The principle of the tree of life and the principle of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are realized throughout the whole Bible. All the negative things in the Bible are on the line of the tree of knowledge, and all the positive things are on the line of the tree of life. I call the first line the line of knowledge and the second line, the line of life. If we follow these two lines, they carry us through the entire Scripture.
Firstly, man was induced to eat of the tree of knowledge. As a result, man fell. The descendants of fallen man did not depend upon God at all. They relied upon their knowledge. According to Genesis 4, the first human culture was invented, and this culture developed until it became the corrupted world of Noah. During the time of Noah, God judged the earth by the flood. Noah's descendants became another race, but this race still did not depend upon God. Eventually, the second human culture came forth, the culture which erected the tower and city of Babel. Then God called Abraham out of that fallen race. By this we can see the development of the two lines. Strictly speaking, the line of life began with Adam, who was fallen and redeemed, and continued through Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so many Israelites. On this line of life we have the tent of Noah, the tent of Abraham, the tabernacle, and the temple. The line of knowledge began with Cain and continued through all the ungodly people. On the line of knowledge we have the city of Enoch, Babel, Sodom, the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and Babylon, which captured the things on the line of life.
We find the same two lines in the New Testament. Although the Old Testament and the law were originally on the line of life, the Jewish religionists treated them as mere knowledge and put them on the line of knowledge. The Pharisees used the Old Testament in the way of knowledge. When the Lord Jesus came, the religious leaders were altogether on the line of knowledge. Only the Lord Jesus Himself was on the line of life. Then He brought His disciples to the line of life. On the day of Pentecost, His disciples put many other people on the line of life. Thus, at that time, there was the Jewish religion on the line of knowledge and the church on the line of life. However, not long afterward, the church was degraded, falling from the living Christ to dead scriptural knowledge, and became Christianity. The church was on the line of life, but Christianity was on the line of knowledge. Revelation 17 tells us that eventually Christianity will become the great, religious Babylon, and Revelation 18 says that the world system will result in the great political Babylon. The great Babylon will have two aspects—the religious aspect and the political aspect. Regardless of the aspect, the great Babylon is the culmination of the line of knowledge. The overcomers among the Christians through all the centuries never have shifted from the line of life to the line of knowledge. They will remain on the line of life until the end when it ultimately issues in the New Jerusalem. The great Babylon and all things apart from God will be swept away by the stream of fire (Dan. 7:10) into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). All the positive things in the Bible throughout the ages will be carried on by the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1) into the New Jerusalem. In opposition to the lake of fire will be a city of water, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10—22:4). At the end of the Bible we see a lake and a city: the lake is the lake of the thirst-creating fire as the ultimate consummation of the line of knowledge; the city is the city of the thirst-quenching water as the ultimate consummation of the line of life. Thus, at the end of the book of Revelation we find the harvest of the seed of the tree of knowledge and of the tree of life.
Which line are you on—the line of life or the line of death? Remember that God is frank. Because life is God, life also is frank. Death, on the contrary, is subtle. Death does not appear manifestly as death; it appears as knowledge. Life is simply life: its contents, nature, and results are life. Death is knowledge. Everyone likes knowledge. Even the little children hunger for it. They weary us with question upon question. If you answer one question, they respond with several more because there is a craving for knowledge within man. Man covets knowledge. Even many Christians are greedy for it. Although the word "knowledge" itself may be a good term, at the back of knowledge and underneath knowledge is death. The letter kills because the letter is knowledge (2 Cor. 3:6). The letter of the Bible kills whenever the Bible is separated from the living God. Religion has separated the Bible from the living Christ. Thus the Bible can kill and spread death.
Death is concealed under so many good things, even lurking under our best intentions. Many dear Christians have been killed by the good intentions of other people. Although your intention may be excellent, Satan lurks beneath it, and Satan is death. Everyone knows that death hides behind evil things. For example, the gambling casinos in Las Vegas are manifestly evil and deadly. However, attending a cathedral seems to be good, much better than visiting a casino. Nevertheless, death is found in both places. The difference is in the appearance, not in the actuality, for death is present and prevailing in both good and evil things. Death is subtle.
Now we know on which line we should be. We must take the line of life.