28 The Brothers.

 

Knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of
this tree God strictly forbade them to eat.
They might take the fruit of every tree but
this one, but of this the Lord God told them
that in the day they ate of it they should die.
Here was their trial. This would show what
was in their hearts, whether they would obey
God or no. But this was not the whole of
their trial. This was only the shell, as it
were, of their trial; the kernel of it was very
different, and far more serious. However
beautiful the tree might be, however tempting
was its fruit, its merely being there in the
midst of the garden was not a sufficiently
searching test of obedience. The tree could
not speak and ask them to take of its fruit,
and the very idea of doing so might never
strike them.

“Now in order that Adam and Eve should
reach their highest good—that is, pleasing
God by choosing to obey Him—it was needful
for some one to put the idea of taking the
forbidden fruit into their head, and that they
should refuse to disobey when they were free
to choose their own course. This test was at
hand.

“There was an enemy preparing to try and
lead them wrong; and perhaps, if you think