Where is the Tree of Life?

[frisian1970]

Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

[jackie's_notes]

Was it destroyed in the flood?

[guitarrman45]

Rev 2:7

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God

Rev. 221-3

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Rev. 22:14

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
______________________________________________________________

It looks like it will now be in New Jerusalem. You could say that it has been transe planted.

[fefeh]

I have no idea, but I imagine it's still where it was, but in another dimension. Otherwise, why would He need Cherubims to guard it?

[frisian1970]

So it was moved from earth? Any biblical backing?

:confused

[JF2004]

Very interesting...
This has opened up a new floodgate of unanswered questions in me.

So if Adam and Eve were originally in the presence of the tree of life, and cherubims guard it to this day, then wouldn't that mean that they were in Paradise? So God just uprooted the tree and is going to "plant" it again later? But if it's not still on Earth, then why do cherubims need to protect it?

I think I'm pondering too much... and I'm not making much sense...

[seachelle76]

Very interesting...
This has opened up a new floodgate of unanswered questions in me.

So if Adam and Eve were originally in the presence of the tree of life, and cherubims guard it to this day, then wouldn't that mean that they were in Paradise? So God just uprooted the tree and is going to "plant" it again later? But if it's not still on Earth, then why do cherubims need to protect it?

I think I'm pondering too much... and I'm not making much sense...

You make perfect sense to me. I've pondered the same thing. One of my many questions.

[Hootmon]

All indication in the Genesis account would indicate that Eden was 'on Earth', at least in some sense.

As far as Paradise is concerned, since Jesus was crucified 'Paradise' is defined as 'where Christ is'. Before that is it less clear.

[Jiggy37]

So it was moved from earth? Any biblical backing?

:confusedWell, there's some decent argument for inference that if it was in Eden and then got to the new Jerusalem, it must have been moved at some point. :noidea
Sort of like the argument that if Satan could tempt Eve, the angels probably fell before the sixth day of creation, even though scripture never explicity says so. :noidea

[Hootmon]

Kind of makes me think that Eden was just an 'earlier version' of New Jerusalem.

[Jiggy37]

Kind of makes me think that Eden was just an 'earlier version' of New Jerusalem.In many ways, I hope so. :thumb

[frisian1970]

Well, there's some decent argument for inference that if it was in Eden and then got to the new Jerusalem, it must have been moved at some point. :noidea
Sort of like the argument that if Satan could tempt Eve, the angels probably fell before the sixth day of creation, even though scripture never explicity says so. :noidea


Could one say the angels died to some degree when they fell?

[Jiggy37]

Could one say the angels died to some degree when they fell?Hmm...
When you put it that way, I suppose the thought of death not existing before the fall of Adam only refers to death not existing on earth...
In which case more needs to be read than is there...
In which case six-consecutive-day creationists lose some ground... :noidea
But that's for another thread. :heh :bolt

[frisian1970]

Hmm...
When you put it that way, I suppose the thought of death not existing before the fall of Adam only refers to death not existing on earth...
In which case more needs to be read than is there...
In which case six-consecutive-day creationists lose some ground... :noidea
But that's for another thread. :heh :boltOr there was life outside of the Garden.

[Hootmon]

Could one say the angels died to some degree when they fell? Interesting thought.

I suppose one could say that they 'surely died' the day they rebelled.

[Joshua's Gen]

At the right hand of the Father.

[BHiles]

God "transplanted" things that were already in Heaven onto earth so to speak.

Compare the Genesis Account with Revelations and you will find everything that was in the Garden in Heaven except for on thing. The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.

[Joshua's Gen]

:nod

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

It is my belief everything was 'patterned' after the Heavenly pattern.

[kgreen20]

Was it destroyed in the flood?



It probably was. There'll be a new Tree of Life on the new earth, but probably not until then.



Kathy G.

[frisian1970]

At the right hand of the Father.:confused Which it wasn't in the garden?

[frisian1970]

God "transplanted" things that were already in Heaven onto earth so to speak.

Compare the Genesis Account with Revelations and you will find everything that was in the Garden in Heaven except for on thing. The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.And took his transplants with him off the earth, upon the fall? Why the need to guard the tree of life then?


And in terms of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was such transplanted from heaven? And would such indicate evil existed in the garden prior to eating of the fruit?

[joy4Him2day]

And took his transplants with him off the earth, upon the fall? Why the need to guard the tree of life then?


And in terms of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was such transplanted from heaven? And would such indicate evil existed in the garden prior to eating of the fruit?


ummmmmm *looking over shoulder*, "could you please step to the back of the line?" *swishing hand to encourage student to move on...........*

:heh

[frisian1970]

ummmmmm *looking over shoulder*, "could you please step to the back of the line?" *swishing hand to encourage student to move on...........*

:heh:confused Were my questions answered upstream? Or did I pass them up?

[Redmow]

Joshua Gen made a great point. The tree of life is Jesus. When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden they were separated from that which gives eternal life. Jesus death and resurrection offers the fruit of the tree of life to all who believe in Him.

