Comments on: Bible Project Tree of Life Series
Steve Chiara
MA in Christian Apologetics, Biola University
PLEASE NOTE: These are my unedited, phone transcribed thoughts/notes about the Tree of Life, Bible Project series
Bible project podcast tree of Life episode 2 about 1 minute in he says that the tree of life was a known thing in the ancient near East. It was known in Egypt, Babylon, etc and the biblical authors adopt it and put their own perspective on it. I love that kind of stuff!
21 and 1/2 minutes into the second episode the co-host observes that God, in his mercy, keeps Adam and Eve from taking of the tree of life once they had taken from the tree of the knowledge of good and "bad." He says that to let them go on living forever in that condition would be cruel. I 100% agree with the co-host. However, I find it curious that he fails to recognize that it is infinitely more cruel for God not to do the same for the billions upon billions of descendants who (according to their theology) will go on living forever, not in a garden, but in Hell.
41 minutes in he starts talking about how it is that all of humanity bear the title of king or something right all humanity is royal. He points out the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5 and how everyone down the line bears the image of of god. Would this not mean that we are all one family. We are all God's children
43 minutes in he starts talking about how the garden of Eden is a prototype of the Temple and how the tree of Life is in The Middle of the garden in the middle of the Temple. There's got to be here something here about Jesus being the tree of Life. Additionally the ark with the ten commandments inside was in the middle of the temple in the holy of holies and in Revelation of course the New Jerusalem is pictured as a garden. The ark is adorned with engravings of trees I believe and above the ark rests the spirit of God and I believe blood is sprinkled on it.
The host Tim says that the ark of the covenant is resting on the precise place in the middle of the holy of holies which is God's throne. Jesus is thrown was the cross.
Heathen says ingesting of the tree of life is taking on the eternal life given from god. This is exactly what Jesus says take of me cuz my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.
He then says that bread in Hebrew can just mean food it does not necessarily mean bread.
Episode 3 6 minutes and he talks about how in the garden of Eden right next to tree of life there's a water or a spring that flows down and feeds in the nourishes water to all the ends of the earth. This is very similar to the river of blood that flows from jesus's veins from Calvary to all the nations of the Earth.
15 minutes in he says that the text says not that God will kill them if they eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil but as a natural consequence of eating it they will die. This is exactly my understanding of what sin is and what Paul's understanding is. I wrote about this in that section on Romans chapter 5 leading into chapter 6 in my biblical foundation for a pocketostasis.
16 minutes 45 seconds in Tim says that it is the taking that is the problem they're taking life they're taking of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. Just like we took jesus's life on the cross making it the tree of knowledge of Good and evil we determined what was good versus what was evil and we made our determination: death sentence for jesus. The co-host then reiterates his feeling that it was a mercy for God to banish Adam and Eve from the garden after they had taken it so that they would not take of the tree of life and live forever in the fallen state.
28 minutes in they said something about the tree of knowledge of Good and evil versus the tree of life that made me think have this thought. That if the tree of life is the presence of God then the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil is me thinking that I am self-contained self-sufficient and don't need God.
30 minutes 30 seconds in Tim says that after they take of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil their eyes are Open they see that they are different they see that they are separate from each other. I have pondered this at link prior to this with the recognition that in our fallen state we are fractured. We are we perceive ourselves to be separate from other members of the family. We even many Christians most evangelicals I am sorry to say believe that all not all of humanity is part of the family. We are fractured even within the Christian family into many denominations. We are even so fractured that there is an old man and a new man. We are fractured within ourselves. Would God has come to do is to make us one again to recapitulate humanity under his headship.
Just as the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son would not recognize his younger brother as being a legitimate son any longer so it is with Christians refusing to acknowledge the fact that there are lost children of God who do not participate in the family. Nevertheless they really are still part of the family.
38 minutes 50 seconds in Tim again punctuates taking when he says it is in the taking of the knowledge of Good and evil. This is in contrast to the tree of Life in which the fruit is given to them.
40 minutes 30 seconds and they start talking about how it was a test Adam and Eve at with the tree that alligable. Tim contrasts the Hebrew understanding of test as being something that reveals what the true nature of something is versus a test being as we understand it in English trying to prove ones to self. Just a few seconds later he says the anime you failed the test. Which means that it showed what Adam and Eve were truly made of, but he will made Adam and Eve? What the crap?
