Revelation 22:2

The third and preferred explanation is that the healing leaves may represent spiritual service or care. The Greek word for healing is θεραπεία [therapeia] , “serving, service, care,” from the verb θεραπεύω [therapeuō] , “to serve, be a servant.” Liddell, Scott, and Jones list many examples where this term refers to serving and has no connection with illness or the need for healing. Only in the sense of care, treatment, or serving the sick did it come to be applied to “healing” or “curing,” as in “therapy” and “therapeutic.” True, the word is used in Revelation Rev. 13:3+, Rev. 13:12+ of a wound healed; but in Luke Luke 12:42 it is used of “service” of a faithful and wise steward, and in Acts Acts 17:25 for serving God. The leaves, then, are there to minister to or serve the redeemed as they serve God (Rev. Rev. 22:3+).²³

The chemical ingredients of the rich foliage of the trees might be available for innumerable uses in the economy of the nations which is to be kept healthy by the leaves of the tree.²⁴

Notes

¹ J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 505.

² Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2003, 1810-1812), 874.

³ “The trees in both cases line the river; but in the earthly order they are outside the city; and though bread trees, they are not the Tree of Life. The heavenly River issues not from the sanctuary but from the throne. It does not flow into the sea, but through the avenues and streets of the city.”—Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 506.

⁴ A. R. Fausset, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine,” in Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, 1877), Rev. 22:2.

⁵ Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 503.

⁶ “The tree of life is mentioned four times in Proverbs (Pr. Pr. 3:18; Pr. 11:30; Pr. 13:12; Pr. 15:4), metaphorically depicting wisdom, fruitful works, hope, and the benefits of the wise use of the tongue.”—Daniel K. Wong, “The Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7,” in Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 155 no. 618 (Dallas, TX: Dallas Theological Seminary, April-June 1998), 211.

⁷ “The Saviour after his glorious resurrection did eat, even of the course food of mortals. The angels did eat of Sarah’s cakes and of Abraham’s dressed calf (Gen. Gen. 18:6-8).”—Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 506.

⁸ Ibid., 507.

⁹ Fruchtenbaum believes a monthly calendar will continue, but without the benefit of the moon: “It should be noted that the word month is used, so some kind of dating system will be present in the Eternal Order. Since there will be no sun, moon, or night, it will be a radically different dating system than the one in which we presently live.”—Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 539.

¹⁰ Henry Morris, The Revelation Record (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983), Rev. 22:2.

¹¹ We speak here of productivity as measured by God , not the constant activity which so often characterizes Christian work, which has more in common with Martha than Mary (Luke Luke 10:38-42).

¹² Frederick William Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 358.

¹³ Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 196.

¹⁴ Wong, “The Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7,” 219.

¹⁵ Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1995), Rev. 22:2.

¹⁶ A viable definition of sin is simply independence from God.

¹⁷ Wong, “The Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7,” 213.

¹⁸ Jerome Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992), 1Cor. 15:50.

¹⁹ Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 507.

²⁰ “Those who argue that ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom’ (1Cor. 1Cor. 15:50) forget that these natural generations are subjects of the kingdom, not inheritors, for only the resurrected saints in glorified bodies are co-heirs with Christ in His eternal kingdom (Rom. Rom. 8:17).”—Smith, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, 2Pe. 3:13.

²¹ Thomas, Revelation 8-22, Rev. 22:14.

²² “There is no indication whatever in Scripture that resurrected and translated beings have the quality of human sex, much less the capacity to produce offspring.”—John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1966), Rev. 21:24.

²³ Wong, “The Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7,” 220-221.

²⁴ Morris, The Revelation Record, Rev. 22:2.