Acquiring The Knowledge Of Good & Evil (Part 1)
ACQUIRING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL (Psalm 34:14; Isaiah 5:20) - Part 1
Yeow Chin Kiong
Good and evil are polar opposites in our moral continuum (Psalm 34:14). The two cannot be confused because calling good "evil" is as great a wrongdoing as calling evil "good" (Isaiah 5:20). Instead, a necessary life-skill is the ability to distinguish good from evil; we should always hold fast to that which is good and hate that which is evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).
Indeed, the whole storyline of the Bible is based upon man's misdirected desire to possess the knowledge of good and evil, thereby being wise, by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5, 6). Before Adam and Eve violated God's command to them not to eat that fruit (Genesis 2:16-17), it is necessarily implied that humankind's existence was characterised completely by good and without any element of evil. Before the first couple's violation of that Divine command (and the fall of Satan and some of the other angels with him, 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6 and as signified by Revelation 12:7-9), all of God's creation, including the state of Adam and Eve, was "very good" (Genesis 1:31).
Adam and Eve before their fall knew only "good," fundamental to which was their duty to fear their Creator and obey Him in everything. However, when He created them God created humankind in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). Whatever else was encompassed in the fact that mankind was created "in God's image" (unlike anything else He created), it included "agency",- the freedom to act according to their free will. Adam and Eve chose to exercise their free will by disobeying God in His singular command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-6). As a direct consequence of tbeir first act of disobedience, the first couple obtained the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:7, 22).
It may be that their impulsive act of eating the forbidden fruit, driven in part by Eve's desire to be "wise", gave Eve and her husband a taste of the knowledge of good and evil. However, as they were not God (and never would be God), they and all humans after them,- not possessing omniscience or being all-knowing,- could not handle that limited knowledge of good and evil they had acquired by eating of the forbidden fruit. With humankind's inadequate knowledge of good and evil, as well as their lack of foresight regarding the results or consequences of evil, and their tendency to act impulsively, misusing and abusing their God-given free will, we have the recipe for man's sin and unrighteousness.
From the moment the eyes of the first couple were opened to a sense of good and evil (Genesis 3:6-7), humankind has had to live in an environment within which, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Since then, a loving, caring Deity has had to direct man's steps by revealing His will for them (Hebrews 1:1-2), but the choice to obey Him has always been subject to man's free-will (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Mark 16:15-16). The eternally dire consequences of disobeying Deity's commands, however, are inevitable (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).