The Tree Of Life

One of the most profound of mysteries beginning with the Garden of Eden and leading to our Salvation.

In Genesis, the Tree of Life is planted in the idyllic Garden of peaceful Garden of Eden. In Revelation, it is found in the center of the River of Life with the New Jerusalem. So, it must be an important image for understanding God’s story.

There are trees throughout scripture that remind us of the Tree of Life at the beginning and end of our journey.

Here are a few examples:

The tree by the river in Psalm 1

The branch that will shoot forth from the stump of Jesse in Isaiah.

The broom tree that Elijah sits under when his life is threatened.

The sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbs as he sought to listen to the one that brought life.

And for those of us who follow Jesus, it is most significant that Jesus was crucified on a tree made into a cross. Because of His resurrection from that tree, that tree we often call the cross is a symbolic tree of life.

All of these tree images in God’s Word should remind us of the Tree of Life.

What I find interesting is that in Genesis, God forbids humans to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. And most people assume that this applies to the Tree of Life as well.

However, Genesis never says God commanded humans not to eat from the Tree of Life. Just because exiled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil because He was afraid they would not eat from the Tree of Life. That is different from commanding them not to eat from the Tree of Life.

In Deuteronomy, God practically begs the Israelites to choose life. Deuteronomy 30:19 reminds us of the Tree of Life,

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

If we allow this passage to remind us of the Tree of Life, then we realize that God’s exhortation to “choose life” is like an exhortation to eat from the Tree of Life.

• God placed humanity in a garden to flourish with life.
• God set before humanity two particular trees worthy of mention and told us not to eat from one of them.
• Then humanity goes and eats from the very tree God told them not to eat from.
• In the process, the humans ignore the other tree which God never mentioned.
• Then probably thousands of years later, God says, “Look, I set before you live in and death. Choose life!”

I don’t think this is coincidental.

God is begging us today, just as in the garden and just as in Deuteronomy, to choose life. What that means for us each day we live is the question before us.

What if, we began to look at the large and small decisions within our daily lives as an opportunity to choose life?

I wonder how that might change the way we think. How it might change the way we live.

Genesis and Revelation are not just simply stories about the past and the future. They are messages for each day. No matter what you are facing along the journey through life, you need sustenance every day.

Will you eat from the tree that Adam and Eve chose? Or will you choose the Tree of Life?