Forbidden Fruit

For years I have wondered how any tree within God’s creation could bear “forbidden fruit.” The Bible states that “God planted a garden…in Eden.” (Gen 2:8) so it is strange to me that anything within His garden could be poisonous or deadly. He said that everything He created was “good.” There had to be a reason He forbid Adam and Eve.
So, I prayed about it, wanting to understand. My prayers never questioned the validity of this story—God’s word is infallible—they always centered on God’s sovereignty. Finally (a few years later) God revealed to me that Satan had been in the garden, involved with a planting of his own.
Aha! I rejoiced when the Lord told me this. He showed me the Parable of the Sower and how “the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart” (the seed sown along the path) -Matt 13:19. Immediately following this is the Parable of the Weeds, in which the devil comes and sows weeds (unbelievers) among the wheat (believers) in God’s church, that he may deceive as many of God’s people as he can. Satan certainly understands God’s creation—the nature of seeds and planting. Having seen these things, I had peace, because I knew God did not put a tree that could cause spiritual death within His garden.
But I must tell you that my peace only lasted a few years until one day I was given another question: What was wrong with that tree? Knowing that Satan is not omnipotent—for he cannot create—I could not figure out why God would care if Satan was in the garden. If he planted something in the garden, it could only be a seed God had made in the first place! God is Jehovah Jireh- “the Lord will provide.” Creation demonstrates this truth: God created plants with seeds after their own kind. The seeds are contained within their fruit. The fruit nourishes us, the seeds are dropped to the ground, another plant grows—more fruit, more seeds. Every fruit we have ever eaten is the distant offspring of seeds from the dawn of creation. God is our Provider.
During a recent Bible study (just me and the Lord) I once again asked about that tree. I had my Bible open to Genesis chapter 2, but He moved my eyes back to chapter 1, verse 29: “Then God said (to Adam and Eve), I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Then I knew that the forbidden tree had fruit without seeds.
“How could this be?” I asked. Well, seedless fruit can only be the product of a genetic mutation. God’s protective mechanism when mutations occur is that it impossible for such a plant to reproduce. While “roaming throughout the earth” (Job 2:2), Satan discovered a tree with seedless fruit. Though it was doomed to failure, he removed a branch with buds on it, and grafted it onto a tree in the Garden of Eden. Grafing is a well-documented process. A branch that is grafted in early spring will usually produce fruit that same year—fruit without seeds.
Eve was confused but curious when Satan told her that the tree’s fruit would “open her eyes,” and she would “be like God.” The Bible says that Eve “saw that the fruit was…desirable for gaining wisdom.” How can fruit look like it will give you wisdom? Intrigued by Satan’s remarks, she picked a piece of fruit and “opened it.” If it was a banana or an orange, she peeled it open. If it was an apple, she broke it open. Whatever it was, she wanted to see what was inside. When she saw there were no seeds, Eve knew why this fruit was forbidden. The seedless fruit of that tree represented a choice to be self-sufficient. Adam and Eve understood that to consume its fruit was to embrace the idea that they would have to continue the process. Future seedless fruit would result solely from their own efforts, apart from God—the laborious process of grafting branches over and over. By eating that fruit, they turned their backs on Jehovah Jireh. They chose to “be like God” rather than worship Him. The rest is, as they say, history.