Adam’s Occupation to Work and Keep the Garden
Before proceeding to the probative test, a brief examination of Adam’s mandate in the garden is needed as his choice was in part, a failure of occupation, if not a rejection of it. In the Genesis 2 garden-narrative, there are two words that are used to describe Adam’s occupation. They are עָבַד `abad שָׁמַר shamar. The sense of `abad is to work or to serve and can indicate tilling the soil (so Genesis 2:5; 3:23; 4:2, 12) and also serving as a slave/servant (so Genesis 14:4; 15:13-14; 25:23; 27:29, 40; 29: 15, 18, 20, 25, 27, 30; 30:26, 29; 31:6, 41; 49:15; Exodus 1:13-14). However, it is also used to describe serving God.
The sense of shamar is to keep, guard, give heed or watch over. Adam was to work and guard the garden, keeping watch over it, much as the cherubim were given guard of the tree of life post-fall (Genesis 3:24). Cain used shamar in answer to God regarding his brother, responding “am I my brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9).
The Old Testament Meaning of `abad
While `abad in the Genesis 2 garden-narrative points primarily to tilling the garden, its later uses reveal important meaning. For instance, God assures Moses that the Israelites will be brought out of Egypt to serve (`abad) Him (Exodus 3:12), an idea repeated through the exodus narrative.
Pharaoh is repeatedly told to let the Israelites go that they may serve God, in what may represent a recapitulation of the creation narrative. As God had created and appointed Adam to serve in a garden in Eden, so He was creating Israel with the intention of placing them in a new garden in Palestine to serve Him (Exodus 4:23; 7:16; 8:1; 9:1, 13; 10:3; particularly 13:5).
Tension is seen in the hearts of the Israelites whose loyalty to God was divided with a continuing loyalty to Egypt (Exodus 14:12). It came from uncertainty of the wilderness when compared with the certainty of conditions in Egypt. It seems to portend future struggles Israel will experience serving God or idols (Exodus 20:5; 23:24, 25, 33; Deuteronomy 4:19, 28; 5:9; 6:13; 7:4, 16; 8:19; 10:12, 20; 11:13, 16; 12:2, 30; 13:2, 4, 6, 13; 17:3; 28:14, 36, 47, 64; 29:18, 26; 30:17, 20).
The warnings against serving other gods and failing to serve Him seem to portend Israel’s covenantal failures in Palestine evident under Joshua (Joshua 16:10) and following his death (Judges 2:7, 11, 13, 19; 3:6, 7; 10:6, 13). The theme of Israel’s backsliding to serve other gods threads through the entire Old Testament using `abad.
The Levites are to serve God and the congregation before the tabernacle (Numbers 3:7, 8; 4:23-26, 30, 37, 41, 47; 7:5; 8:11, 15, 19, 22, 25-26; 16:9; 18:6-7, 21, 23). Yet Isaiah sees a day when Egyptian and Assyrians will serve as priests with Israel (Isaiah 19:21-23), unexpected given the Aaronic priesthood. [1]
The tension between serving God and serving idols reached a climax in the days of Jeremiah, where Yahweh predicted that Judah would go into captivity to Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon for refusing to repent from serving other gods (Jeremiah 25:3-11). Yahweh’s warnings that Israel and all nations had been given over to Babylon’s hegemony are repeatedly predicted throughout chapter 27. God has given not just Israel over to Babylon for their sins of idolatry, but He has determined that the entire world will be given over to his authority.
The word is also applied to cessation of service, specifically in reference to Sabbatical requirements that included rest on the Sabbath as well as freeing Hebrew slaves in the Sabbatical year (Exodus 34:21; Leviticus 25:35-43; Deuteronomy 5:13; 15:12, 18, 19). These requirements, like those of serving God rather than idols, gain increased importance when examining Yahweh’s judgments upon Israel for failing to honor her covenantal obligations while in the land.
