The Tree of Life
Reader Question: “Why was it that while the Tree Of Life was permitted to be partaken of, that Adam/Eve didn’t run out and do that first?
JJ: We could spend a lot of time on this for the layers of correspondence are many And various forms of interpretation can produce truth. I’ll give out a few things.
Since you are of the LDS background I will quote from the Book of Mormon: “And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.” I Nephi 11:25
Here we see that the tree of life and the living waters are one and represent the “love of God.”
Jesus often spoke of this “living water.”
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water…. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:10&14
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev 7:17
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Rev 21:6
“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. 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.” Rev 22:1-2
We covered the Tree of Life and the twelve fruits somewhat in the New Jerusalem Meditation.
The fall of Adam and Eve is a symbol of the human changing in consciousness from animal to human self awareness. You will note that after the fall they were ashamed and covered themselves with leaves. Before they obtained self consciousness they could feel no guilt – like the animals. It does not matter what act an animal does he feels no shame over it, but self consciousness paves the way to the guilt that has so long plagued humanity.
When man was not self conscious he could partake of the love of God for he was blameless. But after he became self conscious and became aware of right and wrong he could never live a life so pure that he could feel guiltless. Therefore, when guilt entered in he could no longer partake of the Tree of Life for he could not bear the full strength of the love of God while at the same time seeing God as one who wants to punish.
Even so, the Love of God, the Tree of Life is always there waiting for us to partake. The secret is to transcend guilt. This was the true mission of Christ, to teach us to accept his words that will lead to the transcendence of guilt.
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63
Several times Jesus stressed the power of his words which would lead to salvation and to life.
The accepting of the words of Jesus in the Bible are of course, helpful, but the key to final conquest of guilt that leads to the Tree of Life is to listen to, to hear and accept the words of Christ as they are spoken within us.
When the disciple hears and responds, the Tree of Life is available to him again.
Oct 8, 2003
Copyright by J J Dewey
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