What Exactly Is the Tree of Life?
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“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 2:19).
In a great many ways, the Bible resembles a massive tapestry. From one side, it paints a beautiful image for anyone and everyone to see and appreciate. The other side helps us understand how that image was created. Many of those threads run from one side to the other, the full length of the amazing artistic work. We find that if we pull on the end of a string in Genesis, it seems to pull all the way into Revelation. So it is with the Tree of Life.
From the very start of creation in Genesis 2:9 to the end of creation as we know it in Revelation 22:2, we can see the thread of the Tree of Life. From perfection in the garden of Eden, to the return of perfection in the restoration of Eden.
God formed many trees in the garden –
“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12).
But only two were mentioned specifically by name –
“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 2:19).
The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil were both in the middle of the garden – in other words, central to the life of Adam and Eve. The serpent (Satan) used the latter against Adam and Eve, causing them to question God’s Word. Can’t you just picture the Evil One speaking to the not-so innocents as he stood next to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “Did God really say that? Seriously? C’mon – you won’t surely die.”
And thus, they were immediately cut off from the garden – and from the Tree of Life.
“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).
What we don’t read is, exactly what is the Tree of Life? After all, Adam and Eve were allowed to eat of its fruit, and experience all the joys and pleasures it had to offer. But surely there was more than just fruit. Surely it was more than purely physical life-giving, wasn’t it?
Not Just Any Tree
A tree of life is mentioned a few times in the book of Proverbs. The first is Proverbs 3, when Solomon is talking about wisdom:
“Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed”
(Proverbs 3:17-18).
She – wisdom – is a tree of life, and all her ways are pleasant, and her paths are peaceful. And those who hold on to her tightly will be blessed.
Then again, in Proverbs 13:30:
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.”
Solomon mentions a tree of life twice more: Proverbs 13:12 and Proverbs 15:4. Each time, in a pleasant, appealing manor, conveying the overriding sense of the goodness of what a tree of life has to offer. Desires fulfilled. A soothing tongue. The fruit of the righteous. Blessings. The reference is overwhelmingly soothing and implies making life better.
When God cut Adam and Eve off from the Tree of Life – banished them from the Garden of Eden – this in itself speaks volumes as to what that special tree represents.
The Tree of Life symbolizes nothing less than a two-fold gift: eternal life and communion with God. It stood at the center of the garden and offered Adam and Eve the promise of life everlasting – and not just any life, but enduring, continual fellowship with God. And after their disobedience, access to the tree was permanently cut off and righteously guarded by cherubim with swords.
What Adam and Eve had lost was not just eternal life but a life full of peace and joy and happiness and contentment. And they lost those things for all of us – the very things we each seek in this world today. The LORD God sent them out from Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove them out and at the east of the garden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword, intended to guard the way to the tree of life
“And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever’” (Genesis 3:22).
In His Mercy
Let’s face it, we all know how hard life can be. We so often think of life as roller coaster – with ups and downs which are sometimes extreme. Yet I heard Rick Warren describe life not like a roller coaster, but more like two sets of tracks that run side by side. We can experience both happiness and distress at the very same time. We can be celebrating a new birth in the family while at the same time the death of a loved one. Joy and sorrow, simultaneously.
Casting us out of the garden, away from the Tree of Life, God knew how hard life would be. He described it to Adam:
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 17b-19).
In other words, life will be hard and then you’ll die. God described a life of continual pursuit of happiness, without any permanent achievement. No matter how hard we try, we seem to be constantly battling for happiness. Unfortunately, we seek that happiness in all the wrong places, because it cannot be found here on this earth.
And God knew it. In His infinite mercy God took away access to the Tree of Life so we would not have to live forever in an eternal state experiencing the consequences of sin – a life full of constant sorrow, toil, pain and suffering, of a fallen, broken body and a fallen, broken natural world. If He had left Adam and Eve with access to the Tree of Life, they would have lived eternally separated from God and have been subjugated to an eternal life of hell.
In His mercy and grace, God limited the number of years mankind would live, because to live eternally in a condition of sin would mean endless agony with no hope and no possible opportunity of relief that now comes only with death.
By limiting our years, God allows us the time and freedom to choose for ourselves. He spared us from the misery of an endless existence in gloom due to our sinful condition and gave us the option to choose eternal life with Him. To come to know Him and to know His provision for eternal life as He had meant it to be.
Eternal life through Christ Jesus.
And Then, Jesus
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:17).
Sin entered the world through one man – Adam. But through another man, redemption was offered to all through the forgiveness of Adam’s sin. One man’s sin plunged all of humanity into a miserable, endless, disease-filled life. But because of another man’s sacrifice, all of humankind could choose to find the eternal life each and every one of us seeks. Jesus Christ.
God knew all along what He had planned. In His great love and mercy and grace, God provided the One who would redeem fallen mankind. And those who choose to accept the gift offered through the sacrifice of Christ will be resurrected to once again see the Tree of Life.
In His word to the Church at Ephesus, Jesus says:
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
Jesus tells us that the Tree of Life remains in the paradise of God and is available to those who are victorious.
Then, after the time of tribulation, after Jesus’ return, in the middle of the new “great city” – the New Jerusalem – we read this:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).
John, the author of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and the witness to the vision that was shown him describes the eternal state that awaits those who believe in Christ and give him their hearts. It describes the role that the Tree of Life will play there.
“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5).
Eden Restored
In this we find a profound lesson about God's intention for humanity. The presence of the Tree of Life in Eden offered Adam and Eve everlasting life in God's presence. Yet, their disobedience and subsequent banishment from the garden clearly reveals the consequences of sin and the loss of access to this life-giving tree.
However, God’s desire was for all of humankind to enjoy eternal life and eternal fellowship with Him.
In the Book of Revelation, the Tree of Life reappears in the new heaven and new earth. Its fruit and even its leaves will bring healing to all nations. In other words, eternal satisfaction, contentment, and perfect eternal communion with God.
The Tree of Life was and remains nothing less than a powerful symbol of God's eternal plan for humanity's redemption and restoration.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Givaga
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.