Well, I’m on my way to heaven, we shall not be moved,
On my way to heaven, we shall not be moved,
Just like a tree that’s standing by the waterside,
we shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
Just like a tree that’s standing by the waterside,
we shall not be moved.
Before embarking on the subject of this chapter, a few explanatory words may not be out of place. In all these chapters we have been unlocking the codes written within the symbols, showing the necessity to distinguish between the symbol and the reality. John may have seen a pyramid structure in vision, but the symbol was not the reality. The reality was the company of people represented by the pyramid. We have seen that the walls and doors to this city also represent people, this time a certain select company of believers whose task will be to maintain security for the Bride. We have even shown how the water of life can be seen in terms of the flowing power of the Holy Spirit within people’s lives. However, in this last case, and even more particularly with the Tree of Life, and the Garden of the Lord (Paradise), there is also a reality attached, quite apart from any unlocking of the symbols. Way back in Genesis we read of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life, and the river that divided into four branches. We are therefore required to see that in the future there will once again be these wonders in reality.
I suspect that some may feel that I have begun to play a double game, by choosing some symbols to be purely symbolic, and not real, whilst others can be both symbolic and real, or even lacking in symbolism whatsoever. But the city has been stated to be the Bride, and therefore it represents something. One cannot imagine our Lord being espoused to a city of non-living buildings. Peter spoke about “living stones”, (after all, our Lord called him Kephas, a stone!) and our Lord promised certain overcomers that they would be pillars in the temple. Hence the symbolic code is easy to unlock. As we are about to investigate the Tree of Life, and in the next chapter, Paradise, we shall be witnessing this duality, the symbolic and the reality. For sheer poetic beauty we must quote Psalm 1:1-4
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Who is this man, if not the Lord Jesus Himself?)
Here then are the verses in Revelation that are the subject of our study in this chapter –
“And he showed me . . . the tree of life producing twelve fruits, according to each month yielding its fruits, and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations.” (Rev.22:2)
“To him who overcomes [conquers] I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise [garden] of God.”(Rev.2:7)
One thing is certain. Just as the water, so also the tree, they both yield life. Even in the Garden of Eden, the tree would have given unending life if Adam and Eve had eaten from it. Hence they were driven out, that fallen man should not live forever in his fallen state, but have to undergo redemptive treatment first. Let’s see what else the Scriptures have to say about the tree of life.
“On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” (Ezek.47:12) Ezekiel’s vision of the city bears many similarities to that of John’s vision. However, he sees many different kinds of trees of life. But one thing stands out – the tree grows on the banks of the river of life. It draws its sustenance from the water of life. Therefore we cannot consider the symbolism of the tree apart from that of the water.
There are four references to a tree of life in Proverbs, all of which will be helpful to us in our search. They portray the same poetic imagery found in Psalm 1.
“Happy is the man who finds wisdom . . . she is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. . . . She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.” (Prov.3:13-18)
“The fruit of the righteous [man] is a tree of life.” (Prov.11:30)
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Prov.13:12)
“A gentle tongue is a tree of life.” (Prov.15:4)
Having said in the previous chapter that the Water of Life represents the moving power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s work, we are required to think of the Tree of Life as yielding fruit from the very waters that provide life to the tree. What does this mean? Eating the fruit of the Tree of Life is something eternal, something that lasts and cannot be destroyed. It is something that warms the heart of God, something that gives Him pleasure. In order to exemplify this we could do no better than return to the 4th chapter of John, where our Lord was speaking to the woman at the well. The disciples had gone off to buy food, leaving Jesus at the well. Then follows the conversation about the water of life, which the woman requests, and her request is granted by the Lord, because she believes, and straightway shares her new-found belief far and wide, resulting in many others receiving the grace of life as well. But the part that is of present interest to us is what follows. “Meanwhile, the disciples besought Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat which you do not know.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought Him food?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work.'” (John 4:31-34)
There is therefore a simple progression here. The water of life that Jesus offers is the power of the Holy Spirit to bring new life to the woman. Due to her belief, and her testimony, she brings forth fruit. In the poetic imagery of the words that followed, the Lord tells His disciples that He has eaten of the Tree of Life, but they didn’t understand. The four verses from Proverbs help us to understand what this means in other contexts as well, particularly the one in chapter 3, where the Holy Spirit (called Wisdom) is indeed the Tree of Life to all those who “lay hold of her.”
Have you had the joy of leading someone to the Lord, and watching a miraculous change come over them as the Holy Spirit enters their life? Have you ever considered that the exceeding joy in your own heart is but the eating of the Tree of Life? This example is one meaning of the imagery, following on from the understanding of the Water of Life in the previous chapter.
But what about the reality? Is there in reality a Tree of Life, just as there was on the primeval earth in Genesis 1 &2? Shall we ever again see this Tree of Life, and if so, where? The overcomers are promised this in Rev.2:7, and are told that the Tree will be in the Garden of God, called Paradise. This will be the subject of the next chapter, where we shall investigate the reality, rather than the imagery and symbolism.
Here is a poem I wrote in March 1976
With whom shall I dwell, says the Lord?
With whom shall I share all my glory?
Where is the Maiden of My Delight
For whom I have written this story?
To whom shall I go, says the King?
To whom shall I look with elation?
Whom shall I choose to be my Queen
And the Mother of God’s New Creation?
She dwells on the earth, says the Lord,
She dwells in the Vale of Decision;
Despised and rejected and misunderstood,
But clothed with a heart of compassion.
She abandoned her home, says the King,
To worship Me out in the desert;
Poor in the spirit, with tears in her eyes,
My wings were her only true covert.
She took precious seed from my hand
And cast it down into the darkness;
Her sister berated her wasteful ways,
And the rest of mankind thought it madness.
But these were the ways of her Lord,
And this was the mind of her Master
She held to the promise of Life to Come,
And equated it not with disaster.
The seed in due course came alive,
And the Word of the Lord was enacted;
The Woman of Sorrows, acquainted with grief
Looked up, as her faith was perfected.
So Rebecca shall come to her Lord,
Tears of grief become tears of rejoicing,
And running to Isaac’s outstretched arms,
Darkened years shall be lost in embracing.