Her banishment to Babylon was in part due to her idolatry (Jeremiah 25, 27), in part due to her failure to honor the Sabbatical requirement to let the land rest (2 Chronicles 36:21), a requirement that Israel apparently failed to honor for some 490 years, resulting in seventy years of exile, and in part due to failure to fulfill the Sabbatical requirement to set Hebrew slaves free in the Sabbatical year (Jeremiah 34:8-16). Since Israel failed to free the slaves, God responded in talion taking their freedom away (vss 17-22).
That Israel’s failure to free the slaves is described using `abad is significant. Israel, who had been placed in a Palestinian Edenic garden, was given the mandate to serve Yahweh by obeying his laws but failed. She served the Baals, she enslaved the land to her service rather than serving the land in accordance with God’s law and she enslaved those who she was to serve before Yahweh. No wonder then that Israel, like Adam, was banished from her garden, exiled from God’s presence for corporately failing as Adam had individually failed to serve God. Talion is evident in the judgment she will serve the Babylonians as slaves.
As with other words and themes of creation, `abad is seen with deepened meaning, moving from tilling to a contrast between doing God’s work and serving idols. While its introduction into the garden-narrative indicates his occupation as a tiller of the soil, later writers employed `abad to show a contrast between serving Yahweh and serving idols, for which the prophets were able to then build a picture explaining Israel’s capture and exile to Babylon. [2]
Israel served idols rather than God and did not properly serve His “sanctuary”, meaning both the land and its people. Adam was to work the garden but as will be seen, failed that calling. Though a warning to corporate Israel, they also failed to work their Palestinian garden in accordance with God’s commands and thus they too were exiled, recapitulating Adam’s fall.
Implications of Adam’s Occupation to Work the Garden
In the Genesis 2 garden-narrative, the LXX uses εργαζεσθαι (ἐργάζομαι ergazomai ) for `abad. When one examines its occurrences in the New Testament, usage begins consistent with the Old Testament, such as Matthew 7:23, where it speaks of those who work iniquity though professing to be Christ’s servants. Its employment in Matthew 21:28 and 25:16, however, begins a shift toward God’s spiritual kingdom, seen in eschatological parables where a person was given responsibility to work for Christ during the inter-advent period.
In commending a woman who poured expensive perfume upon Him (Matthew 26:10; Mark 14:6), Christ anticipated the great spiritual gift of His death, calling the anointing a good work. In Luke 13:14, the ruler of the synagogue criticized Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath, a forbidden work. Christ’s healing work was obviously spiritual as healing is not within the realm of the physical world, yet a religious leader attempted to forbid it, showing his failure to understand the deeper meaning of Christ’s work.
In John 3:21, Jesus spoke of those who did their works in the light, in God’s sight, righteous works in contrast to unrighteous works (vs 20). John 5:17 speaks of the works of Jesus and His Father, hinting greater unseen spiritual purposes wrought in Christ. This view is enhanced in John 6:27, where Jesus speaks of working not for things that perish but for things that last for eternity, a pointer to spiritual works. John 9:4 speaks of Jesus working the works of Him that sent Him, again pointing toward His unseen spiritual origin in heaven.
Paul speaks blessings to those who work good (Romans 2:10), saying love works no ill to others (Romans 13:10). In reframing good works as works done in love, Paul has shifted from Sinaic external observances to one’s spiritual motives for their works. James and John support this idea with their use of ergazomai in James 2:9, John 1:8 and 3 John 1:5, where the overarching teaching is good works motivated by love. This view is also supported in Romans 4:4-5 where Paul contrasts work and grace, arguing that work is done from a debt obligation.
In the Sinaic covenant, the object was faithful observance of God’s commands. With Paul’s words, the object is faith, from which good works naturally flow, a clear shift from physical to spiritual. This message carries to those who work for the Lord (1 Corinthians 9:13; 16:10), and also to the good believers are to do (Ephesians 4:28). The author of Hebrews speaks of the great men of the faith who worked righteousness (Hebrews 11:33), again linking righteousness and good works to faith.
the Apostles pick up where the prophets left off, deepening meaning to a final realization. The first man was to work the Edenic garden. Those who are of the last Adam, also work the garden, but their true work is to bring acts righteousness and good works through faithful adherence to God’s laws that are motivated by faith and love and no longer through external observances.
