The Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:8–9 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:15–17 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This is a quick lesson in how to reason truth from the text. These two selections are closely related in context. They speak of the garden God planted. The reason for the things in the garden. What the man Adam was expected to do and what he was not allowed to do.

God planted the garden. These were His things for the man to tend. The trees in the garden were planted for food except two, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge.

The man was made to manage and oversee the things of God. In other words, He was made to tend them. (This would naturally include tending to the needs of other humans. That’s another lesson.) The man was to be a good steward of God’s things. That was his responsibility.

God told the man he could eat of every tree except one. He could eat of the trees for food including the tree of life.

We see the desire of the will of God for His creation.

What Adam was not allowed to do was to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We also know that this tree is not good for god by its exclusion.

I said not allowed for a reason.

You will hear it said that God allows or permits sin to be. When it is clear from the beginning, it wasn’t allowed.

The objections raised would be then there is sin because He put the tree there. We see He doesn’t stop people from doing sin, so He allows it.

Both of those ideas are based on a logical fallacy called post hoc ergo proctor hoc. Simply stated, it is using the conclusion to deduce the cause. Logic doesn’t work that way.

Saying sin exists because God didn’t stop it puts the conclusion before the underlying premise. How is the finite being encumbered by a physical property called time able to knowingly determine what the One Who inhabits eternity has done in eternity?

The simple explanation is, such cannot know. It would be gross speculation exponentially more farfetched than trying to determine who wins the World Series in 2030. It’s not likely to be true at all.

In the same way, the tree was put there knowing Adam would eat. It raises the same speculation about motive. A finite being cannot determine the motive of the Infinite Being without Him revealing it.

Clearly, from the beginning, God’s intent or motivation for creation was clear. Humans were to tend it and lead it. They could freely eat of all the trees for food, save one. It wasn’t allowed.

It wasn’t allowed because sin isn’t allowed.