Adam was created by God and then placed in the Garden of Eden.(Gen 2:7,8) He was furthermore given instructions by God regarding the "tree of knowledge of good and bad", saying: "From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die."(Gen 2:16,17) Then the Genesis account says that God proceeded to form a wife for Adam, putting Adam in a deep sleep and taking a rib from him and God "proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man."(Gen 2:22) Adam, then in turn, told His wife, Eve, of the command to not eat from the "tree of knowledge of good and bad", for when Eve was being seduced by the serpent, she replied: "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But as for [eating] of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it that you do not die."(Gen 3:2,3) Thus, both Adam and Eve were well aware of God's restriction concerning the "tree of knowledge".
From the very beginning Adam was perfect in every respect, for after his final creative act at the end of the sixth creative day, God said that everything was "very good".(Gen 1:31) Adam was equipped with the power of speech and with a highly developed vocabulary. He was able to give meaningful names to the living creatures all around him. He was capable of carrying on a two-way conversation with his God and with his wife. Edens fruit trees were all there for man to eat from "to satisfaction." (Ge 2:16)
For all these reasons and many more, Adam was under obligation to love, worship, and strictly obey his Grand Creator. More than that, the Universal Lawgiver spelled out for him the simple law of obedience and fully informed him of the just and reasonable penalty for disobedience, that of death for his disobedience.(Gen 2:17) Thereafter, Adams sin and its consequence, death, spread to all men.(Ro 5:12; 6:23)
It is apparent that the tree of the knowledge of good and bad symbolized the divine right or prerogative, which mans Creator retains, to designate to his creatures what is "good" and what is "bad," thereafter properly requiring the practice of that which is declared good and the abstention from that which is pronounced bad in order to remain approved by God as Sovereign Ruler. Both the prohibition and the subsequent pronouncement of the sentence passed upon the disobedient pair emphasize the fact that it was the act of disobedience in eating the prohibited fruit that constituted the original sin.(Ge 3:3.)
The life of the newly created man and woman was simple, not complicated and encumbered with all the complex problems, predicaments, and perplexity that disobedience to God has since brought to the human race. Nonetheless, for all its simplicity, the test succinctly and admirably expresses the universal truth of Gods sovereignty as well as mans dependence upon God and his duty toward God. And it must be said that, while simple, the account of Edens events presents matters on an infinitely higher level than those theories that would place mans start, not in a garden, but in a cave, representing him as both crudely ignorant and without moral sense. The simplicity of the test in Eden illustrates the principle stated millenniums later by Gods Son, that "the person faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and the person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much."(Lu 16:10)
Edens having this proscribed tree within it, however, was clearly not intended to serve as a thorn in the flesh of the human pair, nor was it so designated in order to raise an issue, or to serve as the subject for debate. If Adam and Eve had acknowledged Gods will in the matter and had respected his instructions, their garden home would have continued unmarred as a place of pleasure and delight. The record shows that the issue and debate over the tree, along with the temptation to violate Gods ordinance, were thrust upon mankind by Gods Adversary, Satan the Devil. (Ge 3:1-6; Re 12:9.) Adam and Eves exercise of their will, as free moral agents, in rebellion against Gods rightful sovereignty led to their loss of Paradise and the blessedness of its confines. Of even graver consequence, they lost the opportunity to partake of another of Edens trees, this one representing the right to life everlasting. Thus the account says that Jehovah "drove the man out and posted at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life."(Ge 3:22-24)
Thus Adam and Eve both had free will in this and could have chosen to remain in Jehovah God's favor, continuing to reside in the original Paradise, extending it's boundaries to the ends of the earth, and living forever on it with their offspring. Yet God has not changed his mind concerning the earth, for Isaiah 45:18 says:" For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens, the God that formed the earth and made it, that established it and created it not a waste, that formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah; and there is none else."(American Standard Version) Hence, he has purposed that this earth once again be returned to it's original state of Paradise, for Jesus told an evil-doer that "Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise."(Luke 23:43) In addition, David was inspired to write that "the righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it."(Psalms 37:29) The only Paradise that this Jewish evil-doer was aware of was the Paradise in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, free choice is before everyone, as was before Adam and Eve, for those exercising faith in our Creator, Jehovah God, can have the opportunity of life without end on a future Paradise earth.(John 3:16)
It certainly could not be to find out if they would obey, because he would have known that before they made the choice.:tsk: The story does not truly make sense even as an example. Like I said it seems like entrapment.