42 minutes in they repeat this idea a test is to show your true quality. In my mind this shows that Adam and Eve are still in the process of being created they are not finished yet, still in the 6th day they are being fashioned.
44 minutes 50 seconds in he mentions the idea that the whole story of the garden of Eden is in the primordial past really in an eternal moment before really time as we know it even began. To me this conforms with my understanding of how we still might be in the sixth day.
Shortly thereafter he says that the garden of Eden also explains our personal experiences in this life. It explains our how we have experienced life. And it is as if we were born we were set up so to speak to fail which is also exactly my understanding.
He then says that every generation after Adam and Eve has inherited the mess with their ancestors have produced. This was not true of Adam and Eve however they claim. But I would say that is not true because they were tempted by Satan or the snake to be more.
Episode 4 about 20 minutes in, is talking about Noah on top of Mount Ararat and how it is a retelling of the Adam and Eve story with all of the animals there and he goes up on top of a mountain and sets up an altar. The point of an altar is to have close communion with God which is what the tree of life was all about.
52 minutes in he speaks about Isaac going up being sacrificed almost by Abraham and how that is very symbolic etc and then he says something about it being a sin offering. Check into that I don't think that it was a sin offering it was not a substitute for anybody's sin offering the ram was not a substitute I do not believe double check.
54 minutes 15 seconds and he says that the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil are like two sides of one coin. This is exactly my understanding of the cross in that the cross is the tree of life and it is the tree of knowledge of Good and evil. B if you take jesus's life then you used your own judgment to make the determination that he was bad that is the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. But if you receive the body and blood of Jesus as the free gift that he offers to us then we take it as the tree of Life he gave it to us the night before his crucifixion.
Episode 5 17 minutes 30 seconds in there is a discussion as to whether or not there are two trees or one tree in the middle of the garden. The Hebrew is a little ambiguous on this point and a case can be made for either one. He says that it doesn't make sense that there's only that there would be only one tree and it is the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil if taken or viewed in one sense and the tree of Life if taken or viewed in a different sense. But he has used language earlier that hinted at this understanding when he said that they are really two sides of the same coin. To me I'm not sure if it's important point as far as the Genesis account goes, but it is an important point when thinking about the cross as the tree of life and as the tree of knowledge of Good and evil because I think it's both.
Bible project podcast are humans naturally immortal Tree of Life q&r number one Tree of Life episode 5 29 minutes 45 seconds in he the tote the host Tim seems to say that it is quite plausible that annihilationism is more faithful to the witness given in Scripture then eternal conscious torment.
Episode 6 39 minutes 30 sec in .. they start talking about the fact that a a dirt mortal creature who eats a cosmic Divine Tree of Life there's bound to be some kind of change maybe some kind of burning it might be unpleasant they say. They recognize that the burning bush is the bit ominous he's supposed to draw near to it but it is not consumed. He says eating it is going to be the end of the version of me that I know. Moses could have been worried questioning maybe I could get consumed by this fire.
When Moses goes up on to Mount Sinai he says that there is a light show is the burning bush times a zillion. The people are afraid to draw near because they're afraid of what God is going to do to them. But Moses is like no he doesn't want to extinguish you or kill you he wants to transform you so that you will be his ambassadors to the world
Tree of Life episode 7, 33 minutes 50 seconds in start talking about Isaiah and how a coal or branch is taking out of the fire and brought to his lips to cleanse it figuratively speaking it is like eating of the tree they claim. He's scared and like it's going to kill me? They then postulate that perhaps the Tree of Life appeared as if it were on fire in some way and Adam and Eve reasoned that it was maybe a little too intense for them that they would be drastically changed and so they chose to go the safer route. He he questions maybe Adam thought that if I eat this fruit it's going to burn me. That's his exact words from the co-host.
37 minutes 15 seconds in Tim says that the cherubim in Isaiah's vision take from the Divine fire and burn Isaiah's lips. This is all the universalists are saying is that God will burn our impurities away from us.
Then Tim and the co-host hypothesize it is as if he gets consumed by the fire. Then they say he has been consumed he has been consumed.
This is just like the chaff being consumed or the goats being consumed with a false self the old man being consumed and destroyed.
Episode 8 about 10 minutes in he says how will the servant be highly exalted it is precisely through his death that he is exalted. The exaltation in my understanding is that this is who God is he will die for us not that God the Father requires a blood sacrifice in order to forgive anybody but it reveals who it reveals the true heart of God.