Old Testament Meaning of Shamar
A similar development is evident with shamar. Abraham was to keep the covenant (Genesis 17:9-10 and did (18:19; 26:5). Abraham instructed his servant to guard against allowing Isaac to return to Mesopotamia (24:6) and God promised to keep Jacob (28:15), reassuring him for his journey (Genesis 28:20) and keeping His promise while he was with Laban (31:24, 29).
Post-exodus, God commanded His people to keep or observe the feast of unleavened bread and Passover (Exodus 12:17, 24-25; 23:15; 34:18) and to keep the ordinance of the consecration of the firstborn (13:10). The Israelites were to take heed and not approach Mount Sinai as it was holy (19:12). They were to heed a guiding Angel the Lord sent before them, keeping the way (23:20-21; Numbers 9:19, 23).
They were to drive out the Canaanites, not covenanting with them (34:11-12). Israel was also to keep or observe their Sabbaths and reverence the Lord’s sanctuary (31:13-16; Leviticus 19:3; 19:30; 26:2; Deuteronomy 5:12). [3] The Levites had responsibility to keep the tabernacle (Numbers 1:53; 3:8, 10, 28, 32; 18:3-5, 7; 31:30) and they were to keep food offerings for God (Numbers 28:2).
Repeatedly, Israel is reminded to keep God’s covenant and commands (15:26; 16:28; 19:5; 20:6; 23:13; Leviticus 18:4-5, 26, 30; 19:19, 37; 20:8, 22; 22:9, 31: 25:18; Deuteronomy 4:2, 6, 40; 4:40; 5:1, 29, 32; 6:2-3, 17, 25; 7:11-12; 8:1, 6;10:13; 11:1, 8, 16, 22, 32; 12:1, 32; 13:4, 18; 15:5, 9; 16:1, 12; 17:9; 19:9, 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1, 9, 13; 29:9; 30:10, 16; 31:12; 32:46). The sheer number of times Israel is entreated or warned to obey God’s covenant supports the centrality of complying with their covenantal obligation as the prophetic books are full of these commands and warnings.
These obligations continue to be stressed in Joshua and through the accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah. Throughout, God is seen keeping His covenantal promises (Deuteronomy 7:8-9; Joshua 24:17; 1 Samuel 2:9; 30:23; 1 Kings 8:23-24) though there was a mixed result on Judah’s part including after the Babylonian exile. She was often urged to remember/chastised for forgetting God’s might deeds in Israel’s history (Deuteronomy 4:9, 15, 23; 6:12; 8:2, 11; 12:30).
Noteworthy is Solomon’s prayer where he commends God for keeping his covenant with David and asks that He keep his covenant to have a descendant of David on the throne forever if those on the throne will only keep the covenant (1 Kings 8:23). Yahweh graciously promises to keep the descendants of David on the throne as long as Solomon and his descendants keep the law (9:4-6). Yet He judged Solomon for failing to keep His commands (11:9-11) and having foreign wives leading to idolatry (vss 7-8). There is irony in Solomon’s failure given his prayer. God tore the kingdom from him in judgment, dividing it. It left the legitimate heir with a remnant, only one tribe Judah.
When one turns to the poetic wisdom books, there are warnings to take heed against iniquity (Job 10:12 & 23:11 & 29:2 & 33:11, 36:21). This theme, along with keeping God’s statutes, is frequently found in Psalms and Proverbs.
Isaiah spoke of keeping God’s commands and His Sabbaths (26:2; 56:1-2, 4-6). Jeremiah complained God’s people failed to observe His commands (8:7), and not did not keep the law (16:11), nor observe the Sabbath (17:21). Ezekiel spoke of keeping God’s statutes (11:20; 17:14;l 18:9, 19, 21; 20:19), and complained of Israel’s failure to keep them (20:18, 21 yet Eze 36:27) before prophetically speaking of a day when Israel would be given a new spirit enabling them to keep the statues and judgments (37:24).
