Knowledge of Good and Evil

Truth is essential to any successful human relationship, but it is widely recognized that truth is the ingredient sadly lacking in today's world. What is not understood, and very seldom addressed, is the direct connection between the abandonment of truth and the embracing of violence and evil.

The Apostle Paul made a sweeping statement concerning God's wrath against those "who hinder truth in unrighteousness," (Romans 1:18), explaining that they who refused to glorify God and give Him thanks,

"Became vain in their reasonings and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools (Romans 1:21‑22)...and exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." (Romans 1:25).

Then follows a list of evil actions, including homosexuality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness...murder, strife, deceit, malignity, haters of God, etc." (Romans 1:24‑31)

Jesus explained why men refuse to have God in their knowledge and give Him thanks. They "loved the darkness rather than the light," He said, "for their works were evil." (John 3:19‑20)

That they "neither gave thanks" (Romans 1:21) is significant. Such thanksgiving would be an admission that they are indebted to God and therefore accountable to Him for their evil works.

This fact was expressed years ago by the famous humanist Aldous Huxley, in explaining why he and his contemporaries rejected the Christian world view. He said that his philosophy (of unbelief) was "a matter of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously a liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom."

This philosophy has permeated the colleges and universities of this country from early in this century, and goes a long way in accounting for the gross immorality which is now evident in abortion, homosexuality, pornography, child and spouse abuse, corruption in business and government, and violence which has made our citizens prisoners in their own homes.

Evil Denied. With the unbelievable growth of crime, people on all levels claim to be seeking its root cause, but seldom does anyone in the public light put the blame where it belongs; the fact that individuals who commit wicked acts do so out of an evil heart.

A corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. (Luke 6:43‑44) Under the influence of pagan humanists, who categorically deny the existence of an absolute moral standard, the media, the school and the government choose to ignore the fact that evil acts are the results of evil minds.

One may read dozens of newspaper reports of murder, mutilations, torture of children, corporate crime in which business careers are ruined, and of government officials covering up gross scandals of theft and treachery, but never come across the term "evil." According to an article in the London Times, "Perhaps no science has been a more powerful source of forgiveness than the psychoanalysis of Freud.

The sinner becomes a patient. And if he seems to do wrong, it is not really he who does it but a subconscious whose machinations are unknown to him." (Is Anything Wrong Anymore?, David Hulme) Evil acts are the product of some unknown influence, so that the person committing them is never considered evil, but is excused as a victim of that mysterious influence (this is where the term that God loves the man bu hates the sin came from.

This is false teaching because it is the person who commits evil or sin, not some other entitity). The serial killer, who tortures and rapes his victims, is not identified as an evil person, but one who must be pitied, treated to tax paid room and board, waited on by a host of attendants and coddled by a team of psychiatrists.

Evil masquerades as sickness. A killer like Jeffry Dahlmer, said to have killed as many as 17 people, was a victim of "disconnection, lack of community, loneliness." What used to be called living in sin is now called a "meaningful relationship," that the disgusting sin of sodomy is only an "alternate lifestyle." God has a warning for those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness." (Isaiah 5:20)

Some may object, and argue that we all are evil since "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) But scripture makes a distinction between the evil and the good. While the best makes a distinction between the evil and the good.

While the best of us is not perfect, and has not attained the goal of perfection, there still is a vast difference between the person whose goal and desire is evil, and the one whose greatest desire is the righteousness of God. Evil begins in the heart, as does purity, "For out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23) One whose heart is set on God loves the light of truth, but the one whose heart is evil hates that light and stays as far away from it as possible.

An Evil Strategy. Presently the Ad Council, in cooperation with various other organizations, is using radio and television to persuade the public that the strength and wealth of our nation is in having a variety of cultures, and that it is bigotry to suggest that one culture is in any way superior to another. Yet a study of history proves this to be a lie. In fact, every civilization that has turned into a multi cultural society has been destroyed. They would have us ignore the fact that with each culture comes its own moral code, and according to God's moral standard some of these cultures are evil.

The strategy is simple: First the evil seeks tolerance, then by using the smear words such as "bigot," "hate," "cult," "anti‑Semantic," �neo-Nazi� and "fanatic," they press people into accepting the evil. For example, the Boy Scouts are taught to tolerate the sodomite in society, then they must accept him as a scoutmaster! Finally, the government gives special rights to all who practice these evil works. To our great shame, there are enough corrupt men and women in Congress to allow such evil to prevail.

