Though God forbade man from eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, there were actually two important trees in the garden. In fact, if Adam and Eve had taken the fruit from the second Tree--the Tree that gives eternal life, rather than from the first Tree, I wonder if life as we know it today would have been different. Of course it would!
It is interesting however that God warned Adam to not eat only from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why? Because THAT Tree carried inside its fruit, the world we currently live in! The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil bore within its fruits, indescribable anguish, and most sadly, death and eternal separation from God!
I can boldly say that between the time Adam and Eve were created and when they eventually ate the fruit (Whether it was a matter of days, months, years, decades, centuries, even millennials), there was no concept of good or evil in the human race. Think about that: there was nothing like pain or shame, loss or tragedy. In fact, the idea of having a secret deed or being aware that you're a good or bad person simply did not exist. Yet, a single bite into the forbidden fruit unleashed a world Adam and Eve couldn't have imagined!
Of course the devil knew that disobedient to God carried the capital punishment of separation. Of course he knew the difference between good and evil. He was equally aware that humans were God's heartbeat, they were the apple of His eyes. Just like a mother would care and love her children, God created man to shower His love upon them. The devil knew all this; he had once experienced God's amazing presence and love; he had being in God's presence and felt God's Glory radiate through his being to a state of perfection. The devil was aware how much more God loved the man and woman He had created so he determined to break that bond. Using his conniving tactics of deceit, he convinced both Eve and Adam to the detriment of us all!
Disgustingly, what the devil did in the beginning of the human race is what he continues to do in today's world: convince humans to eat of the fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, pushing us further into the trenches of unimaginable atrocities we commit against each other and humanity at large!
If we played the I-wish-Adam-and-Eve-had-not-eaten-the-fruit game from now until Kingdom come, it wouldn't change what happened at the beginning! We can only learn from our ancestors' mistakes and from God's sacred Word. When God gives us instructions, it's not to deny pleasure, it is really to keep us from doing something dangerous. It is for our safety and that of our descendants. It is for humanity's sake; because we are unable to imagine the consequences of those actions: sin, death, and eternal separation from our Maker!
Shalom.
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