[frisian1970]

Joshua Gen made a great point. The tree of life is Jesus. When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden they were separated from that which gives eternal life. Jesus death and resurrection offers the fruit of the tree of life to all who believe in Him.So the tree of life, was symbolic...in that it wasn't a tree as we know one. So Christ sustained them in the garden? He made them immortal as He will for eternity?

[joy4Him2day]

:confused Were my questions answered upstream? Or did I pass them up?


:lol
no.
you are just too deep for me, so rather than try to answer---I just wish you away-----you know, like your old school teachers? :lol :hug

[frisian1970]

:lol
no.
you are just too deep for me, so rather than try to answer---I just wish you away-----you know, like your old school teachers? :lol :hug
:doh Ah, "inside" remark.

:D: :hug

[Cary]

:wave

This may be a little on the :blah side. But I thought I would suggest some things for your consideration.

First: please go back and read Gen. 3: 24 again and note the last part: "to keep the way of the tree of life. " The Cherubim were not there to guard a tree. They were there to guard/keep "the way" :twitch :nod Then you may want to cross reference that to Act_9:2; Act_19:23; Act_22:4; Act_24:14; Act_24:22
and many other places, if interested I can show. All these references refer to walking the Christian life as "being in the way". So by inference we can see that the Cherubim were there to guard "the way" so it couldn't be closed off from us. In a mystical sort of way. But I do have to admit that only those who were holy could advance. (We can through being in Christ)

Also, while in the garden, walking in perfection and holiness and righteousness Adam and Eve would not die(Romans 5) unless they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So why was it there, in the first place. In the second place once they did eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were forbidden to eat of the tree of life, just when they needed it. What gives with that? :freaked

IMHO our understanding of why the two trees were there in the first place may be wrong. They were there to provide a choice. That choice was between knowing God (John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ) and being like God (Gen 3: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. ) :twitch :faint

I think it is true today, even in the Christian realm, do we want to know God or be like him as in having the power to call things into existance that are not.

So where is the tree of life today? It was in a garden, it still is in a garden on a hill called Calvery(cursed is everyone you hangs on a tree) and it will be in a garden which we shall see, eternally.

God told the Israelites that He had set before them life and death and encouraged them to choose life. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Choose life.

[dman]

Cary

Indeed You Have it Christ Was hung on The Tree in The Graden and From That Tree Which he was Hung Life springs Forth Enternal in His reserection..

In as much We eat From That Tree in Remberance of him.

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

What is it we do Today when we ask Such things as Where is the tree of Life as Confessing Born again Christians ??? How Well is it some really know The Lord and salvation they Confess and witness to if they can't Find The Tree of life Which it leaves ( fruits) are to be eatten for the healing of sicknesses and such ..

it is this tree Where we Truly Come to Begin to Know God and receive life eternal :)

If you Want to Know where the Tree of life is today On Earth well for a true christian just look over Your shoulder it should be there Christ comanded us to pick up our cross (Tree) and follow him and to be fruitfull .

When we are carrying our cross and following him and bearing fruit others can taste of the Fruit and Find Eternal Life Thur Christ as we have.

[dman]

We usually Over Buden our Minds and our hearts when we try to over analyze The word of God and his inspiried word. When the truth is just before our eyes and confermed in other places through out from OT to NT .

as I read I hear people talking about the two angels God sent to Guard the Enterance of the Garden and I am reminded Of the Two angels at the gave on the day Christ was raised from the grave who were there and gave witness of his resercetion there Like guardians yet sent messangers at the sametime .

The Cross (Tree) Christ was hung on Though it was cut wood and appeared as any cut tree to be dead bore Fruit and From it rose Life eternal.

[BIBLEDATA]

I believe that Adam and Eve were created in eternity. They were created to live for eternity(never die). The tree of life was in the midst of the garden of God. Adam was given dominion of the garden to tend. When Adam sinned he and Eve were moved from the realm of eternity into time so as to alot a means for God to work out the plan of salvation for humanity. A careful study of the two creation stories in the first and third chapter of Genesis give many clues to this conclusion. The tree is still in eternity where it has always been. The good news is that because of the death and resurection of Jesus our Lord is that we will never have need of the tree of life. When we accept Jesus as Lord we have eternal life. He is our seed of eternal life.

The story just begins of the marveleous grace of our God.

Maranatha

[frisian1970]

I believe that Adam and Eve were created in eternity. They were created to live for eternity(never die). The tree of life was in the midst of the garden of God. Adam was given dominion of the garden to tend. When Adam sinned he and Eve were moved from the realm of eternity into time so as to alot a means for God to work out the plan of salvation for humanity. A careful study of the two creation stories in the first and third chapter of Genesis give many clues to this conclusion. The tree is still in eternity where it has always been. The good news is that because of the death and resurection of Jesus our Lord is that we will never have need of the tree of life. When we accept Jesus as Lord we have eternal life. He is our seed of eternal life.