As Paul wrote, they have become vain in their reasoning and darkened in their hearts, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." Such is the case with the environmentalists who worship Mother Earth as the Goddess Gaia (Greek for earth). "America is tapping into the occult forces that blind people to God's truth...When people reject truth as a standard and embrace seductive spiritual alternatives ‑ the culture crumbles." (Under The Spell of Mother Earth, Berit Kjos, quoted from The Torch, 10/93)

Christ Hated. The enemies of truth do not stop with creating their own false gods. They see the true God as their competitor, whose morals and judgments must be eliminated. Christians are seen as a threat to their evil plans of a New Age and a New World Order. "Christians block the global movement� toward the one‑world religion needed to unify people and save the earth," says Lynn White, Jr. (The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, from The Torch, 10/93)

As these workers of evil hate the light, they also hate Christ, the source of that light. He said, "The world hates me because I testify that its works are evil." (John 7:7) He then warned that this same hatred would be aimed at His disciples. "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18)

This hatred is already beginning to result in overt action designed to silence and eventually eliminate the Christian faith, as indicated by columnist John Lofton: "The war against God in this country, specifically against Jesus Christ, is getting uglier, much uglier, much more explicit. And make no mistake about it, please. THIS WAR IS AGAINST CHRIST." (The Christian World Report)

How can one explain the intentional portrayal of gross filth and the glorification of ugliness through movies and television, other than the fact that it is the product of evil minds who love darkness? The organized effort to destroy the Christian culture and replace it with a savagely violent and unspeakably immoral way of life can only be explained as the work of evil people who despise the truth of Christ and hate all those {Christians} who seek to live by it.

This hostility toward Christ and truth not only has its reaction in the persecution of Christians, but it has a devastating effect upon the unbelievers themselves who are in rebellion against God, leaving them frustrated, insecure, burdened with guilt and struggling against fears.

Often they are further confused with "self‑help" exercises, such as self‑actualization, self‑healing, self‑love, etc., seeking the solution that can come ONLY WHEN THEY SUBMIT TO THE CREATOR'S TRUTH AS GIVEN THROUGH JESUS CHRIST HIS SON.

We are created to be in God's image, to think the thoughts He has revealed and live as He has directed. Those who love God love truth, and the more one lives in that truth, the more he loves it. "He that is of God, hears the words of God." (John 8:46)

�Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, TO CYRUS, WHOSE RIGHT HAND I HAVE HOLDEN, TO SUBDUE NATIONS BEFORE HIM; AND I WILL LOOSE THE LOINS OF KINGS, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. FOR JACOB MY SERVANT�S SAKE, AND ISRAEL MINE ELECT (here Yahweh is speaking to His Israel people), (then He goes on to talk about Cyrus) I HAVE EVEN CALLED THEE BY THY NAME: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.� (Isa 45:1‑7)

The assumption today is that the acquisition of knowledge should be everyone�s goal. Often the fact is not considered that knowledge in itself can be both good and evil. Certainly it has been many times demonstrated that knowledge which otherwise is good can, through misuse, produce suffering and bring on direful consequences. Knowledge obtained by the unrighteous, or even in the hands of the immature, can spell disaster for all. However, knowledge given to the godly can be made to benefit and bless mankind.

From the verses above it says that Yahweh creates evil. What sort of evil? Well if Yahweh provides information that causes an evil wicked person from performing his deeds, is that not evil in his sight?

The scriptures clearly attest: Hosea 4:6: �My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: BECAUSE THOU HAST REJECTED KNOWLEDGE...�

Another case in point is the achievement of scientists in discovering how to split the atom and release its energy. Possessed by tyrants and aggressors, this knowledge bodes ill for mankind; event he possible extinction of civilization. On the other hand, this information could be used by the righteous to usher in an utopian age by the harnessing of unlimited power and its controlled utilization.

Within the range of man�s experience, it is often stated of the immature, �They are too young to be given such information. When they are older and better able to use it aright, it can be passed on to them, but not before that.� Was this an operating principle when Yahweh planted in the Garden of Eden two �trees;� one the Tree of Life and the other the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9), leading Him to command Adam and Eve that they were not to partake of either one? The very fact that these trees were within the reach of our first parents would indicate that a time was to come when they would be become accessible to them. However, the circumstances implied that to partake of either before they had attained spiritual maturity would be disastrous, as it was prophesied (Genesis 2:17) and as subsequent events clearly revealed.

