Tree of Life

[David1701]

I posted this in another thread, but that thread is on a different subject, so I've re-posted it here.

Tree of Life

I once did a short study on the Tree of Life.  It's quite interesting and encouraging. 

Here are a few Scriptures and a few, brief comments, based on what I found (there's much more, but I don't want to write an essay).

Gen. 2:9 (Webster) 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.

Gen. 3:22-24 

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man hath become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
  23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
  24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life.
 

Pro. 3:13-18

13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. {that getteth...: Heb. that draweth out understanding}
  14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain of it than fine gold.
  15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her.
  16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
  17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
  18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Pro. 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. {winneth: Heb. taketh}

Pro. 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Pro. 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness in it is a breach in the spirit. {A wholesome...: Heb. The healing of the tongue}

Rev. 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to 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 its street, and on each side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve kinds 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.

---Okay, just a few, brief comments:

1) Tree of Life - Beginning, Middle and End of the Bible (Alpha and Omega...)

2) Tree of Life - Gives life, wisdom and understanding (compare and contrast with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil).

3) Refers both to something good, outside of ourselves, and to fruit that the righteous bear, including a wholesome tongue and soul-winning.

4) Our hope, when it (He) comes is a tree of life.

[Alive]

Taken as a whole, what does this suggest? Or what does it all look like?

Or what or who possesses all of these characteristics or what the symbolism points to? And to them who are benefited?

[David1701]

1 hour ago, Alive said:

Taken as a whole, what does this suggest? Or what does it all look like?

Or what or who possesses all of these characteristics or what the symbolism points to? And to them who are benefited?

I hinted at the fact that the Tree of Life is a type of the Lord Jesus (although, it was also a literal tree, in the Garden of Eden), who is wisdom personified (and the ToL is mentioned several times in Proverbs, which is all about wisdom).  He is also the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending.  He is also the centre - the heart of the Bible and the gospel message.  The positioning of the mentions of "tree of life", in the Bible, points to these things.

Those who are benefited are those who eat of the Tree of Life (i.e. believe in the Lord Jesus Christ), this is a similar metaphor to when Jesus spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, in communion.  They then have life and wisdom and they bear fruit that leads to more life.  None of this is from themselves, but only from the life of the Lord.

We, believers in Jesus, are branches in this tree of life, with the sap of the Holy Spirit flowing through and out of us, like rivers of living water (albeit muddied a bit by our flesh).  Please forgive the mixed metaphor, but I'm combining teachings with similar ideas, from different parts of the Bible.

It's interesting to contrast the Tree of Life with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The ToL gives wisdom (the ability to use and apply knowledge well), understanding (knowledge is dangerous without this) and life: the ToKoGaE gives only knowledge of good and evil, without the life of God and without the wisdom and understanding needed to make proper use of the knowledge.

I really intended to try to get people to think about it, rather than spoon-feeding, but, ho-hum.

Edited August 22, 2022 by David1701

[Alive]

1 hour ago, David1701 said:

I hinted at the fact that the Tree of Life is a type of the Lord Jesus (although, it was also a literal tree, in the Garden of Eden), who is wisdom personified (and the ToL is mentioned several times in Proverbs, which is all about wisdom).  He is also the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending.  He is also the centre - the heart of the Bible and the gospel message.  The positioning of the mentions of "tree of life", in the Bible, points to these things.

Those who are benefited are those who eat of the Tree of Life (i.e. believe in the Lord Jesus Christ), this is a similar metaphor to when Jesus spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, in communion.  They then have life and wisdom and they bear fruit that leads to more life.  None of this is from themselves, but only from the life of the Lord.

We, believers in Jesus, are branches in this tree of life, with the sap of the Holy Spirit flowing through and out of us, like rivers of living water (albeit muddied a bit by our flesh).  Please forgive the mixed metaphor, but I'm combining teachings with similar ideas, from different parts of the Bible.

It's interesting to contrast the Tree of Life with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The ToL gives wisdom (the ability to use and apply knowledge well), understanding (knowledge is dangerous without this) and life: the ToKoGaE gives only knowledge of good and evil, without the life of God and without the wisdom and understanding needed to make proper use of the knowledge.

I really intended to try to get people to think about it, rather than spoon-feeding, but, ho-hum.

LOL

Amen, brother. I hear you about spoon fed, but I did ask questions to that end as is my way.

Having said that, I am sorry that I messed up your fun.

Love--In Christ

:-)

What I really wanted to communicate earlier is how absolutely appropriate your mention of the 'Tree' is/was in the unpardonable thread.

[Alive]

15 minutes ago, Rosie1jack2pauline3 said:

Can you explain what you mean by this.

its not coming across as being very nice...spoon fed?...messed up his fun?

Have you got some kind of secret language going on between the two of you?

No Rosie--a common method for teaching is to ask questions that can lead to folks thinking and searching scripture. An individual who responds to the questions in this manner, especially prayerfully, will experience 'discovery'.

This can be true for both the very young as well as the mature among us.

Spoon fed, just means to lay it all out rather than making for an environment of searching and discovery.

In a very mixed group, such as is the case in a forum, one never knows for sure just who is reading.

There is scriptural basis for both efforts.

[David1701]

34 minutes ago, Rosie1jack2pauline3 said:

What on Earth do you mean by “ being spoon fed”?

And only God can get us to think about things, man certainly can’t.

There are different methods of teaching.  Spoon-feeding is a method in which the teacher gives all the information and the students just need to digest it.  If it is derogatory at all, then it is derogatory to the teacher, who is not helping the students to think for themselves.

A different method is to give some basic information, then get the students to think about it, to get them to dig for hidden gems themselves.  It was this latter method that I wanted to employ originally.

I'm sure that, when you were at school, the teachers helped you to think about things.

[David1701]

17 minutes ago, Alive said:

No Rosie--a common method for teaching is to ask questions that can lead to folks thinking and searching scripture. An individual who responds to the questions in this manner, especially prayerfully, will experience 'discovery'.

This can be true for both the very young as well as the mature among us.

Spoon fed, just means to lay it all out rather than making for an environment of searching and discovery.

In a very mixed group, such as is the case in a forum, one never knows for sure just who is reading.

There is scriptural basis for both efforts.

You beat me to it.  I was typing my reply when you posted this, which I agree with.