Topic: The Tree of Life

By Dr Lee E. Warren BA, DD

"And out of the ground made Yahweh Elohim (the LORD God) to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gn. 2:9)."

"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. 22:2)."

Introduction

Now the tree of life has always been a great mystery throughout the history of mankind. Trees have played a very special role in aiding mankind to understand his spiritual origin and immortality. One has to keep in mind, that Moses wrote Genesis as a result of a divine vision shown to him on top of Mt. Sinai. Moses wrote his account some 2,500 years after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, according to Biblical chronology.

Before Moses vision and his account in Genesis, many cultures had their version of the tree of life and worshipped trees. Even though the tree of life appears as a myth in such cultures as the Babylonian, Egyptian and Hindus, who were polytheistic [i.e., worshipped many gods], it had great symbolic meaning.

All ancient cultures worshipped the tree as a universal symbol. Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., in his book Opening to Inner Light (© 1986 Tarcher, Inc.) confirms this. He states: "The tree has been one of mankinds most ancient and universal symbols, appearing in myth, ritual, legend, shamanic initiation, sacred literature, art and poetry as well as in the dreams and visions of seekers and seers, both ancient and contemporary (p. 161)."

James Frazer extensively discusses numerous cultures throughout the world that worship trees in his classic book the Golden Bough. He states: "In the religious history of the Aryan race in Europe the worship of trees has played an important part. Nothing could be more natural. For at the dawn of history Europe was covered with immense primeval forests. & Amongst the Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is familiar to every one& Sacred groves were common among the Ancient Germans & (p. 126-127)."

Mircea Eliade, professor of the history of religion, points out some basic reasons that various ancient cultures worshipped trees in her classic book entitled Patterns in Comparative Religions (© 1963 Meridian Book). "&the tree represents & the living cosmos, endlessly renewing itself. Since inexhaustible life is the equivalent of immortality, the tree-cosmos may therefore become, at a different level, the tree of life undying.' And as this inexhaustible life was, & an expression of the notion of absolute reality, the tree becomes for it a symbol of that reality (the centre of the world; p. 267)."

Finally, we should note that after giving Israel His Law, Yahweh prohibited them from worshipping trees in those sacred groves (Exo. 34:13; Deut. 7:5). Yahweh forbade idol worship because He was their Elohim (God).

What is the intent of this article

This article intends to show, in the space allowed, the spiritual reality of the tree of life and how it relates to the Messiah and a mans soul.

We must understand that the scriptures are symbolic. What this means is that if we are to grasp some meaning from the tree of life or any other Biblical story, besides a history lesson, we must understand their symbolism. We have to take these stories out of their historical context and realize they express psychological principles that we must apply to our life.

The trees mankind ignorantly worshipped symbolically represented Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah. Trees show forth the principles of power, stability in a storm, renewal of life, fruition, and growth from a seed into a giant timber. All these principles represent the fruits of the Spirit and are absolutely necessary for a soul to be reborn into the spirit unto eternal life. "The tree of life is, in essence, a description of how God manifests himself to the world (p. 81)" said Gareth Knight in his book Magic and the Western Man.

We will also examine how other cultures, such as the Hindu, Jewish mystics (Kabbalists) and others, view the tree of life. To the surprise of many, the views of these various cultures are quite correct and accurately portray the reality of mystical trees in certain aspects. Before we begin an in depth analysis of the tree of life, we have to have some understanding of the mind of primitive man.

Did primitive man separate symbol from reality?

As was stated in the introduction of this article, ancient civilization recognized the power of trees and began to use them as a symbol. In many cases, primitive minds made very little distinction between symbol and reality.

Professor Mircea Eliades book points this out beautifully, for she said that the tree became an object of worship because it demonstrates power. A trees power is manifest in that it can grow vertically, regenerate itself by its foliage falling off, and renew itself again and again. The primitive mind saw this growth throughout the cosmos. Thus, the tree became a symbol of the universe. The twist is that primitive man believed the tree was literally the universe by the fact that it reflects this growth operation.