It is evident from the very fact that Yahweh walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden they were being schooled in a process of training under Divine instruction, preparatory to coming responsibilities that they were very likely to assume when they came to spiritual maturity. This is apparently the time that Yahweh gave Adam His Laws, Statutes and Judgments, which were subsequently passed on down the line to Abraham. As we read in Genesis 26:5: �Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.� It is evident also that Yahweh intended to grant access in due course of time to the very trees planted in the midst of the Garden which, for the time being, they were forbidden to partake of. Otherwise, there would have been no purpose in placing them there and making this fact known to Adam.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to what these �trees� imply and the nature of their �fruit.� From Genesis 3:6 we observe that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil appealed to the eye as it was pleasant to the eyes and one to be desired in order to make one wise. Nevertheless, the expression �to eat of� has several different meanings than to eat food. For we find in Proverbs 30:20: �Such is the way of an adulterous woman (a woman who has had sex with someone of another race); she eateth (has sex), and wipeth her mouth (cleans her sexual organs), and saith, I have done no wickedness (she is incapable of seeing the evil that she has done).�

Then we must also consider the record in Revelation of John�s experience when he was told to �eat� the �little book:� �And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel�s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.� (Revelation 10:9-10)

Thus, in the symbolism of �eating� the book, John, who typified the people at the time of the Reformation, came into a knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, which had become a small book as the result of the invention of the printing press. He found its truth sweet in his mouth but bitter after he had digested its full import.

Thus, the knowledge the Re-formation saints secured from their assimilation of the truths of the Word of God brought home to them the realization that there was much yet to be done before the age could close. Therefore, the angel said: �Thou must prophesy again before many people, and nations, tongues, and kings.� (Revelation 10:11)

The result was that, following the Reformation, the missionary movements were born and the Gospel was carried to the ends of the earth in fulfillment of this prediction; and so it must go to all the nations of the world because that is where God�s Israel people were. It was essential work that had to be accomplished before the ending of the age. But unfortunately in their zeal the missionaries did not take time to truly study the word and therefore mistakenly took the Gospel and cast it before the swine the other races and people, and not just to the Israelites as Christ said.

It is very likely in this same sense that the expression is used in Genesis concerning the �eating� of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus, to partake of that tree was to obtain understanding which up to that time Adam and Eve did not posses. Nor was it something that they had done before that time, and that was to violate the Law of Yahweh.

In the Apocalypse of Baruch, chapter 56, the results of Adam and Eve�s transgression are listed: �For since he transgressed, untimely death came into being, and grief was named, and anguish was prepared, and pain was created, and trouble consummated, and disease began to be established, and Scheol (the grave) to demand that it should be renewed in blood, and the begetting of children was brought about, and the passion of parents produced, and the greatness of humanity was humiliated, and goodness languished.� (The Apocalypse of Baruch 56:6)

The consequences of disobedience multiplied their influence until man became dominated by physical urges rather than spiritual impulsions. Some Judeo-Christian clergy teach falsely, up to the time of Adam and Eve�s disobedience, they were completely innocent of the functions of sex. Satan�s beguiling of Eve gave her, and Adam with her, �knowledge� that opened the floodgates of physical desire.

We know that this teaching is false because Yahweh had already told the other races and peoples to multiply and replenish the earth. Would He have told the other races that and kept that knowledge and commandment from Adam and Eve? It think not.

�And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.� (Genesis 1:28)

Here we have the first example of Yahweh creating evil, at least to some peoples minds, it was as Baruch indicates, the birth of passion. Knowledge had been acquired that was both good and evil, for the misuse of sex is evil. In the ensuing degeration in morality from age to age since the fall, a tremendous toll has been taken in misery and crime, in violence and in death.

Following the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden, the cycle of life and earth began to operate upon the earth. (It is a biological fact that among certain types of insect life, the male dies after death) All the various races and peoples of the earth began to tread the downward path to death and dissolution. However, Yahweh promised that a Redeemer would come and those Israelites whom Yahweh called and those who accepted that call He would be a Savior and a Redeemer, and they would be rescued from destruction.

There are those who undertake to suggest that when Eve succumbed to the serpent�s temptation, Satan became the father of Cain. Which is proven by the statement of Christ when He said to the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, in John 8:44: �Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.� Who was the first murderer, it was, as far as we know Cain. And Yahshua also said �Ye (scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians) are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL.� Thus tracing them back to the Garden of Eden where their father the devil impregnated Eve.

The Scriptural statements do not allow for any other deduction from being drawn. The Scriptural statements warrant any assumption of conclusions other than the fact that knowledge had been imparted to Eve and passed on to Adam that awaked in both previously latent natural proclivities. Satan had slyly aroused a dormant phase of human nature by making the desires of the flesh irresistible to Eve.

The pristine state of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is in a measure exemplified by the unconcern of little children about one another when unclothed. It was not until later, when they come to understand the difference in the sexes, that they became ashamed in each other�s presence. As a result of Eve�s incestual relationship with the devil. �They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.� (Genesis 2:25)

After the fall into temptation, the state of innocence passed and the record states: �The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.� (Genesis 3:7)

Then Yahweh walked again in the Garden and called to Adam: �Where art thou?� Adam answered: �I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.� (Genesis 3:10)

To this Yahweh rejoined: �Who told thee that thou wast naked?� From Adam�s statement we know that knowledge was imparted to Adam and Eve that awakened them to the fact that they were naked. The Lord asked, �Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that you shouldest not eat?� (Genesis 3:11) Adam replied that the woman had given him of the tree and he did eat, thus again confirming what is stated above, that whatever Eve did, Adam did also.

