Calling Evil Good and Good Evil

​The prophet Isaiah issued the following warning: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!” – Isaiah 5:20-20
 
Many Christians have rightfully invoked this passage to describe the peril and madness of what is unfolding in our current culture.  Indeed, Isaiah’s words can be viewed as a timeless message that is very relevant for our time.  But I believe it also points to the human condition and more specifically, the actions of Adam and Eve that precipitated the Fall.
 
Chapter 3 of Genesis describes Eve’s encounter with the serpent, where rather than rebuke and turn from the lies being spoken by the blasphemous beast, she ponders, and ultimately embraces them.  Upon considering this exchange, one cannot help but think of Paul’s later warning to the early Church: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4
 
God had provided Adam and Eve with sound doctrine, which Eve even quotes back to the serpent: “God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” – Genesis 3:3
 
The serpent counters with a lie and a truth framed in such a way as to entice Eve: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5
 
What follows is Eve’s rejection of the truth of God and her embrace of the lies of the serpent.  God said she would die.  The serpent said she would live.  Why would she take the words of a serpent, a creature of lower standing than her, over the words of her creator?  She did it because the serpent affirmed her desire. She wanted to know good and evil. She wanted to be like God. Her itching ears had found the teacher she sought.
 
And deep down that is what every human wants.  We want to make our own rules. We will go to great lengths to justify our actions, impulses, and desires. That is why the actions of two people condemned the entire human race – because we are no different than them.  We would have done the same thing in their place.
 
The critical moment for Eve (and subsequently for all of us) came next: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” – Genesis 3:6
 
Conventional doctrine teaches that sin entered the world the moment she ate the fruit.  However, I would submit that the sin occurred when “the woman saw that the tree was good for food”.  The tree was not good for food.  God plainly said so.  The tree was an instrument of death and was a symbol of rebellion against God.  But Eve had decided to call what God had declared evil good.  In doing so she was also justifying her evil act of rebelling against God and calling it good, because in her mind she had a right to the knowledge the tree provided.  Lastly, she was placing God under her own moral judgment, declaring his truth not only invalid, but harmful to her own self-actualization. In short, she had created her own reality where God was evil and she was good.
 
In this analysis you can see how deep the roots of our modern culture war go.  The transgender teacher trying to brainwash your children is no different than Eve. The teacher has created his/her own reality.  Their own definition of good and evil.
 
Adam’s sin was even greater than Eve’s.  Adam had been given stewardship of God’s creation.  One might say it was Adam’s duty to maintain and protect the reality created by God.  But when God confronts Adam and Eve, Adam blames God by saying “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:12
 
Adam had been derelict in his duty as steward of creation.  He had not been watching over Eve.  He was not there to protect her from the lies of the serpent and more importantly, from her own destructive thoughts.  He had failed to reinforce in her mind the truth of God.
 
But rather than admit his failure, he joined Eve in her sin.  He decided he would also create his own truth.  It was all God’s fault.  God had placed a flawed creature under his care.  How could he be expected to protect creation when the helper God gave him was treacherous?
 
The modern Church has become Adam.  The Church has been derelict in its duty as steward of the truth of God.  We have abandoned the institutions created to help us manage our society (government, schools, etc.) and they have fallen under the influence of the serpent.  Now these institutions are redefining reality and denying the truth of God.
 
And just like Adam, a portion of the Church is joining them in their sin by ignoring or redefining doctrine to affirm these new “truths”.  Others in the Church are in essence blaming God as they hide from their duty of standing for truth, justifying their laziness and cowardice by proclaiming that we are nearing the End Times and this turning from truth is all part of God’s plan. 
 
We might indeed be nearing the End Times, but that does not excuse us from our duty of standing for truth.  Indeed, it makes our mission to proclaim the truth of God all the more urgent.  Those who remain silent when evil is called good and good is called evil will not be held blameless in the eyes of God.