41 minutes in the co-host says eternal life is about consuming the tree the fruit from the Tree of Life so that it can consume you. Again this is the same theme about burning the chaff saving the weed and the fact that the wheat and the tears look identical I don't think is accidental and the fact that goat and sheep are described by one word 'sey.' also our bodies are consumed in decomposition upon death they are burned away that and what remains is the spirit this is a picture of what is going on when God Burns away the false itself the one that doesn't exist the one that we created that which God omniscience does not know
.
Episode 921 minutes and he talks about sacrifice and then says yeah it's always something that's innocent that is sacrificed because of the sins of another party something to that effect. The thought just struck me that maybe the reason for that or at least part of the reason is to demonstrate what sin actually is like is when you send you don't only affect yourself your sins have never negative consequences the people that have nothing to do with you or nothing to do with the sin that you committed. The innocent are hurt.
So it is the picture of the true nature of sin the fruit that sin ultimately bears.
41 minutes in they start talking about the incident where Jesus curses the fig tree. Powerful very very good even even better than Brandon someone. They explained that the fig Tree represents Israel number one and the fact that there are several Old testament examples of this. Did Jesus even quotes I believe Jeremiah right in that same passage or very close to it I don't know. Mark even breaks up the story by having Jesus curse the fig tree and then he goes in overturns the tables in the temple and then he comes back to the fig Tree and his disciples comment on the fact that it has withered. The disciples been exclaim about how amazing that was and Jesus says if you have the faith as small as a mustard seed you can throw this mountain into the sea. Jesus is talking about the mountain that Jerusalem is on top of and he's not speaking about a physical mountain at all literally being thrown into the sea he's speaking about power structures that need to be torn down so that God's Kingdom can replace it very good.
46 minutes 30 seconds in the way that john, the co-host says he emphasizes when you take take from the Tree of knowledge of Good and evil you thank you are taking something on your own terms to make you wise etc. Something about how he said it made me think perhaps it is possible that it was one tree and the difference between the knowledge of Good and evil and of the Tree of Life is your motivation for taking it. Not super important I don't think, but it could be that the reason that you're taking it is so that you will be and not so that you will have communion with God. You're trusting your own judgments or you want to be able to trust your own judgments. Because I really do believe it Christ crucified is One Tree and it depends on how you take from it bit determines whether it is the tree of knowledge of Good and evil ( I have determined that Jesus is a false prophet and he deserves the death penalty) or he is the Tree of Life freely offering himself making himself vulnerable declaring his love and forgiveness for us no matter what we do to him.
He then speaks about the burning bush and how that is how it appeared to Moses he says that he could die thou shalt surely die.
1 hour 11 minutes in they start talking about the destruction the death of the corrupt version of Isaiah. And this death of the corrupt version of him occurs through the cleansing of the lips and Jesus is death on the cross is a picture of that the destruction of the flesh.
John the co-host goes as far as saying that Jesus went at his time of testing chooses the Tree of Life and it kills him.
1 hour 15 minutes 45 seconds in quotes Paul when he says one died for all therefore all have died so that all may live.
1 minute 16 1 hour 16 minutes in they finally conclude that the tree of life is a person. More precisely the tree of life is Jesus crucified they clarified. I would contend that it is also the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.
They also say that Jesus is on his throne while he's on the cross.
Jesus on the cross is the Tree of Life. Everything that we consume, and Jesus did offer his body and blood for us to consume, dies when we consume it or it needs to die so that we can consume it. Jesus also coming home with us to pick up our cross and follow him, to die to ourselves. That is why I think the broader metaphor for the church is the body for we are all connected we gain life through the sacrifice of others and others gain life through the sacrifice of ourselves. Each blood vessel in our body leaves a life through the blood flowing through it and gives that blood away to the other members of the body. If a member of the body becomes selfish and refuses to give up the blood it creates a blood clot in the whole body dies.
Auxiliary: not sure where this fits in, maybe I'll eventually find the right spot for it... In any case heres a note I jotted down after I listened to Word of Life Sermon for either Sunday, December 17th or the 10th:
Brian's on on his most recent sermon said that Adam and Eve transgressed not because they wanted to be like God... after all, that is the telos of humanity: we are to become like God. They transgressed in that they wanted to have knowledge of God apart from God. That is very close to being one tree. When they took of the Tree of Life/Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they took it thinking, 'Oh once we take this we won't need God anymore will have His knowledge.' Instead of taking it with the understanding that it is communion with God.
Comments
Post a Comment