In the Bible, we see two trees, two sources, two ways, two principles, and two consummations.
The tree of life signifies the Triune God as life to man in man’s relationship with Him, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan as death to man in man’s fall before God.
This week in our Crystallization-study of the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes we come to another crystal in the book of Job, with the title, Job and the Two Trees.
We may be surprised to read this, for we can’t see any mention of the two trees in the book of Job; they are mentioned in Genesis and then the tree of life is mentioned in other books of the Bible, but not in Job.
Even more, Job was written five hundred years before the book of Genesis was written, for Job was contemporary with Abraham; obviously, Job had not read the book of Genesis.
When we come to the book of Job, in the entirety of the Bible, we may think that this book is a bit “out of place”; we may even wonder why is there such a book in the Bible, a book that doesn’t really sound like the rest of the books in the Bible, and it doesn’t “taste” the same as the other books.
How can we see the two trees in the book of Job, and why do we say that “Job and the Two Trees” is a crystal in this book?
There is an underlying thought in the entire book – the thought of the two trees.
Out of the forty-two chapters in the book of Job, forty-one and a half of them are the tree of knowledge, and one half of the last chapter is the tree of life; so we can say that this book is a demonstration, a display, of the two trees.
What we see in Genesis 2 is Adam, God (signified by the tree of life), and Satan (signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil); in Job 1 we see the same situation.
However, in the book of Job we don’t have the tree of knowledge outside of man but in man – the tree of knowledge has evolved and developed for two thousand years from Adam to Job, and now we have Job constituted with the tree of knowledge.
Job’s situation is actually more serious than Adam’s situation; to Adam, the tree of knowledge was still outside of him, for it was objective to him, not having been planted into his being until the fall.
With Job, however, the tree of knowledge is grown and developed for two thousand years, and what you touched when you came to him is knowledge, good, and evil; Job even became the tree of knowledge, for this tree completely took over his entire inward being.
If we would go forward four thousand years later, from Job to today, we are in a worse situation than Job; the tree of knowledge of good and evil has developed into a monstrous human culture that takes over the entire inner being of every person on earth – including you and me.
We are born in the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and this tree has had six thousand years to grow and develop within the fallen human being. How about that!
If you were wondering why is such a book as Job in the Bible, the answer is God’s economy; God’s economy is the central vision of the entire Bible, the subject of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
We have the tree of life in Genesis and also in Revelation, and all throughout the Bible, we see the line of the tree of life, for the Bible is a book of life, a book of God’s economy.
God’s economy is mysterious; it has to do with the tree of life, for the tree of life signifies God as life to man for man to partake of and become the same as God in life and nature, even to become a little tree of life.
God presents Himself as food to man so that man would eat Him and be constituted with Him to become a man of life, a man of God, a God-man. Hallelujah!
And the book of Job shows us clearly what God’s economy is not; similar to the book of James in the New Testament, it shows us what it means to be on the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it warns us to return to the line of the tree of life. Amen!
There are Two Trees, Two Sources, Two Ways, Two Principles, and Two Consummations – Life and Death!
According to the entire divine revelation in the Scriptures, there are two trees, two sources, two ways, two principles, and two consummations.
In Genesis we see the two trees – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; these two trees become two sources, which issue in two ways, two principles of living, and consummate in two consummations – the New Jerusalem and the lake of fire.
When we partake of one of the two trees, we take in a source, we live in a certain way, we have a particular principle in our living, and there is a certain consummation.
The way we take becomes a principle, and the principle leads to a different outcome than the other principle.
We need to realize that everything depends on the source; if we take in the wrong source, the wrong tree, we will automatically be on the wrong way, we will live by the wrong principle, and we will arrive at the wrong destination – and we won’t even know it!
When Satan came to deceive man, he didn’t tell her the truth; rather, he lied to her.
What God told man is that he can eat any of the trees in the garden that they want, especially the tree of life, but there’s one tree they shouldn’t eat, for when they do, they will die.
Satan didn’t come to Eve and tell her, Hi there, I’m the devil – I’m the source of death, and I want you to take in the tree of knowledge so that you will die.
No, Satan didn’t do that, and he never does that; rather, he lies. Satan lies even when it seems that he speaks a factual truth; he is a liar, the father of lies, and whatever he says is a lie.
When he came to Eve, he first put a thought into her mind: is that really what God said? Did God really say that? Did He really mean that? This put a doubt in her mind, and she entertained that thought, so she was hooked.
Then the devil came in with a direct lie saying, You will surely not die; rather, you will be like God!
First, the enemy puts doubt in us toward God and His Word, and then he lies to us. He lied to Eve by telling her that they will be like God when they eat the tree of knowledge.
The reality is that, when we eat of the tree of knowledge we become satan-ified, we die; eating the tree of knowledge makes us a viper, a child of the devil – this is the truth.
But instead of telling Eve the truth, Satan lied to her, and she took in the wrong source.
He told her that she will be like God; don’t you want to be like God, knowing both good and evil? God is so great, so good, and He doesn’t do evil, don’t you want to be like God?
Satan, instead of telling Eve the truth about taking in the tree of death which leads to the way of death, the principle of death, and the consummation of death, he deceived her by telling her that she will be like God.
What a deception it is to try to be like God by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!
What a deception it is for us to try to have natural goodness, religion, and improvement of the self, to make us “like God” outwardly but not inwardly and intrinsically!
