I like to pick vegetables, especially cherry tomatoes, and eat them while I’m in the garden. They are best when you roll them around on your overalls to clean them and then pop them into your mouth. I also like to pick wild grapes and eat them on the spot. Providence Golf Club has muscadine grapes at the tee on Hole #2 that are wonderful in season. With that intro, it’s time to do a little noodling. Of course, every day is a time for thinking, at least it should be. Today, I want to challenge you to look at a verse in Revelation 22:2. Recently, I have been trying to wrap my head around the mental picture that is painted in this verse. How does the river that flows from the throne of God have a single tree that is on both sides of that river? How does that same tree find itself in the middle of Gold Highway? I looked through my online library, checked my in-office commentaries on The Revelation, read various prophetic authors, and even looked through my own past sermon notes. Nothing. Then early this morning, I began reading a sermon by Spurgeon about “Healing Leaves.” I had no more begun reading the sermon and he commented on the portion of the passage which I’d found myself wrestling. He didn’t elaborate about the river or the tree, his focus was on the leaves, but he sparked a thought in me. I didn’t even finish the sermon. Immediately with a new way of looking, a new perspective, I jumped into the mix once more. The first book in the Bible, Genesis, talks about the Tree of Life which was in Eden. The last book in the Bible, Revelation, also tells us about a Tree of Life.
“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”– Genesis 2:9
“In the midst (middle) of the street of it, and on either side (both river banks) 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.” – Revelation 22:2
Genesis tells us about three types of trees in 2:9. The ‘many trees’ that are good for food, the one identified as the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The only one of the trees not allowed for food is the last, the tree of knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17). A few verses later Eve is created, and she is informed about the one prohibition, don’t eat of that one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan arrives subtly causing her to doubt the command of God. She sins by eating of the tree and later Adam does as well. Once the fall of man took place, Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden. The Lord set Cherubims, angels with flaming swords, to guard Eden; not allowing man to re-enter (Genesis 3:22-24). The grace of God is easily seen in this edict of God. If man in his decaying condition slipped back into the Garden eating of the tree of life, he would be sick, in pain with anguish in his body, and would ultimately be tormented with no relief available because death wouldn’t come. God made sure this wouldn’t happen with his watch of Cherubim’s.
Now back to Revelation 22. Could it be that “the tree of life” isn’t a single tree but a single type of tree? Think with me about the verse with that thought in mind. Beginning in v.1 we see a “pure river of water, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” V.2, we read in the “midst” (middle) of the street and on “either” (both banks) of the river, was the tree of life. Whether in the gold paved street (21:21b) or on the banks of the river ‘the’ tree of life was there. I’ll give you a living example of this thought. In Savannah, Georgia, one of the major roads is called Victory Drive. This road extends from the Westside of the city to Tybee Island. The part of Victory Drive that is in town is a divided road. Two lanes go east, and two lanes go west. In the middle of those four lanes are palm trees lining the drive. Hundreds, if not thousands of palm trees dot the center of the road. “The” palm tree can be seen no matter the spot of the drive you find yourself. Perhaps the tree of life is the main type of tree in the New Jerusalem. Just think about how wonderful heaven will be. When strolling through glory, no matter the part of glory, you get a little hungry and you simply walk to the middle of Golden Avenue to pick the fruit off the tree of life. Your choice of fruit because there are twelve kinds on each tree. If you were on Victory Drive you’d have to climb the palm tree to get some “dates” but in Heaven nothing is said about climbing. When you’re taking a walk on one of the banks of that pure crystal-clear river and you get the urge for a snack, just look around and there is the tree of life with all that fruit again. By the way, the fruit is everbearing. There is fruit all twelve months of the year (Revelation 22:2).
In closing, let me say I believe the tree of life in Eden was a single tree. If the tree of life in Heaven is multiple and not singular, that simply would be consistent with the teaching of Hebrews where things on earth were good but in Christ things are always “better.” Things on earth can be joyous, but they all pale in comparison to the joys of Heaven.