Right and Wrong is not the Same as Knowing Good and Evil

The Bible is filled with concepts that can be difficult to understand. In fact, some of them can only be understood if someone takes the time to truly study the Holy Scriptures - word by word, building line upon line, precept upon precept. I am not speaking of the way one is redeemed, which was provided so clearly and simply, that anyone who wants to can read the Bible and find redemption. Nor am I talking about mysteries that can only be revealed through the moving of the Spirit of G-D. What I am talking about are things that are clearly stated in the text of the Bible yet misunderstood or conflated in their interpretation by readers. 

One example of a concept that is often misunderstood and regularly taught in error is the difference between knowing right from wrong and knowing good from evil. These are dramatically different Biblical concepts that are often viewed as synonymous. However, it is vital for us to know the difference between right and wrong and good and evil. 

The first time we read about these concepts is in Genesis 2:16 where G-D is speaking to Adam and says:

Genesis 2:16 Then Adonai Elohim commanded the man saying, “From all the trees of the garden you are most welcome to eat. 17 But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you must not eat. For when you eat from it, you most assuredly will die!

In the next chapter we find a different dialogue on the same topic, only this time the conversation is between Eve and Satan, as we read in Genesis 3:1-4:

Genesis 3:1 But the serpent was shrewder than any animal of the field that Adonai Elohim made. So it said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from all the trees of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees, we may eat. 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat of it and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You most assuredly won’t die! 5 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

It is clear then we read G-D’s instructions in Genesis 2 that Adam understands that G-D is giving him a commandment not to eat from the tree and that if he was to eat from the tree something bad would happen. So it is clear that before Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that Adam knew right from wrong. Adam knew that it was right to obey G-D and wrong to disobey G-D. So before eating from the Tree Adam knew right from wrong. However, once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree something changed within them and now they not only knew right from wrong, but they also knew good and evil. You may be asking yourself, “What is the difference between knowing right from wrong and knowing good and evil?”

In the case of Adam and Eve, up until they ate from the tree, they knew right (things you should do) and wrong (things you should not do). But once they ate from the Tree their experience changed, now they not only knew right from wrong but they knew good from evil. They now knew and experienced the repercussions for doing evil. They didn’t just know what was wrong, they now knew what wrong did. Doing wrong changes everything. Up until they did wrong they didn’t know evil. Evil is the result of choosing to act in rebellion to G-D’s word. Knowing evil carries with it not only the knowledge that wrong has been done, but it also carries the weight of the impact and consequences of doing wrong. 

When Satan says what we read in Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He isn’t saying that Adam and Eve would become omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent (although that is what Adam and Eve may have understood him to mean). He was doing what he always does by speaking deception and half truth. His words made the results of eating the fruit seem desirable to Adam and Eve. However, notice his full statement:

. . .“You most assuredly won’t die! 5 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

First, he says you most assuredly won’t die which is a half truth because while they wouldn’t die immediately they no longer will live forever. But the second part is a judgement just as harsh as death. This judgment was that now they would know good from evil. Not that they would know right from wrong. Once they ate from the Tree they now not only knew what was right and what was wrong but now they experienced the repercussions of their actions. Now they knew good and evil. Previous to their sin they only knew good and the blessings that are the result of good. Now, they also knew evil and would experience the results of evil.

You and I in many ways are like Adam and Eve. We know right from wrong and when we do right, we know good. But we only know good and evil when we choose to sin and experience the consequences of our choice to do wrong. It is then that we know and experience evil. The good news is that G-D provided a remedy for the knowledge of evil. By providing a good more powerful than any evil we might ever know -Yeshua (Jesus). Through faith in our Messiah we can become born again and brand new. Thereby, removing evil from our hearts and minds and helping us to once again know right from wrong, and only know good, but not evil.