Bible Correction: Genesis 2:9 -- Delete "And The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil"

"And the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is not in Genesis 2:9. In the ancient Aramaic version of Genesis 2:9 it only says that the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise. It doesn't say anything about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I asked Victor Alexander about this. Victor is a translator of the ancient Aramaic version of Genesis into English. He said, "Yes, it has to be one tree."

In Genesis 2:17 the Lord God refers to the tree of life as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the knowledge of good and evil is what you get when you eat of the tree of life. What did you get when you heard about Christ? In Genesis 3:22 the Lord God says, "Behold, Adam wanted to be like one of us, to know the good and the evil; now, that is why he extended his hand and took from the tree of life and ate, so he could live forever (lit. to the end of the universe)."

The glorious archangel who became the serpent referred to in Genesis 3:1 discussed with the wife the tree in the midst of Paradise, the tree of life. "God said," she said, "that you shall not eat from it and you shall not go near it, so you will not die." The glorious archangel (who was in the act of becoming the serpent) said, "You will not die the death (i.e., really die), because God knows that in the age* that you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will become like Gods, knowing the good and the evil." And the wife saw that the tree was beautiful to eat, and it was pleasing to the eye, and the tree was pleasing to look at, and she took from its branches and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her and he also ate. And both of them, their eyes opened up and they discovered that they were naked.

Okay, the man and wife disbelieved God's words that they would die if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e., the tree of life, and they disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the tree of life to live forever by having the knowledge of good and evil. And they found out that it doesn't work that way. They were not ready for it. They were prideful in doubting His words, selfish, independent and lacking humility. They thought they could produce the likeness and rightness of the Lord God, the Miltha, Christ the gift of God, on their own, and found that it wasn't in them, that they were naked.

Not a good way to start or maintain a relationship. Approaching Christ's righteousness is beautiful and pleasing, but the Law demands justice: any variance from the Miltha, the Manifestation of the Lord God, requires correction, rejection and reconstitution. It is out with the bad and in with the good, and you had better be able to make the transition. And of ourselves, we can't.

Does it sound like Moses was preaching the Gospel? He famously put the most important things up front where you can't miss them. Adam and Eve are us, and her Son is our Savior, the Son of Man--the Tree of Life Who died for us.