The story just begins of the marveleous grace of our God.

MaranathaWere events unfolding outside of the garden, prior to the fall?

[lookup]

God "transplanted" things that were already in Heaven onto earth so to speak.

Compare the Genesis Account with Revelations and you will find everything that was in the Garden in Heaven except for on thing. The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.
Satan will also be missing!

and... there will be some additions, for instance:

Jesus will have nail scars
There will be a new song... the song of the redeemed!

[LisaAnn]

The tree of life
Answer by Rev. W.P, Gadsby B.Sc., B.D.

‘Did the Tree of Life mentioned in the book of Genesis, have power to impart immortality to mortal man, as might be deduced from Genesis 3:22?’

The Tree of Life stood in the centre of the Garden of Eden which elsewhere is called ‘The Garden of the LORD’.1 It was a real tree, to be sure, but let me suggest that it was also symbolic of the fact that God was, and is, the source of eternal life and blessing. Adam and Eve were to have their life centred in Him, even as the Tree was in the centre of His Garden.

Other parts of the Bible also mention The Tree of Life. In Ezekiel 47:12 we read of trees whose ‘fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing’. This image is taken up also in Revelation 22:2. It is clear particularly in Proverbs where a number of things are referred to as ‘a tree of life’ (wisdom (3:15), the fruit of the righteous (11:30), desire fulfilled (13:12), and a soothing tongue (15:4)) that the Tree of Life in these references symbolises that which brings joy and healing to people.

This, I suspect, was what the original, the real Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden symbolised. It was material, yet it stood for the blessing of eternal life which God would give to Adam and Eve, and their descendants, if they were to pass the test of obedience. They were permitted to eat of any tree in the Garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on pain of death.2

Now, use a little lateral thinking. What else in the Bible is real and material, yet at the same time symbolises the life which is in Christ and points us repeatedly to Him? Something in which Christians share, and which reminds them that Jesus’ death brings us life? It is the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

Now, let us return to the Garden of Eden. I want to suggest that the Tree of Life was there to perform such a sacramental function. If Adam passed the test of obedience, it would be the means of God’s imparting eternal life to him, not by magic, but by the working of his Spirit ‘by, with and under’ the fruit of the Tree.

But Adam sinned. He failed the test and lost his right to eat from the Tree. As one commentator puts it, ‘that he might understand himself to be deprived of his former life, a solemn excommunication is added; not that the Lord would cut him off from all hope of salvation, but, by taking away what he had given, would cause man to seek new assistance elsewhere.’3

Just as Christians who profane the Lord’s Supper are subject to judgment, so Adam would have been further condemned if he had presumed to eat the fruit to which he was not now entitled. In doing so, he would have been trying to rob life from God, a grave blasphemy. The implication of Genesis 3:22 ‘And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever,”’ is that he, and us with him,4 would have been plunged into a condition of absolute lostness. He would have lived eternally cut off from God without hope of escape from the terrible consequences of sin. This would have been God’s just punishment for such a presumptuous sin, not merely a ‘magical’ effect of the Tree of Life.

Mercifully, God did not permit this to happen.5 Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden. No longer could he even contemplate eating from the Tree of Life. It was beyond his reach. Physical death now began to enter the human race. Adam began to die! The last Adam (Christ) later came to Earth to die so that through faith in Jesus, we may now inherit the eternal life Adam forfeited. Indeed, Jesus says to those who persevere in faith, ‘To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God.’6

The Genesis account of the Tree of Life reminds us there is only one way to attain to an eternal life of blessedness—the way God has appointed. That is through His Son, the Creator of heaven and Earth—the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He alone who can say, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’

References
Genesis 2:16,17
Genesis 13:10, compare Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 28:13
J Calvin, Commentary on Genesis (Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), p.184
Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:22
Genesis 3:23,24
Revelation 2:7

[Cary]

Hey,

Just wanted to add: I wonder if the Tree of Life, had no form or comeliness that we should desire it.

[dman]

Were events unfolding outside of the garden, prior to the fall?

WE have to believe events of some nature were unfolding outside of the garden before the fall.

The Earth had day and night as it does now I would think including the garden and what is it that could contain the Bird and the fish and other animals incects and plants as they were fruitfull and multiplied..

adam and even had to survive some how needs to do some kind of work as man was to earn what he had by the sweat of his brow as well they had to eat somthing they hunted grew or picked.

MY guess though the account don't really say that they had at least two Childern able and cain if not more who were already fairly grown if not more. EVen Though adam and eve didn't know pain or sickness in the garden women curse was pain in child bareing would think she at least had to under stand giving birth to have some Idea what was, what it met some way.

There sin was disobeying and eatting of the Tree of knowlege giving them the knowlege of good and evil as we read they already had knowlege and they had God so they knew the Good as well and had at least a small taste of enternity :)

Satan had already rebelled and been over seer of earth who is to say what was unfolding but couldn't have been all good for sure.