12/11/2025
KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL
Genesis 3:5 ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
The key phrase in Genesis 3:6 is “desirable for gaining wisdom” (lə-haśkîl — to make one wise, to give understanding, to give insight). It is natural that Eve found the fruit appealing as food and attractive to the eye—God Himself used those same descriptions in Genesis 2:9. But Eve also perceived the fruit as a source of wisdom. How could a piece of fruit provide wisdom? This shows that Eve wasn’t only drawn in by its appearance or by the desire to eat it; she was persuaded by the serpent’s promise. The devil convinced her that eating the fruit would open her eyes, make her like God, and elevate her beyond the alleged limits the wicked God had set. In other words, the temptation was not merely about disobeying God’s commandment—it was about rebellion, the desire to rise to God’s level and claim autonomy over moral rights to define what is good and what is evil outside God.
In Genesis 3:5, the devil told Eve three things:
“When you eat the fruit, your eyes will be opened” — The serpent implies that God has blinded Eve, or withheld something from Eve, keeping her limited and in the dark.
“You will be like God” — He suggests that Eve can rise to God’s level, no longer needing to live under His authority and boundaries, and becoming more than she currently is.
“You will know good and evil” — He tempts her with the idea that she can become her own moral authority, defining good and evil for herself instead of accepting God’s definition.
This is what drew Eve to the fruit—its promise of wisdom and independence. It represents humanity’s first act of rebellion: the desire to be one’s own master and to reject God’s definition of good and evil. That same rebellion continues today, because we still long to be the final authority over our own moral decisions. Many try to claim moral autonomy and insist they do not need God’s word to determine right from wrong. People become “wise in their own eyes,” thereby separating themselves from God, which is death. The message of the serpent still echoes: You don’t need God’s word—you can be your own god and decide good and evil for yourself. However, when we do, we inevitably confuse the two; we see good as evil and evil as good. This is the ultimate moral inversion that leads to death and more evil in the world.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 3:7 “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 26:12 “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
The devil appealed to the same 3 temptations in 1 John 2:16:
Lust of the flesh → “it is good for food”
Lust of the eyes → “pleasing to the eyes”
Pride of life → “you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
Adam and Eve could have received all the wisdom they needed from the Tree of Life if they had simply obeyed God. That path would have opened their eyes to God’s glory and given them eternal life. Instead, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil opened their eyes to their own inadequacy, shame, fear, and separation from God.
God is the source of all wisdom that leads to eternal life. Therefore, walking with Him and obeying His commandments gives us the very insight and wisdom that Eve falsely sought from the forbidden fruit. Like Solomon, we should ask God for wisdom, for it is He who enables us to discern what is truly good and what is evil.
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
1 Kings 3:9 Therefore, give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
The theme of the knowledge of good and evil runs throughout the entire Bible. God desires for us to walk with Him and partake of the Tree of Life, receiving the wisdom that leads to abundant life as we follow His definition of good and evil. Psalm 1:3 illustrates this truth—it depicts a life of flourishing and abundance, the opposite of death, for those who embrace God’s wisdom.
Psalm 1:2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
May God smile upon you and yours.
Gnickflo
