The Knowledge of Good and Evil: How do We Get Wisdom?
“And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it” Deuteronomy 1: 39b.
This passage recounts God’s judgment on the Israelites for their faithless refusal to enter the Promised Land. To read the entire passage for context, click here. But I just want to focus on the idea that children have no knowledge of good or evil, and what that implies.
Children Have Not Partaken of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Children do yet know good from bad or evil. In other words, they have not yet partaken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Said another way, they have not yet attained wisdom.
This was also true of Adam and Eve. They were not yet mature. They were children in their thinking (1 Corinthians 14: 20). And that’s why they were not allowed to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2: 15-17).
Hebrews 5: 14 says “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”. The knowledge of good and evil is given to the mature. In other words, to those who have trained themselves to tell the difference by constant use.
Adam and Even Would’ve Eventually Been Allowed to Eat the Fruit
I believe Adam and Eve would’ve eventually been able to distinguish between good and evil had they been obedient to God’s command. I don’t believe God put that tree in the garden just to taunt them.
And in this way, trained themselves to do so by constant use. At this point, I believe they would’ve been allowed to partake of the tree of the knowledge or wisdom.
Proverbs 9: 10 tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . . ” And that’s what it means “to train ourselves to distinguish between good and evil”.
Children do not know good from bad or evil. And the way they learn is by obedience or “constant use”. To read another post related to The Knowledge of the Good of Evil: How Do We Get Wisdom, see Narrow Is the Path to Life, but What Does that Mean?