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. (Emphasis, mine) Rev 22:1-2 (KJV)
Tree on the bank. Photo by Larisa Koshkina.
In my blog post titled “No Night There,” we saw that Heaven is a place of perpetual light, because the presence of God, Who is light, bestows the quality of eternal light. There is no darkness in God, just as there is no sin in God. Because God is holy, and totally without sin, there is no darkness in Him. In the subject of today’s post, Revelation 22: 1-2, we see how Heaven is also a place of perpetual life.
Jesus Is Life: On Earth & in Heaven
The life giving quality of Jesus is not static. Inhabitants of Heaven are not frozen in time with respect to growth. In Heaven, life remains dynamic. But instead of being dynamically headed towards death, as it is with life on Earth, it is dynamically maintained in eternal life. First, we see “the river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Enter, the “tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.” The leaves of the tree “were for the healing of the nations.”
Jesus: Is the Light & Health of the World
According to Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (Strong’s), the original Greek word translated as “healing” is “therapeia,” meaning: “attendance (specially medical, i.e. cure); figurative and collective domestics :- healing, household.” It is the same root word for the English word, therapy. So the leaves of the tree of life are a perpetual cure, whereby people and households, which are the basic unit of society and nations, participate in the health of righteousness. Jesus, the Great Physician, is the definitive therapy for the sin-sick soul.
The original Greek word translated as “nations,” is “ethnos,” meaning: “a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; specially a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan) :- Gentile, heathen, nation, people.” So through the phrase “healing of the nations,” we see how in Heaven, societies and nations partake of the righteousness of God. The Tree of Life represents the healing power created by the living water that flows from Emmanuel’s side. Every month, the fruit of the Tree of Life yields its 12 fruits, which are created to be eaten. Further in our word study, we see that the Greek word that was originally translated as “plucked” is “karpos,” (Strong’s). This is the same word used in the phrase “fruit of our lips,” that refers to praise that we are to give continually to God:
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Heb 13:15 (KJV) (Emphasis, mine.)
Praising God Is Healthy
So praising God is a healing action. It is therapeutic for our minds and hearts, as well as the minds and hearts of everyone around us. When our hearts are healed through faith in Christ, and our minds washed by the word of God, we speak the truth of Christ to every one and everything in our lives, and we become vessels of life and healing. Our words can literally reflect Heaven or hell on earth, because “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21)
How many times have you praised God today?
May these words educate, comfort and encourage you to pray today. Until we meet again: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!” (Ephesians 6:10).
– Verneda
© 2013 Verneda Lights. All Rights Reserved.
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