Ezekiel 40:45-46 envisioned the priests as keepers of chambers in new temple. Ezekiel 44 indicts the priests for failing to keep God’s ordinances and predicts a day when the priests of Zadok who kept God’s charge would serve as His priests (48:11). Daniel 9:4 spoke of God keeping the covenant with those who love him and keep his commandments. Hosea 12:6 urged Israel to keep mercy and judgment and wait on God continually. Amos 2:4 and Micah 6:16 complained Israel had not kept the law while Zechariah 3:7 urged Joshua to follow God’s laws. Malachi 2:7 spoke of priest’s lips keeping knowledge while indicting them for failing to keep God’s laws (vs 9) and urging to be on guard and not unfaithful to the wife of their youth (vs 15). He further complained that Israel was not keeping God’s ordinances (3:7) with Israel’s complaint there was no value in keeping His commands (3:14).
Like `abad, shamar also deepens meaning of guarding one’s heart, heeding God’s instructions, observing His laws and complying with His covenant. While in the Genesis 2 garden-narrative, the primary meaning seems to follow caring for the garden arborally, deepened meaning is seen early in the Pentateuchal books, pointing toward proper service to God and His sanctuary and land.
The prophets described Israel’s covenantal failures that brought exile from the land, which they envisioned as an interim Edenic garden. The covenantal blessings and curses enhance this picture, allowing Israel to see her failures as a recapitulation of Adam’s failures.
Implications of Adam’s Occupation to Keep the Garden
The LXX uses the word φυλασσειν (φυλάσσω phylassō) for shamar in the Genesis 2 garden-narrative. When one examines usages of phylassō in the New Testament, a similar deepened meaning emerges. Initial usage is consistent with the Old Testament prophets. In Matthew 19:20 (Mark 10:20; Luke 18:21), Jesus urged a man to keep the Lord’s commandments, giving examples from the law. The man’s response that “all these I have kept” indicates keeping the Sinaic law.
Luke 8:29 spoke of a demon-possessed man that was kept bound in chains. While he was kept in physical chains, the reason was spiritual, again deepening meaning. Luke 11:21 spoke of a strong man guarding his house in response to the false accusation that Jesus performed miracles by Beelzebub. Jesus’ declaration that He was stronger than the demons He cast out, evidences a spiritual power to His guardianship. He also said that those who love their lives will lose them, but the one who hates his life in this world shall keep it eternally (John 12:25). Jesus’ reference to eternal life is other-worldly and spiritual. In prayer, Jesus confessed to the Father that He kept those the Father had given Him (John 17:12), the souls given Him for eternal salvation, as He prepared His heavenly return.
In Romans 2:26, Paul argues that those who keep the law as uncircumcised should be considered circumcised while those circumcised who do not keep the law, desire the uncircumcised become circumcised (Galatians 6:13). Israel’s covenant-community had always been identified by adherence to physical circumcision. Paul’s inversion shows that those who are spiritually circumcised are the true covenant-community. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 declares that the Lord is faithful to keep His people from the evil one, a spiritual figure (so also 2 Timothy 1:12 assure God will keep His people).
2 Timothy 1:14 urges Timothy to keep or guard what he was taught and 2 Timothy 4:15 echoes this warning. By keeping to Paul’s teaching, they would be inoculated against false teachings spread by evil spirits. So also 2 Peter 3:17 warns to be on guard and not carried away in false teaching. 1 John 5:21 urges believers to keep themselves from idols as there are demonic forces behind them. Jude 1:24 assures God will keep us from falling, where falling is spiritual, causing us to lose our place in the heavens.
The brief review of phylassō deepens meaning begun in the Old Testament. Those who in Christ are a new creation, born again of the Spirit, must keep themselves from the sins promoted by evil spirits. The Spirit deposited in them was stronger. It would keep and preserve them from falling and empower them to be victorious in battles with evil spiritual forces at work in our world.