Gareth Knights book Magic and the Western Man shows how and why primitive man viewed the symbol as he did. Mr. Knight states: "Primitive mans beliefs are not logically formulated. They are an instinctual and intuitive grasp of nature through being virtually at one with it. & He sees things differently from us [modern man]. In an adoption of a tribal "totem," say a particular bird, to the primitive consciousness the bird is the spirit of the tribe, the spirit of the tribe is the totem, the totem is the bird. It is not a matter of pious belief or social convention, it is a matter of observable fact (p. 8)." So primitive man is unable to distinguish symbol from reality.

Scholars have come to look at primitive mans consciousness as one of human evolution. Mr. Knight confirms this general view of mans development by quoting Dr. Eric Neumann in his book History and Origins of Consciousness. He states: "Early man, like a baby, becomes conscious of creation by at first being one with it. Gradually he becomes aware of nature as a great mother, & who can give nourishment and comfort. & There comes a stage however when projections of idealized fantasies must cease, and the environment be seen for what it is (p. 12)."

Does tree

symbolism appear in

other cultures?

Now that we have an understanding of primitive mans mind set, we can begin to analyze various views of the tree.

Hindu Religion

In one of the oldest religionsHindu, the Indians of Asia view the cosmos and their mystical tree in a unique way. The Hindu religious book, the Upanishad, states that the universe is an inverted tree, burying its roots in the sky and spreading its branches over the whole earth according to Professor Eliades book (see illustration, p. 32). Madame H. P. Blavatsky in her book Isis Unveiled further elucidates on this Hindu mystical tree called 'awatha' that symbolizes universal life. "It is described by them as growing in the reversed position, the branches extending downward and the roots upward; the former typifying the external world of sense, i.e., the visible cosmical universe, and the latter the invisible world of the spirit, because the roots have their genesis in the heavenly regions where, & humanity has placed its invisible deity (Vol. 1; p. 153)."

Scandinavian Culture

The Scandinavian [i.e., Viking] cultures had their version of the tree of life or world tree. They called their tree Yggdrasil or the steed of Odin. The Scandinavians believed there was a great ash tree that held earth, hell, and heaven together by its roots and branches. Its roots descended into hell, the underworld where the dead resided. The trunk of the trees represented the middle world,' called 'Midgard,' where humans, animals and plants live. The branches were believed to be the heavenly abode of the gods, where the god Odin resided. The myth said Odin hung upon this tree nine days to obtain wisdom and prophesy.

Buddhist Religion

It is said that the Buddha, who founded the Buddhist religion, sat under a bodhi [i.e. wisdom tree] until he attained the state of Nirvana and realized complete enlightenment.

Kabbalist Order

Jewish mysticism, called the Kabbala, did not view the tree of life as a physical tree in the forest, but viewed it as a symbol of spiritual attributes, also called sephirah or emanations. Kabbalists display these divine attributes as ten numbers within three columns (see illustration on p. 34). The attributes are Crown, Understanding, Wisdom, Power, Mercy, Beauty, Glory, Victory, Foundation, Kingdom. The three columns represent a tree in that the middle pillar represents the trunk and the two side pillars represent the branches of the a tree.

Egyptian Culture

The Egyptians also believe in a tree of life. E. A. Wallis Budge in his book Osiris, the Egyptian Religion of the Resurrection (©1961 University Books, Inc.) found Pyramid Text that mentions the tree of life in the prayer for the dead. "& This Pepi [Pepi King of Egypt] openth his way among the feathered fowl & by which the great Gods alight, and these great ones of the imperishable stars give unto Pepi the tree of life whereon they themselves do live, so that he also may live thereon (Vol. II, p. 327)."

Native American Culture

The American Indians mention a tree of life in their culture. In the book Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt, an elder of the Oglala Sioux Indians recorded his vision. "Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about me was the whole hoop of the world. & I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit. & And I saw the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and father. And I saw that it was holy (p. 43)."

Now the Bible mentions trees in its first Book of Genesis.

The Garden of Eden

Elohim planted a garden eastward within Eden and called it the Garden of Eden. There he placed the man (Gn. 2:8), along with the trees he planted. A river went out from Eden to water the garden, after which it divided into four heads.

Does the Garden compare to the pattern?

