The Tree of Life
Images of the Tree of Life are given to us in 3 places in Scripture: The Garden of Eden, The New Heaven and The New Earth, and in the Tabernacle.
The Tree of Life was created by God in the Garden of Eden, and was watered by a river which flowed from Eden. After the Fall, when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, in His compassion for mankind, God exiled man from the Garden using cherubim to protect him from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever in his fallen state.
When Moses had led God’s chosen out of Egypt, God directed His people to make a tabernacle where He could be present with them. The tabernacle contained symbols of what had been in Eden and what would be in the New Jerusalem, including the lampstand. The lampstand was to be fashioned like a tree with seven branches, almond buds and almond flowers.
At the end of the Apostle John’s life, Jesus Christ revealed to him an image of the New Heaven and the New Earth. The Tree of Life is so massive that it spans both sides of the River of the Water of Life that flows from the throne of God.
There are numerous images today of The Tree of Life, in myths, legends and artwork. Some believe that the tree is an acacia tree, the “umbrella tree.” Others believe that The Tree is an image of the body of Christ, Immanuel, Christ with us, life flowing for all the nations of unbelievers.
Here on this landscape collage of approximately 3ft x 4-1/2 ft, it is shown as the almond tree, as it was in the Tabernacle. The Tree is so magnificent that only a small portion of it can be pictured here, yet still the River of the Water of Life seems almost small. Here the tree is so massive that it is impossible to see the tens of thousands of birds nesting in it, and the creatures, predator and prey, lions and lambs, gathered together around its exquisite trunk. As in the Tabernacle, the tree has seven major branches, flowing with the golden oil of the Spirit of God so that one might envision eternal flames burning at the tip of the seven branches far above this limited view, and see the Spirit flowing in the veins of the leaves for the healing of all. We are so privileged to be able to participate in that healing.
