Morning Nourishment
Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
In Genesis 2 there are two trees—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, in Revelation 21 and 22 we see only one tree—the tree of life—in a holy city. In the center of this city is the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1), indicating God’s administration….Out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, that is, out of the one God, flows a river, and on the two sides of this river grows the tree of life (22:2a). According to the principle, if the tree of life ends in the city of water, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil must end in the lake of fire. All the evil things in Revelation 22 are involved with the lake of fire. Thus, the two ends are the city of water and the lake of fire. Between the two sources and the two ends are two lines, which become two ways. Each source issues in a line that becomes a way consummating in an end. (Life-study of Job, pp. 197-198)
Today’s Reading
The Bible, as a full record of the divine revelation, is a book of signs (Rev. 1:1b)….The tree of life, as the highest sign, signifies God, even the Triune God, as life to man in man’s relationship with Him (Psa. 36:9a)….The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as the highest negative sign, signifies Satan the devil, even the evil one, as death to man in man’s fall before God (Gen. 2:17).The first tree signifies God only as life, with no implications of other elements….The second tree signifies Satan as death, with the implications of knowledge, good, and evil.
Whereas God is simple, Satan is very complicated. According to the divine revelation, knowledge is Satan, good is Satan, and evil is Satan. Today the world is in an age that worships knowledge. Before eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were ignorant, not knowing, so they had no sin. After they ate of the tree of knowledge, their eyes were opened, and they became knowledgeable. That was sin. We all consider that to commit sin is sin, but we may not consider that knowing sin is sin.
The genuine good is God Himself (Matt. 19:17a); hence, gaining God equals gaining the genuine good. When the rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus and called Him, “Good Teacher,” the Lord Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One—God” (Mark 10:17-18). If besides God we gain any other good, that is terrible. If we touch the good things outside of God, this means that we touch Satan.
The two trees are not for producing materials but for man to eat their fruit (Gen. 3:3, 6b), the fruit of the tree of life becoming food to man for nourishing, for the dispensing of life, and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil becoming poison to man for killing. To eat means to take in something that is outside of us and then digest and assimilate it. We must be careful concerning what we eat. Surely, today’s television and so many different kinds of newspapers and magazines are branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The two trees, as signs of God and Satan, are the two sources of two categories of men. The first tree is the source of men who seek God as life for their supply and enjoyment, of whom Abel is the leading one (Gen. 4:4). The second tree is the source of men who follow Satan as their poison unto death and eternal perdition. (Life-study of Job, pp. 198-200)
Further Reading: Life-study of Job, msgs. 1, 4-7, 9, 12, 15, 21, 23-24, 31, 35-37; CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 1, pp. 131-135