Trees of the Bible - Tree of Life

THE TREE OF LIFE

8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.   9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   (Gen. 2:8-9)
 
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."   (Gen. 2:16-17)
 
Two trees, among the many trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food, in a paradise full of luxuriant growth.  Why pay so much attention to the Tree of Lives and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (TKGE)?  Well, while the Garden of Eden was filled with animals at peace with one another, soon to be named by Adam, the Tree of Lives and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (TKGE) are the only named trees, except the lowly fig tree that provided leaves for Adam and Eve (3:7) after their sinful disobedience of the command of God concerning the TKGE.  Of course, there is also the 180-degree difference between the effects of partaking of the fruit of two trees worthy of careful attention.

Today’s study is the Tree of Lives.  Yes, the form of the Hebrew word for life, “chayim,” is plural.  While the form is thought to be strictly a matter of the gender of the noun, it makes sense to see it transcend that grammatical point when its use is considered in Genesis.  Untold numbers of lives could be refreshed, renewed, and preserved by the Tree of Lives.  When God gave life to Adam, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7).  Again, though the breath breathed into Adam gave him life, the life produced in and through the first human became an inconceivably great multiplicity of lives!
The expression “Tree of Life” is found in four passages in Proverbs where several sources are described as being a tree of life:  Wisdom (3:18), the fruit of righteousness (11:30), a desire fulfilled (13:12), and a gently tongue (15:4).  Here the Tree of Life is a metaphor, an ultimately desirable thing to experience.  The Tree in the garden was of ultimate value because its fruit would have provided refreshment and stimulation of long, enriched life.  

We know that the intended purpose of the Tree of Lives was to provide unending life, because that is what the Lord said when He sent the man and the woman out of the Garden.  “Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-- " (Gen. 3:22).  Lives given through creation and birth were to be extended through the gift of the Tree of Lives.  
The most exciting descriptions of the Tree of Life after the account of Genesis 3 are found in the Book of the Revelation.  The first is in Revelation 2:7, where the one who listens to what the Spirit says to the churches and conquers is to be granted the right to eat of “the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.  
 
The second amazing passage is Revelation 22:2, part of the description of the New Jerusalem, the place where the saints will live: “through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”  Here the trees are described as yielding fruit each month, fruit that will not only refresh the saints, but also heal the nations.  People of every tribe, nation, and tongue will be joined together in that great city when the judgment of God concludes, and the healing necessary – especially for those who have come out of the Great Tribulation will be provided by these fruitful trees.  Verse 14 emphasizes that those who have washed their robes (in the blood of the lamb) will have the right to the tree of life, having entered the city through the gates.  Finally, in verse 19, people are warned not to subtract anything from the words of the Revelation, this book of prophecy, because they will be outside, unable to enjoy a share in the tree of life.
 
Every believer will walk on those streets someday.  Adam, Abraham, Moses, Malachi, John, and Gaius will be on those streets, and the trees of life will be a reminder to them that there is no death for those who, through “the obedience of faith,” have believed, and have received the gift of God, which is eternal life (Romans 6:23).  No one will be removed from that everlasting Paradise of God, so the trees of life will be to them like the Tree of Lives.