What fruit was consumed by Adam and Eve in the beginning that disobeyed God?
There were two very important fruit trees in the Garden of Eden. We read in Genesis 2:8-9, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; THE TREE OF LIFE also in the midst of the garden, and THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.” We then read in verses 16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.” We often refer to this as the FORBIDDEN FRUIT, even though the Bible doesn’t really call it that.
For so long, many thought of this tree as an apple tree. In fact, many still consider this tree to be an apple tree. In reality, we just don’t know what kind of fruit was on either tree. In His wisdom, the Lord did not tell us what kind of tree this was. Perhaps it was a unique tree of which there is none other like it. That could be said of the Tree of Life as well.
The type of fruit is not so important. What is critical is for us to realize that the Lord prohibited Adam to eat from that tree. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were created before Eve was created. So, it was before Eve existed that the Lord told Adam not to eat of the forbidden tree. However, when tempted by the serpent about eating of that tree, we have Eve’s words recorded in Genesis 3:3, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Either the Lord later told Eve about the tree, or Adam passed along to Eve what the Lord had said.
Let’s compare Genesis 2:17 with Genesis 3:3.
* Genesis 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.”
* Genesis 3:3, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
The Lord had told Adam that he should not eat of the forbidden tree. Eve said they were not to eat of it, “NEITHER SHALL YE TOUCH IT.” That is not what the Lord had said.
The Lord told Adam that if he did eat of the tree, “thou shalt surely die.” Eve said that by eating of the tree they MIGHT die…“lest ye die.” That is not what the Lord had said.
It is obvious that Eve was not aware of the exact words of the Lord. HOW DANGEROUS THAT CAN BE. Perhaps it was through lack of concern or lack of attention, but Eve was in the perfect position to be misled. 1 Timothy 3:14 speaks of Eve. That says, “…the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” It was her lack of concern about the words of the Lord that led to her being deceived.
The forbidden fruit appealed to Eve and she was seduced into eating of it, although she knew the Lord forbad them from eating. We don’t know what the fruit was, but we do know how easy it is to be misled when we do not know what the Bible says. We read in Acts 17:10-11, “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” May we be faithful to “search the scriptures daily” so we can determine if what we are being told is according to the Lord’s Word or not. (367.6)