John the Baptist reproached the people, calling them “a brood of vipers,” (Matt. 3:7) that is, children of Satan. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matt. 23:33).
These verses affirm that we are the offspring of an illicit sexual relationship involving the angel and our first ancestors. This, in fact, lies at the heart of the human Fall. 1.4 The Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was shown earlier to symbolize Eve. What does the fruit of this tree represent? It signifies the love of Eve. As a tree multiplies by its fruit, Eve should have borne good children through her godly love. Instead, she bore evil children through her satanic love.
Eve was created in an immature state; she was to reach full maturity only after going through a period of growth. Thus, it was possible for her to bear either good fruit or evil fruit through her love. This is why Eve’s love is symbolized by the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and why Eve is symbolized by the tree.
What did eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signify? When we eat something, we make it a part of ourselves. Eve was to have eaten the fruit of goodness by consummating her God-centered love.
Then she would have received the essence of God’s divinity and multiplied a good lineage. However, she ate of the fruit of evil by consummating her evil love centered on Satan. Hence, she received the essence of his evil nature and multiplied an evil lineage from which our sinful society descended. |