Eternal Life Grows on Trees
As a child, I was terrified by Vincent Price movies. To this day, scenes from those films occasionally replay in my mind, demonstrating the impact they had on me as a youth. I watch those same movies today and they strike me as silly, rather than terrifying.
One of Price’s return characters was Dr. Anton Phibes, generally referred to as “Phibes.” In the 1972 film, Dr. Phibes Rises Again!, Phibes is seeking vengeance on the physicians he blamed for the death of his wife, Victoria, while also seeking eternal life for both he and Victoria along with his faithful assistant, Vulnavia. This eternal life would come to the three of them via a journey down the River of Life, which Phibes had determined was in Egypt.
The film industry has long had a fascination with immortality, producing dozens of films exploring the concept of eternal life, both its blessings and its assumed pitfalls. None of these films, however, seems to capture the reality that life is eternal. The only question related to that eternal nature is, “Where will we live that life?”
The Life-Giving Tree
Life is eternal, but it comes not from some river in Egypt, as Dr. Phibes believed, but it seems, rather, to come from a tree, the tree of life.
And out of the ground the LORD 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.
– Genesis 2:9, ESV
Paradise was lush with trees that were both beautiful and fruit-bearing. In the midst of all these trees were two special trees; the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of the second tree, the tree of knowledge, the first tree took on much greater significance.
Then the LORD 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—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
– Genesis 3:22-24, ESV
The tree of life in the Garden of Eden was a literal tree, a tree whose fruit seemingly had a medicinal, life-giving effect that prevented disease, and halted aging. We might be hasty to conclude that this benefit ceased with the fall, but such a conclusion would be faulty. The life-sustaining ability of the tree is indifferent toward the fallen state of humanity, as demonstrated by God’s concern expressed in the verses above.
This is not the last we will see of the tree, however. Though the cherubim with the flaming sword stand guarding the tree of life, we will see it again, and in abundance. And returning to Dr. Phibes, it is then that we will see the river of the water of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 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. 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.
– Revelation 22:1-3, ESV
In that city, where the tree of life grows on either side of the river of the water of life, those who enter will have the right to access the tree, while all others will be prevented, and made to stay outside the city.1
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
– Revelation 22:14, ESV
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
– Revelation 2:7, ESV
The Tree in Symbolism
In the book of Proverbs, the tree of life is mentioned symbolically, or metaphorically. We find in Proverbs four attributes of a God-focused, Spirit-led and infused life, each portrayed as a tree of life.
Wisdom
She [wisdom] is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.
– Proverbs 3:18, ESV
A truism I have believed and pondered for decades is something the man who taught me the gospel said. He told me that if we truly understood how dumb sin is, we would never do it. If he is right, and I believe he is, it answers a couple of questions I have puzzled over for years.
- Since Jesus was fully human,2 and tempted in all points as we are, how is it that he was able to live a sinless life? The gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus was “filled with wisdom,”3 and numerous other passages support this reality.4 Since Jesus was filled with wisdom, perhaps he understood what we fail to understand. Oh, yeah, we agree that sin is bad but we fall short of understanding its full, destructive effect on human life. Jesus understood that and resisted sin because he knew how stupid sinning is.
- When we leave this life, and are at home with the Lord, do we retain the knowledge we have now, or do we lose the knowledge of evil? I find the latter exceedingly difficult to accept, given Paul’s statement, “now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”5 I suspect, rather, that our wisdom and understanding will be elevated to the level of Jesus’ understanding, and we will see sin and evil for what it really is.
True wisdom, godly wisdom allows us to understand and distinguish between good and evil, and to choose the good. Perhaps this is what James means when he talks about “the wisdom that comes down from above”6 rather than the wisdom that is earthly, nonspiritual, and demonic.
Righteousness
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.
– Proverbs 11:30, ESV
I puzzled over this one for a bit. I wondered “a tree of life for whom? For the one who is righteous? And what does winning souls have to do with it?”
I believe the answer to the first question provides the answer to the second. The fruit of the righteous is a magnet to the unsaved. This, of course, leads us to examine our fruit. Well…I hope it does, anyway.
Is our fruit repulsive, or attractive? I spend a fair amount of time on TwiX (Twitter/X) and, at times, find the conversations there horrific, conversations involving professed Christians . The venom spewed back and forth by these “defenders of the faith” is terribly disheartening.
If, as believers and Christ-followers, we are overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, we will likely be the most unusual person in our community, one that attracts men and women, because many in the world are fed up with the hatred and the toxicity, but they don’t know where to go to escape it.
Fulfilled Desire
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
– Proverbs 11:30, ESV
Matthew Henry7 said that hope deferred does, indeed, make the heart sick, languishing, fretful, and peevish, but hope dashed kills the heart.8 But consider the opposite, where hope has been delayed at length but is eventually realized. How rejuvenating to the spirit it is for a long-held dream to come to fruition! It is renewing and reviving, like the day I married my high school sweetheart.
A Soothing Tongue
A soothing tongue is a tree of life,
But perversion in it crushes the spirit.
– Proverbs 15:4, NASB
Words can cut, and words can heal. I enjoy a quick wit, which is why I always enjoyed listening to Joan Rivers. She was clever, but she had an innate understanding of the difference between witty and cruel. Harsh words can crush the spirit. Words that edify are healing.
As Christ-followers, we have an obligation to be very careful with our words so we can minister grace to those who read or hear.9 Just as words can cut and damage, words can also heal, a tree of life whose leaves have a restorative ability. The Christ-follower who has a soothing tongue is one who makes their very presence a bit closer to paradise.
Commit to being a tree of life to those around you through your wisdom, righteousness, positivity in hope, and healing conversation.
1. Revelation 22:15
2. I think I’ll blog about that next week. Stay tuned!
3. Luke 2:40
4. 1 Corinthians 1:24, Colossians 2:3, Some believe Proverbs 8 (personification of wisdom) is a foreshadowing of Christ.
5. 1 Corinthians 13:12
6. James 3:15
7. Matthew Henry was a British Nonconformist, Presbyterian minister and author in the 17th century.
8. Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (p.983), Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
9. Ephesians 4:29
