THE RIVER AND TREE OF LIFE
There are three persons in the Bible who tell of the river of life, and the tree of life. The first one is Moses, in Genesis 2, when God made the world. The second is Ezekiel, in his forty seventh chapter, when he saw a vision of God's kingdom. The third is John, in Revelation 22, who tells of the new earth and the river and the tree of life within it. Moses and Ezekiel call it just the river, but John calls it the river of life. Moses and John call the tree the tree of life, but Ezekiel, though he tells what it is and does, just as John does, only calls it "trees." But putting these ideas all together, we see that the three of them are taling about the same river and the same tre of life.
Now this river God made for the Garden of Eden and for the whoe earth. It seems it started in the Garden, and when it had flowed outside it became parted into four rivers, which went everywhere. For you know there wasn't any rain back there. The way God watered the earth was sort of an irrigation system. There were litle rills of water under the ground, and overhead there was dew at night. That gave enough moistur to water the rich soil. And it all came from streams of the river of life.
John tells that the river comes from the throne of God; and because God is the source of all life. I suppose thats why its called the river of life. In the Garden, where the river started, there was a seat, perhaps of marble or some other white stone, where God often sat when He came to visit Adam and Eve, and before which they sat down before Him on the shining floor, to listen to His words of life.
Ezekiel says the river is little at the beginning, only ankle deep, but further along it grows bigger, so that you would have to wade to get across it. That's the way it is with the life of God; it starts little like a seed, but it grows greater and greater, like the plant or the tree growing from the seed, and at last it gives fruit to many.
The tree of life was in the midst of the Garden, on either side of the river. It was a wonderful tree, bearing its fruit every month, each time a different knd of fruit. Maybe there were twelve varieties, just as we have that many and more varieties of apple tree, each one bearing different fruit and ripening at different times.
But the tree of life was differnt from every other tree in the Garden; because while their fruit gave strength to those who ate it, this tree of life gave life more abundantly. Whoever ate it right along would not die, but have everlasting life. It must have been a beautiful tree, perhaps with shining green leaves like orange or rhododendron, or magnolia, its fruit gleaming amidst it's leaves like silver and gold and all the colors of the rainbow.
Adam and Eve often sat under the shade of this tree while they listened to their Heavenly Father giving them the words of life. They saw God, and heard His voice. And in the flowers of the tree they smelled the fragrance of His life. And in the fruit of the tree they tasted His goodness. And the feel of it in their hands was like velvet and ivory and silk and gold. How they loved the tree of life!
It is in the plan of God to give the tree of life again to us. Isn't it pretty wonderful that the Bible starts out with the tree of life and ends with the tree of life? You read about it in the second chapter of Genesis, and in the last chapter of Revelation. And there is a lesson for us to read in that. We do not see the tree of life; it is far away, but it is not dead or lost. We have wandered away from it, but God stil sends some of it's life to us.
Although we are far away from the tree of life and its fruit, God sends it to us in the words of the Bible and the good gifts of life. The more we open our hearts to His truth, the more fruit of the tree of life we get
: )
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1|1|thank you!!|Skaytes|skaytez@gmail.com|07:45:30|03/29/2010|
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