“Discretion will preserve you” (Proverbs 2:11 NKJV).
In the course of human events, no instruction was more pivotal than the Creator’s first conversation with Adam.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
The Garden of Eden had many trees and fruit, including the Tree of Life as well as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9). Adam and Eve could eat from any tree, but with one restriction, Eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and you will die.
Our Creator did not immediately warn Adam of calamity from listening to the seduction of fallen angels, or clarify the foundational mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” (1:28) with a yet-to-be-created Eve, or expand on the dynamics of subduing and replenishing the earth. Yahweh’s first recorded conversation with Adam was not a welcome aboard speech, but a command, because He knew Adam’s image of God likeness demanded obedience. Only upon repeated obedience could Adam develop the discernment to ensure future obedience. The future of all human obedience hinged upon Adam developing a discretion, which would preserve him and all of humanity. Discretion and discernment are functional equivalents.
Discernment Comes Through Obedience
We try to teach our children the difference between good and evil; and, the most direct approach is to give them a distinct choice between what we want them to understand as good, and what we want them to see as evil. Obedience to God’s plain commands are good, and disobedience to God is evil. Training up our children in this fashion develops their ability to discern good and evil. Our Heavenly Father trains our discernment by our choice to repeatedly obey Him. This is the reason mature disciples are characteristically obedient. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
Discernment Is Not an Experiment
Our ability to discern between good and evil lies with our willingness to obey God’s commands and refusal to disobey Him. We do not develop discernment by first choosing disobedience and then comparing it to obedience, as if experimenting with disobedience can even remotely be better than obedience. We love and trust our Heavenly Father, so we take His Word about the necessity of obedience and the consequences of disobedience, even without having to disobey. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
Failure to Discern Comes From a Pattern of Repeated Failure to Obey
The seduction of the young man devoid of understanding illustrates this in Proverbs 7:5-23.
“5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words. 6 For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, 7 And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding, 8 Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house 9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night. 10 And there a woman met him, With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart. 11 She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home. 12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner. 13 So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him: 14 I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows. 15 So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you. 16 I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen. 17 I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love. 19 For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey; 20 He has taken a bag of money with him, And will come home on the appointed day. 21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him. 22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, 23 Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life” (Proverbs 7:5-23).
Discernment Coming From Obedience Still Does Not Come Merely on the Force of Human Will
We can make the obvious mistake of assuming obedience is simply making up our mind to obey God.
First, in this Spiritual Warfare, the Serpent attacked initially the woman before the man, not because of any moral inferiority of women over men, but because God had designed the headship of the family to reside in the husband, as a protector and Eve as the protected. “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Satan was looking for the least protected point to penetrate. Adam preemptively should have armed Eve against the Serpent, as a shepherd would protect his flock.
Second, Adam’s reaction to the attack of the Serpent was resigning himself to be punished with Eve by surrendering to the enemy, and eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, he should have immediately taken Yahweh’s side; since Christ informed us the proper way to view our families has always been, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).
Third, the conversation with the Serpent may have at first appeared innocent enough, since no human had ever before heard the utterance of a lie. In retrospect, the Serpent “is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). The Serpent had yet to be cursed to go upon its belly (Genesis 3:14); and, the Almighty did not make impossible the interaction with the Fallen Angels of His “Divine Council” (Psalm 82:1 ESV), expecting repeated obedience on Adam’s part to produce the discretion, which would preserve him. It did, in fact, produce discretion; since, we know now “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1Timothy 2:14 NKJV). But most significantly, Adam had not fortified Eve against the devil, so he gave in to his wife, because he loved her (and his own flesh) more than Yahweh. That was the weak point Satan attacked, and why we remember it as Adam’s Fall.
Fourth, obedience in the Garden was not predicated merely upon human free will by brute force deciding and acting upon the truth; but, obedience had the obvious advantage of interaction with our Loving and Faithful Creator. The writer of our Human Instruction Manual was freely available to explain how to assemble and operate the product. In the prophetic future, it will again be Humanity’s Ultimate End, to have our Creator dwelling among us ensuring our obedience, when we enter the New Heavens and New Earth. “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4). Anyone, who has ever had to follow a set of instructions to assemble some purchased product, and has experienced frustration or sorrow, knows in small part the blessedness promised for our future deliverance.
