Jordan Eskovitz on Nostr: I'm with you on a lot of this. However when God declared all his works *good*, that ...
I'm with you on a lot of this. However when God declared all his works *good*, that included the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
I don't know that there are any other areas in Creation that we can point to that include a created thing that is always and forever off limits. The implication we draw from scripture is that Adam and Eve would have been given permission to eat of the tree in the right time. In God's timing. The prohibition was one that required humility and trust, and the permission would have come with maturity. This theme is carried all throughout the scripture, such as when the Israelites wanted a king. Their error was not in wanting an earthly king, the implication is that God would have given them one eventually. Their error was in wanting a king on their terms (like the nations) and in their timing (now!).
Adam and Eve were not chastised for wanting to be like God (we see all throughout the rest of scripture that we are supposed to seek that), or seeking to know and determine good and evil (Solomon is rewarded for asking for this). Rather, they are chastised for *grasping* for this on their terms and in their timing. This is contrasted with Christ in Phil. 2:5-7 when Paul writes that Christ did not "count equality with God a thing to be grasped".
This wouldn't negate your point either, by the way, because whether God permits the eating of the tree or gives wisdom by other means, like in the giving of the Spirit, it is still from God and received in faith through submitting to his good will and purposes.
I don't know that there are any other areas in Creation that we can point to that include a created thing that is always and forever off limits. The implication we draw from scripture is that Adam and Eve would have been given permission to eat of the tree in the right time. In God's timing. The prohibition was one that required humility and trust, and the permission would have come with maturity. This theme is carried all throughout the scripture, such as when the Israelites wanted a king. Their error was not in wanting an earthly king, the implication is that God would have given them one eventually. Their error was in wanting a king on their terms (like the nations) and in their timing (now!).
Adam and Eve were not chastised for wanting to be like God (we see all throughout the rest of scripture that we are supposed to seek that), or seeking to know and determine good and evil (Solomon is rewarded for asking for this). Rather, they are chastised for *grasping* for this on their terms and in their timing. This is contrasted with Christ in Phil. 2:5-7 when Paul writes that Christ did not "count equality with God a thing to be grasped".
This wouldn't negate your point either, by the way, because whether God permits the eating of the tree or gives wisdom by other means, like in the giving of the Spirit, it is still from God and received in faith through submitting to his good will and purposes.