We need to realize that, when we eat of the wrong tree, we take in the wrong source, we go on the wrong way, we live according to the wrong principle, and the consummation of our living will be the lake of fire. Oh, Lord!
But when we eat of the tree of life, taking in God Himself as life and life-supply, we take God as our source, we live in the way of life, our daily living is in the principle of depending on God, and the consummation is the holy city, the New Jerusalem.
The tree of life consummates in the city of life, the holy city, the city of water, the New Jerusalem; the tree of knowledge consummates in the lake of fire.
Between the two trees at the beginning of the Bible and the two consummations at the end, there are two lines, which become two ways and two principles of living.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the divine revelation in the Bible concerning the two trees – the two sources issuing in two ways, two principles of living, and two consummations. We choose the tree of life by coming to You to partake of You as life and take You as the source, our way, and our principle of living, so that we may consummate the New Jerusalem! Save us, Lord, from being deceived by Satan to be “like God” outwardly, knowing good and evil, yet without the life of God inwardly! Save us from being deceived by the evil one to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and thus partake of death, be on the line of death, live in the principle of death, and consummate in the wrong destination! Oh Lord, we return to You as the tree of life: keep us partaking of You as life daily!
The Tree of Life Signifies God as Life to Man; the Tree of Knowledge Signifies Satan as Death to Man
What does the tree of life signify? The tree of life – seen both in Genesis 2 and in Rev. 21-22 – signifies the Triune God as life to man in man’s relationship with Him (Gen. 2:9, 17; Psa. 36:9).
This should be the governing principle of man’s relationship with God.
When God created man, He put him in a garden called Eden, that is, Pleasure; then, He put man in front of the tree of life, giving him no instructions what to do except a warning: don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
This indicates that man was created as a vessel to contain God as life to be filled with God; man was created in God’s image to take God in as life so that man would express God in His image and represent Him with His dominion.
However, there is another option, another source besides life; there’s the tree of death, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
When we eat of this source, we arrive at the wrong consummation. Eve, along with Adam, was deceived; man partook of the tree of knowledge.
What does the tree of knowledge signify? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, the devil, the evil one, as death to man in man’s fall before God.
The opposite of the tree of life is the tree of death; the tree of knowledge is the tree of death, but Satan made this tree more appealing by calling it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
This tree signifies Satan as death, with the implications of knowledge, good, and evil.
The tree of life is so simple: it only gives you life; the tree of knowledge is complicated, for it involves knowledge, good, and evil.
When man partook of the tree of knowledge, they partook of death, and death entered into them; on one hand, their eyes were opened and they became more knowledgeable, but on the other hand, they were deadened and separated from God.
Their eating of the tree of knowledge was a sin; we may think that doing a bad thing is a sin, but simply eating the tree of knowledge is a sin.
Only God is good (Matt. 19:17); gaining God equals gaining the genuine good, for no one is good except God (Mark 10:17-18).
If we try to gain any other good besides God, that is terrible, for we will gain Satan, who seems good but is actually evil, and we end up in death.
Our governing principle in our relationship with God should be partaking of God as the tree of life.
The tree of life gives us life; the tree of knowledge is complicated, giving us both knowledge and good, and evil, which all result in death.
The tree of life is the source of men who seek God as life for their supply and enjoyment; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the source of men who follow Satan as their poison unto death and eternal perdition (John 1:4; 15:1; 8:44).
All we need to do is seek God as life for our supply and enjoyment; we simply need to turn to Him, eat Him, and take care of partaking only of Him as life, rejecting mere knowledge or good or evil.
When we don’t choose to partake of God as life, when we don’t take in the tree of life, we actually follow Satan as our poison unto death and eternal perdition.
Of course, we may not know we’re doing that, and most people don’t know they follow Satan, neither do they want to follow him when they take in the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Oh, Lord!
May we choose God as our life and life supply, partake of God as life, and enjoy God as life, and may we reject anything that is beside God, no matter how interesting or good it may seem to be!
Lord Jesus, we choose to partake of You as the tree of life so that we may receive God as life, live in dependence of God, and consummate in the New Jerusalem as the holy city of God! Amen, Lord, we reject anything that comes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and we choose life! Save us from following Satan as our poison unto death and eternal perdition by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Lord, we take You as our unique source. We seek You as life for our supply and enjoyment, and we want to remain on the line of life and be persons of life. You are our enjoyment, Lord, and You are our life; we take You as our unique supply and food, and we reject anything else besides You, for we want to remain on the line of life and be persons of life consummating in the New Jerusalem!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Job (msgs 1, 4-7, 9, 12, 15, 21, 23-23, 31, 35-37), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 4, Man and the Two Trees.
- Hymns on this topic:
– The tree of life, how sweet the fruit, / With God as life complete. / I once was dead, but now I live, / Was starved, but now I eat. (Hymns #1143)
– Man in the garden of the clay was formed, / In nature as the Lord created him; / The tree of life was then without the man, / Not having yet become his life within. / But in the city glorious the tree / Within the corporate “man” doth grow, thereby / Revealing Christ Himself as life divine / Being to man his inward life supply. (Hymns #975)
– Yet no rules He gave, no instructions, save: / “Every tree shall be to thee for meat.” / But one tree, He said, surely makes you dead; / Fruit of knowledge isn’t good to eat. / Knowledge, knowledge, / Fruit of knowledge wasn’t meant for meat. / Knowledge, knowledge, / Fruit of knowledge isn’t good to eat. (Hymns #1144)
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