Revelation 2
“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.” (v. 7)
It is interesting that the Lord mentions the “tree of life,” which we all know is Christ. He was in Eden, the garden of God, and Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of His fruit, after the fall. The Bible does not tell us where this tree went, until we get to the Book of Revelation. You may remember that the Lord put guards around this Tree, lest man eat of it and live forever, (Gen. 3: 22-24), and it seems to “disappear” from scripture after that. What happened to this “Tree”? I believe that God took it up into Heaven and planted its holy roots deep within Heaven’s soil, and here we see it mentioned again in the last days. Not only that, but the garden seems to be there too, “the paradise of God”! (text verse). Yes, it seems that God preserved His garden, and the tree of life for us, in our final glory with Him. Why is Christ portrayed as a tree? Because a tree is a symbol of strength; beauty; and fruitfulness, which is what we have in Christ. It would be nice to expound further on these three wonders of Christ, but I may save that for another time. Here let us go on to see more about this Tree.
Let’s jump to Rev. 22:2, where we read “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.” This is referring to the New Jerusalem, the true city of God, our future home! The tree is also for healing, doesn’t that sound like something Jesus would do? Yes, Jesus is our tree of life. The promise of our text verse is to be with Him forever. These “overcomers” are the redeemed of Christ, having overcome the world through Him. The only stipulation in this promise is that we hear Him, (actually “Heed” Him, as “hear” is often used as obeying too). This thought becomes strengthened in Rev. 22: 14, where we see the last reference to this tree, and that we, through obedience, are given a right to eat from it.
“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.” (v. 7)
It is interesting that the Lord mentions the “tree of life,” which we all know is Christ. He was in Eden, the garden of God, and Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of His fruit, after the fall. The Bible does not tell us where this tree went, until we get to the Book of Revelation. You may remember that the Lord put guards around this Tree, lest man eat of it and live forever, (Gen. 3: 22-24), and it seems to “disappear” from scripture after that. What happened to this “Tree”? I believe that God took it up into Heaven and planted its holy roots deep within Heaven’s soil, and here we see it mentioned again in the last days. Not only that, but the garden seems to be there too, “the paradise of God”! (text verse). Yes, it seems that God preserved His garden, and the tree of life for us, in our final glory with Him. Why is Christ portrayed as a tree? Because a tree is a symbol of strength; beauty; and fruitfulness, which is what we have in Christ. It would be nice to expound further on these three wonders of Christ, but I may save that for another time. Here let us go on to see more about this Tree.
Let’s jump to Rev. 22:2, where we read “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.” This is referring to the New Jerusalem, the true city of God, our future home! The tree is also for healing, doesn’t that sound like something Jesus would do? Yes, Jesus is our tree of life. The promise of our text verse is to be with Him forever. These “overcomers” are the redeemed of Christ, having overcome the world through Him. The only stipulation in this promise is that we hear Him, (actually “Heed” Him, as “hear” is often used as obeying too). This thought becomes strengthened in Rev. 22: 14, where we see the last reference to this tree, and that we, through obedience, are given a right to eat from it.
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