In the first garden, Adam was to keep a physical garden as the one assigned responsibility for it. As becomes clear in the narrative, keeping the garden likely implied keeping it from dangerous animals such as the serpent. In the final garden, the last Adam together with His people, must keep the garden from a dangerous dragon, that old serpent the devil and his evil demonic forces intent upon destroying it. It is kept by observance of God’s covenantal commands by faith and in love. Shown schematically in Figure 1, the deeper spiritual meaning that the first garden could only foreshadow is realized in Christ. [4]
Relevance to Christians Today
The two words just studied were used to describe the work Adam was assigned to perform in the garden. The deepened meaning follows the pattern prior established in which Adam’s occupation to physically keep and work the garden comes to an ultimate meaning for Jesus as the last Adam and His followers. Jesus’ followers are to perform good works as Christ did and keep His laws. In doing this, the world would see Eden restored, a new spiritual garden, in which the glory of God would be evident in the world. The works of good and activities of keeping the laws of Christ would ever enlarge the new garden until God’s glory fills the earth.
The Tree of Life and its Symbolism
After creating man, God placed him in a garden in the east, in Eden. We are not told exactly where Eden was but in the center of the garden we find two trees, the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. These two trees represent the choice man must make between serving God (the tree of life) and serving himself (the tree of knowledge of good and evil).
After the choice was made, the tree of knowledge of good and evil quickly fades from view but the tree of life remains. It is next seen in a post-choice prohibition (Genesis 3:22-24), where God fenced off access to the tree to prevent Adam and Eve from eating its fruit.
The tree continued to carry significance however, appearing multiple times in Proverbs before final recurrences in the Book of Revelation. Its final occurrence is seen in Revelation 22 at the consummation of the new creation, where it is seen to be part of the restored paradisal garden envisioned by John:
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
It’s appearance in the new Eden confirms that the judgment of death has been annulled and eternal life and health are now restored to all residents of the new Jerusalem. Together with the water of life that flows from God’s throne, we have a picture of God and Christ as the source of all life with the trees of life watered by the river of life. [5]
There is a heightening over the first Eden in that there are now two trees of life. Heightening is also seen in its twelve crops of fruit bearing monthly and its leaves for the healing of the nations, aspects of the tree prior unknown. [6] Also new is envisionment of the trees on either side of the great street of the city, the main gateway to the throne of God. In the first Eden, the tree of life at the center of the garden seems to get only passing mention. In the restored Eden, the trees are showcased in a celebratory processional way to the throne of God. It is God’s Victory “Way” in His victory garden.
The chiasmus is deliberate. The tree’s free access was forbidden in the first Eden, assuring God’s judgment of death. Its reappearance and free access signal the restoration of eternal life with Christ’s triumph over death. The curse of death instituted at the fall has been reversed in consummation with the blessing of eternal life restored. Free access to the tree is wrought in Christ.
Deeper symbolism is apparent as several verses later John says “blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates of the city” (vs 14). This privilege is contrasted with those outside the city who are “dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolators and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (vs 15).
Those washing their robes alludes to Revelation 19:8. The privilege of entry to eternal life in paradise comes to those who are pure and holy. A further allusion is seen in the warning “if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City” (vs 19). Access to paradise requires true testimony.
Some irony may be present in the chiasmus. In the first Eden, there was prohibition on the tree of knowledge of good and evil but no prohibition on the tree of life. Yet man sought after what was prohibited. Having transgressed and eaten the forbidden fruit, the tree for which there was no prohibition, became the tree for which there would be prohibition throughout the ages.
Man would search through the ages for access to the tree of life, looking for vain ways to lengthen his life and cancel the penalty of death. The offspring of the first Adam cannot change their fate. Only the last Adam can, and His offspring do not need to search for life. It has been freely restored to them. Those who hold fast to faith in Christ and accomplish His will, in the end, have unprohibited access to the tree of life.
