The Test of Probation
The Lord placed man upon probation, that he might form a char-
acter of steadfast integrity for his own happiness and for the glory of
his Creator. He had endowed Adam with powers of mind superior
to any other creature that He had made. His mental powers were but
little lower than those of the angels. He could become familiar with
the sublimity and glory of nature, and understand the character of
his heavenly Father in His created works. Amid the glories of Eden,
everything that his eye rested upon testified of his Father’s love and
infinite power.
The first moral lesson given to Adam was that of self-denial. The
reins of self-government were placed in his hands. Judgment, reason,
and conscience were to bear sway. “And the Lord God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the
Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die.”
Adam and Eve were permitted to partake of every tree in the garden
save one. There was a single prohibition. The forbidden tree was as
attractive and lovely as any of the trees in the garden. It was called the
tree of knowledge because in partaking of that tree of which God had
said, “Thou shalt not eat of it,” they would have a knowledge of sin,
an experience in disobedience.
Eve went from the side of her husband, viewing the beautiful things
of nature, delighting her senses with the colors and fragrance of the
flowers, and admiring the beauty of the trees and shrubs. She was
thinking of the restrictions which God had laid upon them in regard to
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the tree of knowledge. She was pleased with the beauties and bounties
which the Lord had furnished for the gratification of every want. All
these, said she, God has given us to enjoy. They are all ours; for God
has said, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.”
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