”The Two Trees” Genesis 2:8,9

Episode 3

"The Two Trees" Genesis 2:8,9

Genesis is a marvelous book;

· The book of beginnings (origin of heaven, earth, man, woman, marriage, sin, sacrifice, prophecy, human government, etc.)

· God creates the earth, populates it and destroys it only to re-populate it

· 4 great events, 4 great people

· Covers a period of 2,000 years - There is a lot in this book

· Full of Types / Spiritual illustrations, symbols, and pictures of Jesus Christ and scriptural truth

Type – “A divinely appointed illustration of some scriptural truth.”

Derived from Greek word “tupos” – impression, stamp, pattern, or form

“A type must never be used to teach a doctrine, but only to illustrate a doctrine elsewhere explicitly taught.” – Dr. J. Edwin Hartill

A divinely appointed illustration

What are some types of Christ in Genesis?

· The Ark - The Ark is a type of Christ, offering salvation from judgment and destruction.

· Isaac – promised before he was born, he was offered up as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah (as a test to Abraham but most importantly a type of Christ) His Father, sends His servent to go fetch Him a Bride after his work as a well digger had been completed.

· Joseph - despised by his brothers who sold him into slavery for 30 pieces of silver. He was banished into a far country and later forgotten. Eventually he would be exalted to the second highest position in Egypt where he would obtained a Gentile bride and later redeemed the same brothers who had sold him into slavery.

Some other types in Genesis:

· Leah is a type of the Church, and Rachel is a type of Israel. Dr. M.R. DeHaan writes: “Leah represents the Church of the Lord Jesus; Rachel, the nation of Israel. He desired her first, but when He came to present Himself to her nineteen hundred years ago, He did not receive her, but she rejected Him, and now Rachel is barren and despised, and Leah, the Church, is bearing fruit in the millions of the redeemed who are being brought in during this present dispensation.

· Jacob was a type of Israel, his life was a type of Israel’s history. His whole life he would struggle with others and then he wrestled with God in the Wilderness before his name was changed to Israel. Israel’s history is a struggle with others and a struggle with God.

Genesis 2:9; Acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:24

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

· Just after the 6 days of creations and the seventh day of Rest.

· God’s creation is perfect and He is now creating a home for man.

· He creates every tree (pleasant to the sight and good for food) and in the midst of the garden there are two trees

o Tree of life

o Tree of knowledge of good and evil

o These tree’s cease to exist so we know very little of them.

Let’s focus on the Tree of knowledge of good and evil (we know very little):

· Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of it

· Do not know the fruit

· Adam was not a puppet; God gave him a choice, and he chose to disobey.

Let’s look over at a tree in the New Testament:

Acts 5:30 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

1 Peter 2:24 24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Notice in each of these passages, the cross of Calvary is called a “Tree”.

As mentioned before, the book of Genesis of full of types, pictures, and scriptural illustrations placed by the Holy Spirit.

“This first book in the Word of God is full of typical pictures, prophetic foreshadowings, and dispensational adumbrations, as well as important practical lessons,” - Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis

Let’s look at the “Two Tree’s.” The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and the Cross of Calvary.



The Contrast of these two trees:

A. Planting of the Trees

· Father planted – Genesis 2:8,9

(read verse 8)

– “Man’s first home was a garden; his final home will be a city. When Adam first opened his eyes to the light of day he looked out upon a scene of matchless beauty and tranquility. The fields were emerald green, the hedgerows ablaze with blossoms, the atmosphere laden with the fragrance of flowers, the forest ringing with joyous song.” - Dr. John Philipps

– Just like his final home, man’s first home was perfect. The first home was made by God for unfallen man. God rested in the first 3 verses of this Chapter, not because he was tired, but because His work was perfect.

(read verse 9)

– And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;

· “Pleasant” (khaw-mad';) primitive root; to delight in: — beauty, greatly beloved, covet, delectable thing, (X great) delight, desire, goodly, lust, (be) pleasant (thing), precious (thing).to desire, covet, take pleasure in, delight in

· Fallen planted – Matthew 27:35

Matthew 27:32-35 32And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. 33And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

Matthew 27:40-42 40And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

– Cross was two wooden beams used for capital punishment to execute criminals. They pierced the hands and the feet and the cross would be put upright and the victim is left to hang until dead. (death by asphyxiation deprived of oxygen, which can result in unconsciousness or death; suffocation.) This is an awful way to die. It is interesting to note that crucifixion originated with the Persians and was then perfected by the Romans. “The earliest historical record of crucifixion dates to c. 519 BC, when King Darius crucified 3,000 of his political enemies in Babylon. However, Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before by David as a Messianic Psalm Prophesying the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

B. Picture of the Trees

· Fair to Look at – Genesis 2:9; 3:6

i. Again, this was for unfallen man. The ground had not yet been cursed. These trees were not only everything beautiful but imagine the food that was produced from these tree’s.

· Frightening to look at – Isaiah 53:2

Isaiah 53:2 2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Isaiah 52:14 14As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:



Illustration of Naaman.

C. Presenting of the trees

· Forbidden to eat – Genesis 2:17; 3:3

· Free to eat – Psalm 34:8; John 6:35

Psalm 34:8 8O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

John 6:35 35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

2 Peter 3:9 9The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.



Outline: The Two Tree’s

I. The Location of the Tree’s

a. The Garden of Devastation: Genesis 3:6,17



Genesis 3:6 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.



Genesis 3:17 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;



· Garden of Eden was a garden of devastation

· This is where Adam disobeyed God and brought sin unto all mankind

· It shows our failure (illustration of Hollywood, total depravity)

Revelation 5:1-5 1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.



b. The Garden of Deliverance: John 19:41

John 19:41 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

· We do not know the exact location, but we know that Christ was crucified in a Garden

· The first Adam and the Last Adam both died in a Garden

1 Corinthians 15:45 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”





The first Adam brought Death in a Garden, the Second and Final Adam brought life in a Garden.



Romans 5:12-21 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”



Everything mankind ever needed before the fall was right there in the garden of eden. Everything mankind needed after the fall was in the garden of the crucifixion.





II. The Learning of the Tree’s

Eden and Calvary both have something in common: They were dark places. Eden is where the perfect man God created willfully disobeyed Him and brought death unto the World. Calvary is where the Son of God manifested in Flesh became sin and died for us. He came to us because we could not go to Him. They both teach us something; that because man disobeyed God, God had to come to man. The Cross, is just as much a tree of knowledge of good and evil as the tree that was planted in the Garden of Eden.



a. The Knowledge of Sin: Gen 3:6,7

· Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

· Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

· Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

· Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

b. The Knowledge of Grace: Genesis 3:15

· 2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

· Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ:



III. The Lasting Effects of the Tree’s

Two of the greatest events in human history; The Fall of man and the Final sacrifice of sin by the Son of God. Both have had lasting effects that cannot be undone.

1 Timothy 1:15 15This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

a. The Decision of Disobedience: Genesis 3:6,7

b. The Decision of Obedience: John 14:6; Matthew 11:28; Romans 10:13