What the first Adam could not restore, the last Adam did restore. Where the first Adam sought the tree of knowledge of good and evil, barring access to the tree of life, the last Adam sought and secured the tree of life. Yet the tree in the first creation was viewed primarily as offering physical life. The tree of the last creation provides spiritual life. Further, the first tree was envisioned with physical fruit to be eaten. The last tree bears spiritual fruit. This is apparent from the twelve crops monthly, revealing spiritual symbolism. The path to the deepened meaning is interesting and follows the same pattern established with other creation/Eden themes.
Righteousness as a Tree of Life
With access to the tree of life barred, it drops from view until the time of Solomon, who spoke of wisdom as a tree of life (3:18). Those who take hold of wisdom will be blessed. Wisdom is to be sought, but Solomon clarified that wisdom comes from God. God’s wisdom will preserve a man and give him life (3:19-22). He counseled that wisdom is doing what is right before God (vss 27-30). It means shunning evil.
In keeping with the blessing/curse motif, he says “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous” (vs 33). The antidote to Adam’s poor judgment is God’s wisdom to bring the right choice.
Proverbs 11:30 develops the theme further. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.” Note the inversion. Man is not to seek the fruit from the tree, but the fruit of a man’s righteous life serves as the only access to the tree of life during the ages in which access is denied. [7]
Note the emphasis on being fruitful (Genesis 1:27) through righteous living. Yet the focus is still primarily upon physical life as is evident from vs 31, “if the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner” (Emphasis mine). Yet it hints that the prohibition to the tree of life is not a total prohibition. Man can extend his lifespan through wise choices. Foolish choices can bring judgment that shortens life.
A similar thought is evident in Proverbs 13:12 where fulfillment of a longing is like a tree of life, contrasting hope deferred or unrealized with making one’s heart sick. The proverb is included in a list that promotes wisdom and righteousness and urges the reader to shun evil.
Solomon’s words provide the only direct scriptural references to the tree of life. All are centered upon the importance of exercising wisdom, where wisdom is rooted in righteous living measured against the law. Though Solomon’s words do not point toward unlimited access to the tree of life, they infer that godly living can bring lengthened physical life. They also point to righteous acts as fruit from the tree of life. His reference to “the one who is wise saves lives” points toward a realization that righteous living can positively impact the lives of others through the wise example it provides.
Tree of Life Traditions in Antiquity
The Jewish people had a number of traditions and beliefs regarding the tree of life. Berman notes a tie between Torah and the tree of life, quoting Deuteronomy 30:
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Berman suggests the Torah is portrayed as a source of life. Grouping together good and evil, and life and death point to both the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. He quotes midrash that call the Torah the tree of life, citing Proverbs 3:18, [8] and it would not be surprising if Solomon’s counsel had its basis in Torah law as a source of wisdom and life.
He also notes that cherubim were mounted onto the Ark of the covenant in which the Torah was placed, establishing a parallel with the cherubim that were stationed as guards around the tree of life post-fall (Genesis 3:24). Beale has similarly noted a parallel with the lampstand in the temple as a symbol of the tree of life in the garden of Eden. [9] He provides evidence from a variety of Jewish sources to show the antiquity of the view that the lampstand represented the tree of life.
The Testament of Levi speaks of a new priest and king bringing righteousness, binding Satan, bringing peace to the earth, multiplying the Gentiles through his priesthood, ending sin, opening the gates of paradise and giving the saints to eat of the tree of life. [10] Dating to roughly the first century, it establishes a belief that the tree of life was symbolic of restoration of eternal life.
1 Enoch 25:4-6 alludes to the tree of life, saying it is forbidden until the final judgment when the righteous and holy will be given its fruit, consistent with the Testament of Levi. [11] 2 Enoch 8:3 says the tree of life “has produce from all fruits”, drawing a parallel between fruitfulness and life. [12] These sources show the importance of the tree of life to Jews in antiquity.
There is also testimony of ancient pagan origin. Borsch has reported a widespread belief throughout pagan cultures in a tree of life that was associated with a paradisal garden often adjacent the temple but part of the temple-compound.
