The Tree of Life

In Genesis 3, we read about Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then being expelled from the Garden of Eden. In the same garden there was another very important tree, the tree of life. After eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man could not be allowed to take also from the tree of life. So the Lord God banished man from the garden and placed on the east side of the garden "cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24).

A mention of the tree of life then appears in the Revelations (chapters 2 and 22):

"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelations 2:7)

"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." (Revelations 22:1-2)

In the city of New Jerusalem in heaven, there is the tree of life, yielding its fruit every month and the leaves good for the healing of the nations and standing on each side of the river.

This imagery is strikingly similar to that of Ezekiel 47:1-12, where on both sides of the river from the temple, there are trees bearing fruit good for food and leaves good for healing, as well as Psalm 1:3, where the blessed man is compared to a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither.

I think the tree of life symbolizes Jesus Christ, who declared "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener" (John 15:1), while the streams, the river, and the living water all symbolize the Holy Spirit (John 7:38, 39). Our relationship with Jesus is described not only as one in which Jesus eats with us (Revelations 3:20), but in which He is offered as the bread of life, so that we may eat of him and have eternal life (John 6:25-59).

In being expelled from the Garden of Eden, man was banished from the presence of the Lord. In being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, our "right to the tree of life" (Revelations 22:14) will be restored and our "share in the tree of life" (Revelations 22:19) will be assured. In heaven, we will be fully in the presence of the triune God.