Now Eden was setup by the tabernacle pattern. The Garden of Eden represents the Most Holy Place (see above illustration). The two trees (the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) symbolically represent the two cherubim that sat at each end of the mercy seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant (Exo. 25:10-11). Now the rest of the Eden symbolically represents the Holy Place. That which was outside Eden was the Court Round About. The river coming out of the Eden divided into four heads and represented the four horns on the brazen altar of sin sacrifice. The water typifies the water in the brazen laver in the Court Round About.

Was Adam a type of Elohim?

Yahweh gave Adam charge over the garden. Elohim also gave him a law: "& saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen 2:16-17)."

Adam was a type of the Messiah and Adam keeping the garden is symbolical of the Spirit of Elohim or the Holy Spirit keeping a mans mindthe true garden (Matt. 13th; I Cor. 3:6-9).

How does Johns vision compare to Moses vision?

Comparing the Apostle Johns vision in Revelation with Moses vision in Genesis, one can begin to understand the Bibles symbolic meaning. He states: "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of Elohim (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. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of Elohim (God) and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him (Rev. 22:1-6):"

John describes a garden in his vision that compares with the Garden of Eden that Moses saw. The garden corresponds to heaven above, the Most Holy Place, and the throne of Elohim. As Adam had dominion in the Garden, Elohim is the overseer of heaven. The throne of Elohim also corresponds to the Ark of the Covenant.

Now the river of the water of life that proceeds out of the throne of Elohim corresponds with the river proceeding out of Eden. Spiritually this water corresponds with the spoken words of the Messiah (John 7:38-39).

The Apostle John saw a tree of life and its 12 manner of fruits that will be discussed later in this article. John saw a tree on each side of the river. This means that there is a tree of life present for those in physical bodies in the earth plane, and for those that have taken off the body and reside in heaven. The Messiah, who is the tree of life, told His disciples that He would be with them always (Matt. 28:19-20, John 14:16). So, when He took off the fleshy body, He revealed Himself in their consciousness as the Holy Spirit.

Did the trees have any mystical powers?

The answer to this question is absolutely not. First, one must understand that there were many other trees in the garden, but the book of Genesis only mentions the names of two of these trees in the midst of the Garden of Eden. Now it is quite apparent that all the trees were physical, not spiritual, as many believe.

There was not anything special about the tree of life nor the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' in the garden. Neither did they have any extraordinary power to give immortality or knowledge. These are spiritual attributes that cannot be obtained from something physical. The Spirit of Elohim performed the work (John 14:10).

Yahweh, likewise, used the Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of his throne to manifest power to Israel and other nations (Josh. 4:7-9; 6:6-8; Jud. 20:27; I Sam. 5th Chapter). The Ark had no power at all; it was a wooden box overlaid with gold (Exo. 25:10-11). It was a symbol through which Elohim manifest His power. Even the Messiah told His disciples that neither the words that He spoke, nor the miracles He performed, were of His own will (John 14:9-10). The Messiah adamantly repeated that it was the Heavenly Father Yahweh within Him doing the work. Simply put, the two trees in the Garden of Eden were symbolic of various aspects of Spirit.

Did the 'tree of the Knowledge

of the Good and Evil' have spiritual significance?

Now that one understands that the tree had no mystical power, one might ask the question: What is the significance of this tree of knowledge of good and evil? The tree symbolically represents principles of opposites or duality within the Spirit of Yahweh Elohim. Adam and Eve did not know, nor had actually experienced, the opposing side of a principle.

Joseph Campbell illustrates what this means in his book The Power of Myth with Bill Moyer. He states that when Adam and Eve transgressed the law of Elohim, they experienced the consciousness of opposites. They knew that they were different from each other. They "&cover their shame. You see, they had not thought of themselves as opposites. Male and female is one opposition. Another opposition is the human and God. Good and Evil is a third opposition. & And so Adam and Eve have thrown themselves out of the Garden of Timeless Unity, you might say, just by that act of recognizing duality. To move out into a world, you have to act in terms of pairs of opposites. & Everything we know is within the terminology of the concepts of being and not being, many and single, true and untrue. We always think in terms of opposite. But God, the ultimate, is beyond the pairs of opposites, that is all there is to it (p. 48-49)"

Edward F. Edinger in his book The Bible and the Psyche (© 1986 Inner City Books) confirms this by saying: "Eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil symbolizes the birth of the consciousness with the dawning awareness of the opposites (p. 20)."