Often the tree of life played a role in harvest festivities designed to assure annual fructification. There were instances where the king held a branch or twig in hand to represent the tree in these festivals. [13] He likewise suggested the staff of Moses that budded derived from ancient tree of life conceptions:
The scepter of the king, the scepter which is often said to bud, is derived from the tree of life ideogram. . . . So, too, in Israel as elsewhere, the description of the ruler as a shoot or branch ultimately depends upon this symbolism. And it is from the tree of life that kings are said to be anointed, from which their garland crown is made, and from its branches the ritual hut is constructed. [14]
Relevance to Christians Today
John’s testimony envisions a restored Eden as the consummation of God’s kingdom. Within that paradise, he has chosen to include trees of life as symbols of Christ’s ultimate triumph over death and the removal of the curse of death placed upon the first Adam. It is the signal that eternal life is now available to all residents of the new Jerusalem.
Since these are the faithful members of Christ’s covenant-community, it reveals the reward for faithful testimony. Before achieving this goal however, John has a vision of Christ exhorting the Ephesian church concerning their testimony. After commending them for their hard work and perseverance, their rejection of false apostles and their endurance of hardships, he says:
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
John encourages the Ephesians to press on to victory in Christ so that they will be recipients of eternal life signified in “the right to eat from the tree of life”. His warning provides an echo back to Israel. They had lost their first love. They must repent and seek to reestablish that early relationship. [15] The warning that Jesus will remove the lampstand from its place is telling given Jewish association of lampstand with the tree of life. The Ephesians are at risk of being cut off, left without their light of testimony and thus without opportunity to taste eternal life. They must repent, return to what they did at first and be victorious.
Israel, who similarly had forsaken her first love and could not see how far she had fallen, was a fate about to fall upon the Ephesians. It means that they were at risk of finding themselves returned to the place of their first love, a spiritual wilderness, where they could be brought to repentance (see Hosea 2:14).
Yet those without ears to hear, risk being left in the wilderness like the harlot Babylon (see Revelation 17:3), destined for destruction. Despite the Ephesian’s deeds, their endurance, hard work, perseverance, and intolerance for wicked people, their eternity with Christ was not secure. All the commendations were inadequate. She must repent, return to the things she did at first. That is how she will be victorious, and victory is what Christ will require for those who will gain eternity.
It is hard to grasp the depth of meaning in “victorious” at this point in John’s Apocalypse. But it quickly becomes apparent as the reader proceeds through the book. Ephesus, like the other six churches Christ addresses, should expect to face severe persecutions and martyrdom. They should expect evil will triumph over God’s people (Revelation 13:7) – at least that is how it may appear to those in the “outer court” of God’s temple.
But to those sealed and safely resident within the inner measured compartments of the temple (Revelation 11), no weapon formed against them will prosper. They should have no fear of death nor fear of testifying, no fear of serving as a lampstand proclaiming life. If they remain true to their first love, if they repent and return, they will be given the right to eat from the tree of life. It is their assurance of eternal life with Christ even in death.
The church should expect intense persecution and death as the age closes. At the close of the last age, our Master was intensely persecuted and wrongly martyred. The servant is not above His Master. And since Satan can no longer attack Christ directly, having been thrown down from heaven (Revelation 12:7-9), his only remaining target is God’s covenant-community.
The path of restoration seems ironic. The first Adam, freely ate of a forbidden tree in a garden and was put under a curse of death (symbolized in being barred access to the tree of life). The last Adam, was freely cursed by being hung from a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13), experiencing death and buried in a garden from which He was later resurrected.
It might well follow that at the close of our age, the people of Christ would similarly suffer wrongful martyrdom (Revelation 11:7-12) in the new expanding Edenic garden of our new age, only to be later resurrected from it (11:11). Ironically, Jesus’ death on a tree brought access to a tree of life to those who would follow Him. Shouldn’t Christ’s followers expect that their corporate death would similarly model Christ’s, and bring access to the tree of life for many for whom we bear witness in faith? [16]
Powerful implications follow. The tree of life is not merely wisdom for righteous living. It is not merely a way to assure a lengthened life on earth as Solomon had envisioned. John reveals the deeper meaning that the tree of life symbolizes eternal life in a new spiritual paradisal creation in Christ. [17]
However, Satan seeks to unleash chaos upon God’s new creation to destroy it. The church will be a target of Satan’s anger, persecution and martyrdom. We must be victorious as our Master was victorious, overcoming evil by the testimony of Christ. Victory comes through testimony even unto death, which should, like our Master’s death, bring a harvest of converts. But true testimony requires us to live righteously as our Master did. That is what brings “the right” to eat from the tree of life.
