Trees in the Garden and the Fruit

Lesson Objective: Understand the significance of the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the fruit in the story of the Fall.

Bible Reading:

Genesis 2:8-9: 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Divine Principle Reading: According to the Bible, the hope of fallen people is to approach or attain the tree of life: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”(Prov. 13:12) Thus, the Israelites of the Old Testament Age looked to the tree of life as their hope. Likewise, the hope of all Christians from the time of Jesus until today has been to approach and partake of the tree of life: “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”5(Rev. 22:14) Since the ultimate hope of humankind is the tree of life, we can infer that the hope of Adam was also the tree of life.

It is written that when Adam fell, God blocked his path to the tree of life by stationing the cherubim with a flaming sword to guard it.6(Gen. 3:24) From this we can also deduce that Adam’s hope before the Fall was the tree of life. Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden without having attained his hope, the tree of life. For fallen people ever since, the tree of life has remained a hope unfulfilled.

What was the hope of Adam during the time he was immature and growing toward perfection? He must have hoped to become a man who would realize God’s ideal of creation by growing to perfection without falling. The tree of life in fact symbolizes a man who has fully realized the ideal of creation. Perfected Adam was to be this ideal man. The tree of life thus symbolizes perfected Adam.

The purpose of God’s providence of salvation is to restore the failure to attain the tree of life in the Garden of Eden by realizing the tree of life mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Due to the Fall, Adam could not fulfill the ideal of the first tree of life.12(Gen. 2:9) In order to complete the salvation of fallen humanity, Jesus, the “last Adam,”13(I Cor. 15:45) must come again as the tree of life in the Last Days.

God did not create Adam to be alone; He also created Eve to be Adam’s spouse. Just as there was a tree in the Garden of Eden which symbolized a perfected man, there also should have been a tree which represented a woman who has fully realized the ideal of creation. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, standing beside the tree of life,14(Gen. 2:9) was this tree which, by fulfilling its good purpose, represents the ideal woman, perfected Eve.

Activity: The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil

1. Explain:
   1. As the quotes from the Bible illustrate, the tree of life represents the hope and desire of humankind. We learned from the Principles of Creation that the hope of humankind is to be able to achieve the three great blessings and live a happy and fulfilled life.
   2. After the Fall, Adam’s path to the tree of life was blocked and was unable to reach the tree of life.
   3. Thus, we can infer that the tree of life symbolizes an ideal man who has achieved his purpose.
   4. Just as there is a tree in the Garden of Eden that represents perfected man, there is also a tree that represented perfected woman which is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2. Explain: Each one of us is striving to achieve a happy and fulfilled life which is represented by the trees in the garden.
3. What does your tree look like?
   1. Prepare a drawing of two trees on a chalkboard or large piece of paper but don’t add any leaves. Label one tree “tree of life” and the other “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Cut out several leaf shapes from a piece of paper (3 for each person). Pass out at least 3 leaves per person.
   2. Have everyone reflect for several minutes on what they think a happy and fulfilled life would look like for them in 10 years. Here are some questions to consider: your spiritual life, you family, career, home, lifestyle, hobbies, etc.
   3. Ask each person to write down one aspect of their future fulfilled life on each of the leaves. They can use as many as they like.
   4. When they are finished writing, have them tape their leaves to their appropriate tree.
   5. Allow time for everyone to reach what has been posted on the trees.
4. Explain: This is what God had in mind when he created Adam and Eve. He wanted them to have happy and fulfilled lives.

Concluding Point: The greatest hope for man is to be able to live a happy and fulfilled life which comes from achieving the 3 great blessing God created for us. This fulfilled man is represented symbolically in the Garden of Eden by the tree of life and this fulfilled woman is represented symbolically by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

It may be important to mention for clarification that although Eve’s tree is labeled as both good and evil, the evil part is a cautionary term representing what could be. Eve was destined to be good and fruitful just like Adam.  

Divine Principle Reading:

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was shown earlier to symbolize Eve. What does the fruit of this tree represent? It signifies the love of Eve. As a tree multiplies by its fruit, Eve should have borne good children through her godly love. Instead, she bore evil children through her satanic love. Eve was created in an immature state; she was to reach full maturity only after going through a period of growth. Thus, it was possible for her to bear either good fruit or evil fruit through her love. This is why Eve’s love is symbolized by the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and why Eve is symbolized by the tree.

What did eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signify? When we eat something, we make it a part of ourselves. Eve was to have eaten the fruit of goodness by consummating her God-centered love. Then she would have received the essence of God’s divinity and multiplied a good lineage. However, she ate of the fruit of evil by consummating her evil love centered on Satan. Hence, she received the essence of his evil nature and multiplied an evil lineage from which our sinful society descended. Accordingly, Eve’s eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil denotes that she consummated a satanic love relationship with the angel which bound her in blood ties to him.

Activity: The Fruit

1. Explain:
   1. The fruit is the cause of the human Fall which has been carried on throughout generations. We, as Unificationists, believe that the fruit is a symbol of what actually transpired during the Fall.
      1. The impact of an edible fruit cannot be passed down through generations.
      2. A fruit is not tempting enough for Adam and Eve to risk death as warned by God.
   2. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the love of a woman, namely the love of Eve.
2. The Symbolic Fruit
   1. Show pictures of fruit and then show pictures of attractive celebrities (a quick search on the internet will bring up the most popular celebrities).
   2. Ask the youth which one of these is more interesting: the people or the fruit? Which one would attract you more?
   3. Explain: A piece of fruit isn’t tempting enough for Adam and Eve to risk death.
3. The Fruit is Love
   1. Bring a piece of fruit and cut it into pieces in front of your class.
   2. Share the fruit with them but ask everyone to save the seeds and show them to one another.
   3. Explain:
      1. Seeds are how plants multiply and create more plants. The fruit on a tree is the way in which a tree is able to plant more trees.
      2. The same is true for the symbolic meaning of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit represents the multiplication of human beings.
      3. Eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means experiencing Eve’s love.

Concluding Point: True Parents have elucidated the meaning behind the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which symbolizes the love of Eve.