Yahweh then challenged the woman and she countered, �The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.� (Genesis 3:13) The Hebrew word �nasha,� translated �beguled,� means �to lead astray;� that is, �to mentally delude or morally seduce, to utterly deceive.� Now many will tell you that because Adam did exactly what Eve had done, it could not be moral corruption in that sense of the word �seduce,� as some assert; and that the eating is not to defile physically but mentally; that is, to �delude,� to �deceive,� which what the account and its context indicate.

Those that advocate this do not study and make themselves approved, but instead write or speak to deceive. For we find that to eat in this verse means sex: �Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.� (Proverbs 30:20) The Living Bible relates it this way: �There is another thing too: how a prostitute can sin and then say, "What's wrong with that?"

TLB

The misapprehension of this has led most of the Judeo-Christian clergy to teach that Cain was the son of Adam; that, instead of the truth that he was the son of the devil.����

Yet the Biblical facts are as follows:

One of these nations among the Canaanites was the KENITES (#7017 Strong's) which were DESCENDANTS OF CAIN. Being that Cain was of the SATANIC SEEDLINE, he would infect his satanic blood AMONG ALL THESE TEN NATIONS. And the "Kenizzites" were Edomites.

In the Peake's Commentary on the bible, page 116 we find this about this mixed group of nations spoken of in Genesis 15:19‑21:

"When the Israelites entered Canaan they found there a VERY MIXED population generally designated by the term Amorite or Canaanite."

The Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, Abridged by Ralph Earle, page 38, says: "The Kenites. Here are ten nations mentioned, though afterwards reckoned but seven; see Deuteronomy 7:1; Acts 13:19. Probably some of them which existed in Abram's time had been BLENDED with others before the time of Moses, so that seven only out of the ten then remained."

Kenites: "[KEE nights] (metalsmiths)‑‑ the name of a wandering tribe of people who were associated with the Midianites (Judges 1:16) and, later, with the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:6). The Kenites lived in the desert regions of Sinai, Midian, Edom, Amalek, and the Negev. The Bible first mentions the Kenites as one of the groups that lived in Canaan during the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:19); their territory was to be taken by the Israelites (Numbers 24:21‑22). The Kenites were metal craftsmen who may have traced their ancestry to TUBAL‑CAIN (a descendant of Cain) (Genesis 4:22). (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

The Wycliff Bible Commentary, editors: Charles F. Pfeiffer & Everett F. Harrison has this to say on page 8, and this quote will cover Genesis 3:14‑15: "CURSED (ar�r) ART THOU. The Lord singled out the originator and instigator of the temptation for special condemnation and degradation. From that moment he must crawl in the dust and even feed on it. He would slither his way along in disgrace, and hatred would be directed against him from all directions. Man would always regard him as a symbol of the degradation of the one who slandered God (cf. Isaiah 65:25).

HE WAS TO REPRESENT NOT MERELY THE SERPENT RACE, BUT THE POWER OF THE EVIL KINGDOM. As long as life continued, men would hate him and seek to destroy him. I WILL PUT ENMITY. The word "�b�" denotes the blood‑feud that runs deepest in the heart of man (cf. Numbers 35:19‑20; Ezekiel 25:15‑17; 35:5‑6) THOU SHALT BRUISE (sh�p).

A PROPHECY OF CONTINUING STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE DESCENDANTS OF WOMAN AND OF THE SERPENT TO DESTROY EACH OTHER. The verb sh�p is rare (cf. Job 9:17; Psalm 139:11). It is the same in both clauses.

�When translated �crush� it seems appropriate to the reference concerning the had of the serpent, but not quite so accurate in also rendered lie in wait for, aim at or (LXX) watch for. The Vulgate renders it "conteret," "bruise" in the first instance and in this famous passage, CALLED THE PROTEVAGEFIUM, �FIRST GOSPEL,� the announcement of a prolonged struggle, perpetual antagonism, wounds on both sides, and eventual victory for the seed of the woman. �God's promise that the head of the serpent was to be crushed pointed forward to the coming of Messiah and guaranteed victory. Thus assurance fell upon the ears of God's earliest creatures as a blessed hope of redemption."

Thus we can say, in truth, that the jews of Christ�s time, now known as Sephardic Jews,� were a bastard people from the mixing of the Canaanites, Hitites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, Girgashites, Kenites, Edomites and some True Israelites.

When Yahshua said to the Jews who sought to kill Him, �Ye are of your father the devil,� (John 8:44) He was not speaking of spiritual father hood as the Judeo-Christian clergy would have you believe, but He was speaking of a PHYSICAL FATHERHOOD.