Tree of Life
The first time “the tree of life” appears in the Bible is in Genesis 2:9:
“And out of the ground the YHWH 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.”
The second time occurs after Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:22 says:
“Then the YHWH God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” After they sinned, they might have eaten from the tree of life, so God did not allow them to remain in Eden.
After that, the tree of life disappeared and reappears in Revelation 2:7 and 22:2, 14, 19. Revelation 22:2 says:
“ 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”. The last chapter of the Revelation says humans will regain health and everlasting life.
What is the purpose of Tree of Life?
The tree of life was created by Jehovah God for Adam (humanity). What does this mean? It means Adam could not live forever simply by eating the fruit of any other tree. He needed to eat the fruit of the tree of life periodically so that it could extend his life forever.
Why can we say this? What is the role of the tree of life? The purpose of the tree of life is to enable Adam to live forever. If Adam and Eve could have obtained eternal life by eating the fruit of any other trees, then the tree of life would have been meaningless, and God would have had no need to create it. Clearly, the only way for Adam to gain eternal life was by eating the fruit of the tree of life.
Since humans, animals, and plants have metabolic functions, old cells die and are replaced by new ones. This enables living things to grow and repair themselves. Animals and plants go through stages of reproduction, growth, death, and the transformation of elements. This is an important part of the cycle of the natural world; otherwise the sustainable system of nature would stop. Therefore, not all living things can enjoy the gift of eternal life —only humans.
Genesis 3:22 tells us that if Adam could eat the fruit of the tree of life, he could live forever—even after sinning. This means the tree provided something necessary (though we do not know exactly what) that could extend life forever, even after sin. That was the original state of humans and the tree of life. It is a unique and special gift of grace that God gave only to humans so that we might have everlasting life, because man is created in the image of Jehovah God and God loves humanity.
In other words, if humans did not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would not die and could live forever. But if they also never ate the fruit of the tree of life, would they still live forever? If the answer were “yes”, then what would be the role of the tree of life? They would not need to eat from it yet would still gain eternal life.
Obviously, human beings are no different from animals in that they all experience aging and death. But because of God’s special kindness and grace, He designed and created the tree of life for humans and gave us the gift of everlasting life. Clearly, humans need to eat the fruit of the tree of life in order to extend their lives.
So is it because Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that human death resulted? No. Human beings die because they cannot eat the fruit of the tree of life. But didn’t God say that if humans ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die? Yes—it is the only way, but not the direct cause of human death. Because God did not allow them to eat from the tree of life after they sinned, they could no longer enjoy God’s grace.
One question: Do you think God expected Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” or not? You may say, “Absolutely not!”.
Genesis 2:17 records God’s warning:
“…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.”
God expected Adam to live forever; otherwise He would not have created the tree of life and given him the command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
May I give you a math problem? Please calculate how long it would take for the earth to exceed its capacity to hold humans if no one needed to die. Let’s simplify it: (2 + 2) for Adam’s first generation, (4 + 4) for the second generation, (8 + 8) for the third generation… How long? One thousand years? Ten thousand years?
If no one needed to die, how could the earth hold so many people? Have you ever asked this question? Do you think God knew the answer when He created the tree of life and expected humans to live forever? If He knew the answer, did He have a solution already prepared to solve this problem? Do you trust our God in faith?
Finally, the tree of life appears again in Revelation. This means that in the future our sins will be forgiven through the ransom of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jehovah God will give us the tree of life once more.
Revelation 22:2-3 says, “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. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him”.
In the future, God will give the tree of life to all nations again, and there will be no more curse. Unlike other trees that bear fruit only once a year, these trees bear twelve kinds of fruit every month, continuously and forever supplying the needs of a vast number of people. At that time we will regain health, youth, and immortality.
Revelation 21:3-4 says, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Let’s Prayer
Jehovah God, our heavenly Father, may your name be holy, and may your kingdom come. Since our bodies are made up of biological cells, we should age and die like other creatures. But because of your love and goodness, we are different and unique, for you created the tree of life for us so that we can enjoy your grace of eternal life.
Indeed, we admit that we are sinners; please forgive us. You love us, and we love you too. Please give eternal life to your people again. Amen. Our heavenly Father, please come and wipe away our sorrow, pain, tears, and death. May we all give glory, praise, and gratitude to you and to your beloved Son Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer is also in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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