This is the ultimate work of the last Adam was to accomplish: to restore life ironically through death, symbolized in the tree of life. Christ has done His part. We must do ours and bear faithful testimony through obedience to God’s word.
[1] Or perhaps more correctly, the obsolescence of the Aaronic priesthood and its replacement with a better, new (transformed) priesthood after the model of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-10).
[2] Like a number of Hebrew words already studied, `abad maintained a banal, profane meaning of tilling or serving. Most uses however, point toward the deepened meaning of serving God and His sanctuary rather than serving idols.
[3] These scriptures dovetail with Sabbatical observance scriptures using `abad, giving further evidence in the Pentateuch of Israel’s covenantal failures that precipitated her exile to Babylon.
[4] An important outcome of the model above is that both the first Eden and the Palestinian garden have passed away/are passing away, being replaced by the new spiritual garden that is expanding to fill the earth. This is an outcome of inaugurated eschatology and is opposite to the new emergent garden that is here but not yet.
[5] John’s description borrows from Ezekiel 47 and its view of the restored end-time temple.
[6] Though the Genesis 2 garden-narrative makes no mention of the frequency of fruit bearing, it would seem that twelve crops point to Israel’s twelve tribes just as the leaves point to the nations. If the twelve crops point to Israel, it confirms heightening as Israel did not exist in the first Eden. The leaves are a clear heightening as there were no nations in the first Eden and thus no need for healing until after Babel.
[7] Solomon’s counsel is interesting in light of John’s focus upon righteous acts as evidence of a pure life worthy of inclusion in the new Jerusalem and access to eat of the tree of life.
[8] Berman, Joshua, The Temple, Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now, Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson Inc., 1995, p. 29. He adds that the Torah, represented in the stone tablets, were in the center of the temple, much like the tree of life was in the center of the garden, providing equivalence between garden and temple. Given the temple was modeled after Eden, it enhances the possibility that Torah was considered a tree of life in the post-fall eras.
[9] Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 56, 71, 106, 325. He notes texts from Qumran that compare Qumran saints as Eden’s tree of life that is a well-spring of light, referencing 1H 6.14-19. He also notes Philo’s testimony.
[10] The Testament of Levi 5:13-27, available @ http://sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe276.htm.
[11] 1 Enoch, translation by Charles, R.H., available @ https://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/boe028.htm
[12] 2 Enoch available @ http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/enochs2.htm#Ch8
[13] The ancient belief in a tree of life may be at the root of many pagan religions that worshiped trees or poles, given the long ages trees lived.
[14] Borsch, Frederick Houk, The Son of Man in Myth and History, Philadelphia PA, SCM Press Ltd, 1967, p. 99
[15] John’s criticism brings immediately to mind Israel and her marital relationship with God. John’s words provide an echo to His judgments upon Israel to return her to the wilderness where she first realized her dependence upon Him and sought Him in love.
[16] As Christ’s (individual) body was put to death at the close of the last age, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect that Christ’s (corporate) body would similarly be put to death. Note the pattern: Christ individually suffered “apparent” defeat to Satan at the end of the last age. Similarly, one should expect Christ corporately suffers “apparent” defeat to Satan’s corporate embodiment, the Antichrist and his anti-church. That Christ was resurrected at the end of the last age assures us of resurrection at the end of our age, enhancing the possibility that our corporate resurrection will vindicate us as His followers, much as Christ’s resurrection vindicated Him as Lord.
[17] We have chosen not to schematically show the tree of life, though it would be simple enough, as it follows the same path of other creation, Eden and temple themes we have documented.