The first dispensation (see Vol. 6:, page 136) ends with the fall of Adam. There

seems no reason to doubt but that this first dispensation was the briefest of all. A

Rabbinical interpretation of Psa. 49: 12 refers it to Adam, who "abode not a night", but

who, on the tenth day from the commencement of the creation week, fell, thereby

necessitating the day of atonement to be observe on the tenth day of the month. To read

Gen. 2: 8-25 one is not impressed with a sense of a long period. The description given

of the garden planted in Eden is limited to the trees, and the river that watered the garden.

Of the many trees wherewith that garden was planted two only are given names. One is

the tree of life, the other is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to eat of which

meant death. Much has been written concerning this tree of knowledge of good and evil,

and the penalty that followed transgression, yet much seems to be but the guesswork and

imaginings of men, who have introduced into the subject themes that belong to another

sphere. Adam was told not to eat of this tree, for in the day that he ate he should surely

die. The word are simple, and were easy of comprehension. Something connected with

the knowledge of good and evil involved death, just as the eating of some poisonous

berry might have been prohibited for similar reasons. That God should plant a tree

bearing such fruits is only explainable by the fact that He had a great purpose. We may

safely assume that up to the time of eating of this tree neither Adam nor his wife had a

knowledge of good and evil. Spiritual enjoyments and aspirations are never mentioned in

relation to Adam before the fall. Adam, so far, lived in a realm of types and symbols.

The true paradise of God with its river of life and tree of life was unrevealed, yet how

many have spoken of Adam's shadow as though it were the true substance!

In considering the teaching of Scripture as to the purpose that God had in view, we

must remember that there were already, unseen and probably unknown by man, fallen

spirits. Gen. 3: 1 is proof enough of this. Scripture does not speak of the purpose of

redemption as something which God had to bring in to remedy the evil introduced by

Adam's disobedience. Redemption was planned before man was created, for Christ was

foreordained as the Lamb before the foundation of the world. The great outstanding

feature of the command to Adam is its simplicity. All that Adam has to do is to abstain.

He is not under a law of positive precepts, the keeping of which involved a great care,

labour, and watchfulness. He was under the easiest of conditions. Surrounded by

everything that was good and pleasant, he simply had not to take of the forbidden tree. It

was a passive obedience. Human nature was put upon the simplest of trials. Another

feature of the trial it is important to remember is that no promise was attached to

obedience. There is no alternative made to Adam. Some teach that had he continued

obedient to the divine prohibition he would have been transferred to heaven and have

received eternal life, but that is pure speculation. What was this knowledge the attaining

of which was fraught with such consequences? The references to "good and evil" in this

passage are four. Gen. 2: 9 and 17 speak of the tree itself, its position in the garden, and

the prohibition regarding its fruit, Gen. 3: 5 and 22 speak of the consequences of eating

of it: "Ye shall be as gods" (or God), and "Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to

know good and evil". The tempter mingled truth with his lies at the beginning as he has