Genesis 2:15-17 (NKJV): Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.”
3:1-8 (NKJV): 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’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 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.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Do you see what happened here? Total Perfect Love to total defiance/destruction.
Some people ask, “Why did God create evil?” Some who ask even pull in scripture to back their question up.
Isaiah 45:7 (KJV): “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
However, this is an example of how people misuse scripture to get their point across. We are taught, when we study, we need to put the verses into context. In this particular case, it happens to be something that is used out of context due to a translation. I will let our friends from gotquestions.org explain this more:
Question: “Why does Isaiah 45:7 say that God created evil?”
Answer: Isaiah 45:7 in the King James Version reads, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” How does Isaiah 45:7 agree with the view that God did not create evil? There are two key facts that need to be considered. (1) The word translated “evil” is from a Hebrew word that means “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.” Notice how the other major English Bible translations render the word: “disaster” (NIV, HCSB), “calamity” (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and “woe” (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, due to the diversity of possible definitions, it is unwise to assume that “I create evil” in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.
(2) The context of Isaiah 45:7 makes it clear that something other than “bringing moral evil into existence” is in mind. The context of Isaiah 45:7 is God rewarding Israel for obedience and punishing Israel for disobedience. God pours out salvation and blessings on those whom He favors. God brings judgment on those who continue to rebel against Him. “Woe to him who quarrels with his Master” (Isaiah 45:9). That is the person to whom God brings “evil” and “disaster.” So, rather than saying that God created “moral evil,” Isaiah 45:7 is presenting a common theme of Scripture – that God brings disaster on those who continue in hard-hearted rebellion against Him.
(Taken from https://www.gotquestions.org/Isaiah-45-7.html, January 4, 2018)
So, what we learn is that God didn’t create evil. If we look at the passage from Genesis 2:17, we see that God put a tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why is this important? Do you remember that we looked at when God created man He created man in His image? Well one of the things He did is gave man choice. This also is one of the things He did, to show man His Love. If God created man without choice, that would mean that man is either; a. a robot or b. forced to love God, which, is not true love.
Tying this passage from Genesis 2 with Genesis 3:1-8, we have an understanding of what happened. When God told Adam, and essentially Eve even though she was not yet created, it was Adam’s job to instruct her, not to eat from this tree, He was telling Adam if he did, he would essentially bring destruction to the perfection that God had brought.
Now, we see that Satan has a way to twist scripture to encourage us to sin. In the beginning of this passage of Genesis 3, we see that he questioned what God meant about death. Even though, in a sense, in this interaction with Eve, he was correct in saying that they would not die from eating the fruit from this tree, he was not completely correct. Satan, in the form of the serpent, implied that they would not see immediate physical death. However, we see that this choice does bring consequences of not only physical death at a later time, but more importantly, Spiritual death. With Adam’s and Eve’s choice of doing something that God told them not to do, it also brought destruction to all of creation.
Do you realize that God’s desire for us is obedience and not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22-23)? Do you realize that if we follow Him at His Word that we would see great things (Deuteronomy 28:47-48)? Do you realize that even in our sins, He still loves us (Romans 5:8)? Do you realize that it is important to study The Whole Counsel of God (Acts 20:26-28) and not just bits and pieces of it?
We should desire to seek God on a daily basis through a relationship with Jesus. If we don’t, we are surely going to see destruction, or in a different light, condemnation to our eternal lives.
John 3:14-21 (NKJV): “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
We should look to Him daily to seek a relationship with Him. I want to encourage you to seek Him today, if you haven’t already. If you need help, have questions or need direction in this regard, please, feel free to let me know.
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Any scripture referenced here is taken from New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted
