Genesis 2

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

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.

…

Genesis 3:6

 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

God gave the man the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and told him what to do, but in that moment of choice, he chose not to trust God’s word. This led him to death and exile.

1 Kings 3:5-10

⁵ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

⁶ And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

⁷ And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

⁸ And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

⁹ Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

¹⁰ And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

Solomon here acknowledges that his father, David, walked before God in truth, righteousness, and an upright heart, and that God kept him. He recognises that he is but a child and he then asks God for an understanding heart to discern Good and bad (evil). He recognises that he needs God’s wisdom and trusts in that.

Isaiah 5:12-25

¹² And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.

¹³ Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

¹⁴ Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

¹⁵ And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

¹⁷ Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

¹⁸ Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

¹⁹ That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

²⁰ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

²¹ Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

²² Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

²³ Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

²⁴ Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵ Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah here shows us that Israel is exiled with no knowledge. They are exiled just like Adam and Eve, and they lack knowledge of God. They have been humbled and brought low. It says woe to those who cannot tell the difference between good and evil. Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes. Their roots are like rottenness, and blossoms that go up like dust because they cast away the law of the Lord and despise the word of the Lord. This passage speaks of the Lord being angry and stretching out his hand against his people.

When God first commissioned Adam and Eve, the task was to trust in God’s word and have full faith in His wisdom and not their own. With a little coaxing they decided to choose to do exactly what God said not to do.

Solomon shows us a great example of recognising that we need to depend upon God and recognise that we do not know how to go out or come in. We will always fail when we trust in ourselves. And like Isaiah shows us we must not cast away or despise the word of the Lord. We need to immerse ourselves in the Lord, know his word daily and trust in Him. We need to have full faith in who he is and that he is a good father.

Hebrews 11:6

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

So let us have faith and diligently seek him.