physical object that was off limits but what that object represented. There is certainty that Adam and Eve would have enjoyed their blissful state if they had not eaten that fruit. This notion of the physical meeting the spiritual is seen throughout Scripture. In most evangelical circles today there is little emphasis on the importance of the sacraments baptism and the Lord's Supper. They tend to be reduced to outward symbols and testimonials for others. Indeed they are such but they are more than this. Consider Noah: Could Noah and his family have been saved from the flood if they agreed to God's message but had not built or boarded the Ark? How about Abraham? Does not James the Just make it clear that Abraham's faith was justified by his works? Or, could the firstborn of the Israelites have survived the coming angel of death if they did not mark their doorposts with the blood of the sacrificed lamb? Is it no wonder, then, that Peter, in referencing Noah and the deluge as a type, speaks of baptism as that which "now saves you" (1 Pet. 3:21)? It is elsewhere said of baptism to wash away our sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16). Now, before receiving charges of being a sacramentalist let me affirm my agreement with the Westminster Confession's explanation on sacraments. But let me also recommend Augustine's:
And this is the meaning of the great sacrament of baptism which is solemnized among us, that all who attain to this grace should die to sin, as He is said to have died to sin, because He died in the flesh, which is the likeness of sin; and rising from the font regenerate, as He arose alive from the grave, should begin a new life in the Spirit, whatever may be the age of the body? 1
For from the infant newly born to the old man bent with age, as there is none shut out from baptism, so there is none who in baptism does not die to sin. But infants die only to original sin; those who are older die also to all the sins which their evil lives have added to the sin which they brought with them. 2
But since no one can doubt that baptism, which is the sacrament of the remission of sins, is possessed even by murderers, who are yet in darkness because the hatred of their brethren is not excluded from their hearts, therefore either no remission of sins is given to them if their baptism is accompanied by no change of heart for the better, or if the sins are remitted, they at once return on them again. . . 3
But to this Marcellus we have an answer in what has been said above concerning baptism and the remission of sins, explaining how there can be baptism in a man although there be in him no remission of his sins. 4
If one were only to read the first two comments from Augustine they may think he was a sacramentalist (that sacraments save) but it is clear that Augustine understood that what should normally be expected in baptism may not always necessarily come about. That is, that we should confidently assume the grace of God meets with us in his ordinances and only upon gross immorality or doctrinal heresy should we doubt it has been given. Baptism and the Lord's Supper speak more of what God has accomplished and of his promises to his children than what we have done in response to him. In other words, baptism is Christ's and what he says of baptism is of more value than what we may reduce it to, a mere public profession. The sacraments speak of great promises that Christ will fulfill, provided faith accompanies them. We ought to gain and grow in assurance when we partake of the Lord's Supper for he spoke of it as his blood and body and we know that those who are his body and blood will experience a resurrection like his to eternal life (Jn. 6:58; Rom. 6:4) .
But let us take warning lest we be destroyed by a lack of knowledge upon the pretense of gaining knowledge. Adam and Eve sought knowledge and inherited death by the meal they shared in. The meal we are given is from the Lord. As Adam brought death through a tree by what he did Christ brought life on a tree by what he received. Such is our Tree of Life. Let us not forget the Law like Adam or like the Israelite (Hos. 6:7). Let us not seek the shade of the various trees that are offered in this world and so turn our progeny over to ruin as warned by Hosea. We cannot covenant with demons. But how does this happen? First, consider these questions: Do we think that by pursuing the knowledge of this world for the betterment of our children we will escape such judgment? When we hand ourselves and our children over to the wisdom of our age for their health, wealth, and happiness will they not reap disease, poverty, and gloom? Lord forgive us and cleanse us for being so stouthearted as to consider the world wiser than you! By our congratulatory offerings to the universities and institutions which deny Christ we mock our Lord and this without knowledge, again, upon pretense of gaining such. What wisdom will we gain? What knowledge is worth 'making a living' when at its foundation such a living trains us to deny the life-giver himself? Truly we are permitted to eat with the unbeliever but we are not to eat with him in a covenant meal. But where is our commitment when we sell ourselves and our future wages to attain knowledge that is at enmity with Christ? There are two tables. The wine and the bread offered to Abraham are ours in Christ. That great marriage supper of the Lamb is our table. Whatever knowledge is gained, let it be that which is welcomed at His table. Indeed the pagan knows many things but it is useless to us if we do not correct its origin. If it is true it is Christ's, for He is King. Never let it be that His glory belong to another. Exalt him, declare his ownership over all things, and do not let demons claim as theirs what is rightfully Christ's. This shift and denial of Christ's ownership is the pattern of Satan. God had promised the nations to Christ and during his temptation Satan tempted Christ by taking him up on a tall mountain and offered to him the nations. Christ trusted his Father. So ought we do the same. All authority in heaven and on earth are the Lord's. He did not wear a crown of thorns on his head as mere mockery. No, by wearing such a crown he was crowned with what was a curse upon Adam's labor. The blood and water that spilled from his side are our lifeblood and so Christ redeems the whole man including what man was originally responsible over, creation. He gives us life in our hearts and minds and he also restores the work of our hands. Where Adam failed in his dominion and resulted in a curse Christ took upon himself the curse and set in motion the renewal of all things. We must rest in that shade of that tree, the cross, where all was purchased for us. He is our wisdom, our knowledge, and it is he who gives us freedom and power to succeed in our efforts. It is not fitting for us to obfuscate the ownership that is Christ's. We do just that and worse when we trust in the techniques, the systems, the money, the armies, the governments, the schools, and all those things that offer pleasure, success, work, security, safety, and knowledge but deny or do not acknowledge Christ as King over themselves. In trusting in such things we covenant not with the Lord but with his enemies "because their shade is good" (v. 13). This is the pragmatism of our day. We seek the shade offered in the world because of its promises, like at Eden. They promise a bright future, wealth, happiness, longevity, success, and more. Yet today we opine that we are in a dread state. Has it not crossed our minds that we are reaping what we have sown? "For they sow the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind" (Hos. 8:7). Consider, therefore, Christ as owner and ruler not only of your soul but of all that you are under and over. We cannot continue to sit at the table of demons, sup with them, accept their methods, put them into practice, and not expect God's discipline, or worse.
"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!" Ps. 57:11
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you."
Ps. 22:27
2 Fathers, Church. The Complete Works of the Church Fathers: A total of 64 authors, and over 2,500 works of the Early Christian Church (Kindle Locations 87303-87306). Amazon.com. Kindle Edition.
3 Of Hippo, Augustine. On Baptism (Kindle Locations 2171-2174). Fig. Kindle Edition.
4 Of Hippo, Augustine. On Baptism (Kindle Locations 3210-3211). Fig. Kindle Edition.
For further reading: The Covenantal Tithe, Gary North
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