Phoenix
by Dale J. Sprague
White Papers
The Tora, Genesis by Moses contains the fundamental wisdom of the bible, "2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (2:17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Die, that is, change, "3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." And to block Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the Tree of Life, "3:24 So he drove out the man (and woman), and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep (block) the way of the Tree of Life."
Fruit of the Serpent Tree and the Cherubim
After a serpent makes a judgment, the convicted is injected with a lethal dose of venom. This is why the tree of knowledge of 'good and evil' belongs to the serpent. With first judgment and act of sovereign retribution, the fruit of knowledge of 'good and evil' is tasted. Its nectar is heady, intoxication of one's self with one's self, and a taste for power over life and death of body and spirit becomes addicting, but with each judgment, one scars one's self, and it thickens with each execution of that judgment.
Having knowledge of 'good and evil' endows one with supernatural powers..that is, power over life and spirit, which has been and still is the grief of civilizations. In the name of God, how many people have been killed, tortured, or ostracized down through the ages and in our current times. Such resolve believes where god is and where god is not. Humankind is not wise enough to make such a judgement. Moreover, such a conviction is founded upon the belief that JHVH is some thing, some one, some supernatural one, who can be represented by an image with a pronounceable name, and even be given a sexual gender. And so it has come to be, by paternal or maternal decree, not JHVH, but one perceiving divinity in terms that one can imagine, something within reach.
To have knowledge of 'good and evil' is to have a conception of evil, which includes an object of evil. And for objects of evil, procedures of retribution are established..without forgiveness, compassion, nor understanding. For objects of evil, there is only hate, judgment, punishment, or execution..paid'for by the innocent who is imperfectly prosecuted and condemned. Creation has been divided into good and evil, into where god is and where god is not, which requires only imagination, and is limited only by the same.
Conceptions of evil create limitations of compassion and sensitivity. As conceptions of evil inevitably vary, the deadly clash of those who would be 'as a god,' is also inevitable, in addition to the collateral havoc released upon the innocent.
Oppression of the child, effected with 'good and evil' covenants, causes Hate to grow, become self'aware, assuming something of its own, resignation to isolation, and effect programs of control. Hate polarizes and paralyzes. And the division deepens when light enters darkness and does not return. One's light becomes limited. Atonement, at'onement with all becomes restricted. The child within, seriously afflicted.
For those who consume the fruit of the Serpent's tree, grace with 'all and everything' is unattainable. So restricted, there is no understanding but what is traditionally understood. The Cherubim, hate's doubled'edged sword of fire and ice, is raised as its divisions enter the darkness where light cannot return. They become as gods. Separated from all, they inevitably seek control, overlording with their good and evil, and their divinity.
In the beginning, the child is within an all'serving, an all protecting womb. Until the child awakens to itself, the child knows no fear. The child is undivided from all and everything. The child is in a state of grace with all that is. And after the child awakens to itself and feels alone, through atonement with all, the child within, is unrestricted, free to learn and understand. And from the Tree of Life, dispelling fear with knowledge, or at least putting fear into its proper context, the child remains. Innocence is preserved. Love be given and returned. Eden.