“The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.“
Genesis 2:9 NIV
It was nearly sunset when we took a walk in the garden downtown. Out of the two kinds of fruit shown here, people will gravitate to the notion that the forbidden fruit was an apple. Obviously, this is pure speculation since the source does not specify and describe what the fruit looked like other than that it was pleasing to the eye. Even the orange clustered fruit still looks pleasing to the eye of the beholder, but it would be easy to rule out that the orange colored fruit above is definitely not it since it’s coming from a shrub and not a tree.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
I’d like to dub it the stinkin’ thinkin’ fruit since after Adam and Eve ate, it was opening the floodgates to evil thoughts and everything abominable man could ever think of.
The choice to eat of the two trees still happens every single waking day. Every time we reject the truth, we choose to eat the stinkin’ thinkin’ fruit and reap the consequences.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”“
Proverbs 1:28-33 NIV
Even as our flesh is prone to go for what is forbidden, some people blame God about their choices. Some of the very same people believe that the forbidden fruit was an apple. While we can overlook the fact that they are oblivious to specifics, what is unacceptable is for those who are unaware of the specifics to set the standard of righteousness and portray God to be the one who’s evil.
If you’re a Christian and you find yourself currently being tempted to eat of the stinkin’ thinkin’ fruit, like most people already know, the stench will follow you wherever you go.
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
James 1:12 NKJV