Fifth, until we arrive at that future condition of New Heavens and New Earth, we have been given the Blessed Indwelling Holy Spirit of the New Covenant to inspire us to obey, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Do not minimize or undervalue God’s Spirit’s inspiration to obey, since the prophets anticipated this aspect of the now-in-effect New Covenant. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). Our lack of emphasis upon this only highlights the Church’s past lack of success in the world.
Why Will the Almighty Succeed With No Further Rebellion in the New Heavens and New Earth?
First, in order for humanity to learn war no more, a shared history must have made a strong impression on the race. If the result is a non-belligerence among the nations, then it is assuredly the intention of our All Knowing God for every circumstance in the history of humanity to lead to such a result. Even looking forward, all of the horrendous and dumbfounding future judgments of the Book of Revelation will finally become evident in their placement before the final blessedness of the New Heavens and New Earth and Eternity. Both Isaiah and Micah prophesied with certainty of this future condition of humanity. “He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). “He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3).
Second, OT and NT prophetic Scripture assure us rebellion will no longer be found in the heavenlies in God’s presence, not because of the inability of Moral Agents (angelic or human) to rebel, but because our All Knowing God will confirm the Citizens of Heaven with a heavenly peace or unwillingness to war, since He would not allow entrance to Heaven anyone who would ever again rebel. “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You” (Psalm 5:4). “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27).
Third, why all the drama from the creation and fall of angels, humanity’s failure in the Garden, the judgment of the Flood of Noah, the division of the world at the Tower of Babel, the inconsistent history of the Patriarchs, the Rise and Fall of Israel, the Ascendance and Decline of the Church, and the Final Judgment of the World? If God is All Wise, then all these things happen for the good of God and all those who love Him. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Mark it down. This verse of Scripture is hated as a lie by the devil and all those, who reject our Sovereign, Just, Loving, Good, and Faithful Creator. The secularists reject this representation of God as good in all things, because they define good differently from Yahweh, and consequently interpret human history as driven by a different purpose. “So Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).
How Did Humanity Not Discern the Difference Between Good and Evil?
Discerning good from evil is straightforward. Obey God and live. Disobey God and die. So, the Adversary must complicate it with a sophisticated argument designed to confuse the truth from the lie. Never before had anyone uttered a lie in front of an innocent human. The Serpent subtly shifted Eve’s attention away from trusting in the plain commands of our Faithful Creator and made it about the unjustness of not receiving all the benefits we desire, so he said.
“1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:1-6).
(1) Question: the integrity of God by asking whether God really gave any such command. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).
(2) Confuse: the issue by insisting God was refusing to let them eat of “every tree of the Garden” (3:1), instead of only the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (2:17). In other words, the Serpent was questioning the goodness and generosity of God by forbidding their scope of access to all the fruit of the Garden.
(3) Deny: what God said is so, in other words, called God a liar. “Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die” (3:4).
(4) Lie: as to what would result from the Serpent’s advice, e.g., gaining knowledge of good and evil from the Serpent’s perspective. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5). Taking God’s word on the depths of sin’s depravity is polar opposite of plunging in to find if it is as inviting as the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of material possessions had imagined (1John 2:16).
In summary, discretion will preserve you because God favors the obedient ones; and, the ability to repeatedly choose the good of obedience and refuse the evil of disobedience, builds the character of one whom God blesses. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).
Discretion is a virtuous cycle built by repeated obedience, causing repeated obedience.
Heavenly Father, build for Yourself a discerning people, who know to choose the good and to refuse the evil. Give of Your Spirit to this discerning people that You may magnify Yourself by their obedience. May Your cause be perpetuated in the earth, and may it be so in Heaven as it is in Earth. Lord Jesus, return quickly. In Your name, we pray. Amen.
We Need A Miracle 