Extrapolation

             The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-3)

             “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,  and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

 

            Sometimes people criticize Eve for adding to what God said. God never said they weren’t to touch the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just that they weren’t to eat of it. And they’re right. It’s dangerous to add your own ideas to Scripture, but she had this going for her – if she didn’t touch it, she couldn’t eat it.  The real problem wasn’t that she added “and you must not touch it,” but that she ate it.

            Then, in Sunday School yesterday morning, we discussed a concept known as “extrapolation.” That is when you apply a specific rule to other situations. The example given was the passage from Matthew 5, in which Jesus said it wasn’t enough to not murder. That doesn’t mean I can pat myself on the back if I've never killed anyone. If I’ve wished someone dead or wished harm to him, I’m just as guilty. Nothing in the Old Testament Law says this, but if it’s sinful to kill, it’s reasonable to extrapolate that it’s sinful to want to kill, or to want to someone to be killed or die.

            This isn’t an idea that we are free to apply to any extreme we wish to. For example, if I say that murder is a sin, that cannot be taken to mean that I want murderers dead and, therefore, that I’m (as bad as) a murderer. But if I celebrate the death of a murderer or some other sinful person, I would say that I am like the murderer who wanted someone else dead and probably celebrated the accomplishment.

            If that’s the case, then Eve saying they weren’t to touch the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil wasn’t doing something sinful, even if she misquoted God.