Tree of Life

[Dennis1209]

I hope this is the correct forum for this?

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.

Rev 22:14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

I don't find many commentaries or subject matter dealing with the subject of "the tree of life" or "the tree of good and evil". I'd like to get your insight on some of the questions I've been thinking about?

It's difficult to determine if these trees are symbolic, figurative, literal or all three? How they are interpreted makes a big difference on understanding these scriptures and meanings. The tree of life is present in the Garden of Eden and the Kingdom. Depending on ones interpretation if it's figurative or literal, one could make the case that physically eating of the tree of life is necessary for eternal or everlasting life? My understanding is we will have perfect resurrected physical bodies in eternity. 

I have no idea but, I could conjecture partaking of these fruits are necessary to maintain our physical bodies? Your scriptural thoughts?

 

[Guest]

Take Scripture literally.

[Ezra]

1 hour ago, Dennis1209 said:

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Scripture must be taken literally unless there is compelling reason to do otherwise. It would appear from this verse alone that the tree of life as well as Paradise were moved to Heaven, and are in the New Jerusalem. The thief on the cross was promised Paradise by Christ.

The Ark of the Covenant is also seen in Heaven in the book of Revelation.  While these things appear to be impossible, or difficult to understand, we must simply accept them as stated. We cannot even fully understand the implications of the tree of life being for the healing of the nations.

[Bible_Gazer]

Is Jesus a literal door, can he be a tree of eternal life as well as the bread of life ?

[missmuffet]

Question: "What is the meaning of the tree of life?"

Answer: The tree of life, referred to in Genesis, is the symbol of God’s provision for immortality in the Garden of Eden. Of all the trees that were in the Garden of Eden, two were named for their great importance, but just as one—the tree of life—was a blessing to Adam and Eve, the other was to become a curse for all of their posterity. “And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9).

The Lord told Adam that he was free to eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for by doing so he would surely die (Genesis 3:16-17). The tree of life was provided to be a continuous reminder that immortality was a consequence of obedience. As long as Adam and Eve were obedient and did not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they had access to the tree of life. Once they sinned, they were driven from the Garden, and God placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life so they would no longer have access to it. Eternal life was now no longer theirs. Just as God had warned, they died, and through Adam all men after him would die (Romans 5:12).

By barring access to the tree of life, God showed compassion in His omniscience. Knowing that because of sin, life would be filled with sorrow and toil, He graciously limited the number of years men would live. To live eternally in a sinful state with its results—pain, disease, heartache, toil, and grief—would mean endless agony for humanity, with no hope of the relief that comes with death. By limiting our lifespan, God gives us enough time to come to know Him and His provision for eternal life through Christ, but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition.

Because God knew that Adam would fail the conditions of his immortality, He provided for One who would redeem fallen mankind. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, but through another Man, Jesus Christ, redemption through the forgiveness of sin is available to all (Romans 5:17). Those who avail themselves of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will see the tree of life again, for it stands in the middle of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2, 22:1-2). Its water is the constant flow of everlasting life from God’s throne to God’s people.

https://www.gotquestions.org/tree-of-life.html

[Dennis1209]

1 hour ago, missmuffet said:

Question: "What is the meaning of the tree of life?"

Answer: The tree of life, referred to in Genesis, is the symbol of God’s provision for immortality in the Garden of Eden. Of all the trees that were in the Garden of Eden, two were named for their great importance, but just as one—the tree of life—was a blessing to Adam and Eve, the other was to become a curse for all of their posterity. “And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9).

The Lord told Adam that he was free to eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for by doing so he would surely die (Genesis 3:16-17). The tree of life was provided to be a continuous reminder that immortality was a consequence of obedience. As long as Adam and Eve were obedient and did not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they had access to the tree of life. Once they sinned, they were driven from the Garden, and God placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life so they would no longer have access to it. Eternal life was now no longer theirs. Just as God had warned, they died, and through Adam all men after him would die (Romans 5:12).

By barring access to the tree of life, God showed compassion in His omniscience. Knowing that because of sin, life would be filled with sorrow and toil, He graciously limited the number of years men would live. To live eternally in a sinful state with its results—pain, disease, heartache, toil, and grief—would mean endless agony for humanity, with no hope of the relief that comes with death. By limiting our lifespan, God gives us enough time to come to know Him and His provision for eternal life through Christ, but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition.

Because God knew that Adam would fail the conditions of his immortality, He provided for One who would redeem fallen mankind. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, but through another Man, Jesus Christ, redemption through the forgiveness of sin is available to all (Romans 5:17). Those who avail themselves of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will see the tree of life again, for it stands in the middle of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2, 22:1-2). Its water is the constant flow of everlasting life from God’s throne to God’s people.

https://www.gotquestions.org/tree-of-life.html

That's the best explanation I've ever heard! That you for taking the time to clear that question up for me.

[missmuffet]

3 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

That's the best explanation I've ever heard! That you for taking the time to clear that question up for me.

You are welcome

[Ezra]

2 hours ago, Bible_Gazer said:

Is Jesus a literal door, can he be a tree of eternal life as well as the bread of life ?

This is why we need to understand the difference between metaphors in the Bible and literal truth. There are many metaphors to describe Christ, but the tree of life was an actual tree in the Garden of Eden and is now in Paradise in Heaven. The apostle Paul says that he was taken up to Paradise, and the apostle John tells us exactly where that is in Revelation.

[Bible_Gazer]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

Metaphors...context.

I hope you won't call the healing of the nations 'figurative'?

Everything in revelation isn't all natural or metaphors. I don't believe in a natural tree is going to give life eternal. That is what Jesus is for and his powers and words heals us.

  Prov 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

 21  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

 22  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

The 2 witnesses are refer to as olive trees

Trees are used as metaphors.

I believe Jesus is the tree of life as also the bread of life. He is the tree of life and Satan is the tree of death.

Which family tree do you want to be a part of ?

 

[Guest Robert]

2 hours ago, Bible_Gazer said:

 He is the tree of life and Satan is the tree of death.

Scripture never refers to a "tree of death"; the tree in the garden was "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil".

The whole point of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a choice for Adam and Eve to make. Every single other tree in the Garden was safe for them to eat from save one tree that the Lord designated. And it wasn't that this tree was "poisonous" per se, but that the Lord said for them to not eat of it. Would they trust God on His word or would they disobey Him?

They disobeyed, and in doing so, they then knew by experience what good and evil were: they had just committed evil by deciding for themselves that eating from the tree was something they should do.

One thing we need to learn from the Garden is something about evil: we are responsible for evil being in the world. We can blame Satan all we want for tempting humanity, and for the troubles of the world. But it is Mankind who took the fruit from the tree, not Satan. Adam and Eve were the best of us, yet they still sinned against God. In their position, knowing what they did at the time, we would have done exactly the same thing (it's "Monday morning quarterbacking" to say "we wouldn't have done that") and made the same choices. It is only when we realize that sin and evil are within us and that we are responsible for the sins we have committed, that we begin to see the need for a Saviour. The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) show clearly that not only can we not keep God's law, but in trying, sin will abound even more until we scream and cry out from under the tremendous burden "Father, have mercy on me!!! I'm a sinner and I can't stop sinning!!"

It is at that point that we finally turn to the Lord and see that only the precious blood of Jesus Christ can wash away our sin. Like with Adam and Eve, our own "fig leaves" of good works and self-effort cannot hide our sin, and God is the only one who can wash us clean. By trusting in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we admit that God is right and that we are wrong, and most of all... that sin fails. By believing in His resurrection, we trust that God the Father has accepted His sacrifice and that peace has been made between us and Him.

Edited September 29, 2016 by RobertS