Do opposites increase our understanding?

Now this dualism or opposites that the 'tree of knowledge of good and evil' represents have befuddled the Judao-Christian civilization. Most do not understand the purpose of good and evil or opposites in the purpose of God or Elohim. Simply put, in order for the created creatures to fully comprehend the spiritual principles of intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, love, beauty, power, strength, etc., the opposites of these positive attributes must manifest to magnify these attributes.

Isaiah, a prophet of Israel, wrote the following concerning the duality or opposites of Yahweh. "That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things (Isa. 45:6-7)."

By the tabernacle pattern, the Holy Place represents a state where opposites or the tree of knowledge of good and evil are revealed. In the Holy Place or intermediate state, one leaves the spiritually minded state of innocence and unity and enters a state of guilt, duality, and a carnal minded state.

What is the tree of life?

As was stated earlier, the tree of life symbolically represents the essence of the Spirit of Yahweh Elohim. Spirit is invisible and without some manifestations there is no way to understand its operation. Elohim created the tree of life to show forth the principle of life that He possesses.

For example, the Messiah had to demonstrate the principle of the resurrection to Israel by physically raising Lazarus from the dead. Yahshua told Lazarus sister: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (Jn. 11:25):" Clearly, He was the tree of life. He told His disciples that His Father was the husbandman, He was the vine, and they could not produce fruits on their own (John 15:1-5). John spoke of trees bearing fruit in Revelation.

What are the 12 manner of fruits?

The 12 manner of fruits that were revealed in heaven were not apples or oranges, or any physical fruits. They were the fruits of the Spirit such as, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Gal. 5:22-23). These principles can only be obtained through the words of truth and faith within the Holy Spirit.

Does the physical reflect the Spirit?

By one examining the physical characteristics of a tree and translating them into spiritual principles, then one is better able to understand the operation of Spirit within a mans mind. Here are a few examples.

" Trees grow vertically and straight toward the sunlight. It is the Messiah within us that causes us to grow and develop along the straight and narrow or upright path (i.e., righteously) and totally focus on the Son (the Holy Spirit within us).

" The tree renews itself, especially within the northern hemisphere, where in the fall the leaves drop from the trees and the in spring bud again. This shows forth a resurrection each season. Now the Messiah not only demonstrated a principle of renewal by resurrecting from the dead, but the Holy Spirit constantly uplifts our souls through its many crisises and problems in life.

" A tree grows from a little seed into a mighty tree. Likewise, the Messiah said that our faith in the Holy Spirit must grow from small to great through various experiences. Our faith starts off as a little seed, but the Messiah said that this is enough to move mountains (Matt. 17:20).

" The tree has stability in a storm. In the Spirit, a soul must have faith tried in fire to be able to withstand the ordeal of life. We should not be like a person that built his house on sand and suffer a great psychological fall.

Now these are just a few correlations that will enable one to see how Spirit operates within man.

Was the Messiah the tree of life?

The great master told Israel numerous times in parables that the tree symbolically pointed to men and the fruits of the tree represent the words and actions of men. For example, He implied this in the following parable. "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Mt. 7:17-20)." Also, when the Messiah healed the blind man, the first words that he uttered were: "& I see men as trees, walking (Mark 8:24)."

The Messiah told the women at His crucifixion that He was a green tree. He told them that he had fruit for men to eat (or words for men to believe) that would give them eternal life. The teachers of Israel decided to kill him instead of believing His words. He also told these women that they were dry trees for they had no fruits of the Spirit because this was before His resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 23:31).

Do the parts of the tree

have any spiritual significance?

The answer to the question is yes. The parts of a tree are: the roots, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and the fruit. Mr. Metzner in his book Opening to Inner Light illustrates the reality of the parts of this tree.

He states: "The roots of the tree symbolically represent the roots of our life in the genealogical sense: the parents, who provided the genetic base for the physical body; the grandparents; & familiar, cultural, ethnic, and racial. &" As our historical roots connect us with our ancestors, so does the roots of a tree symbolically represent our connection back to Pure Spirit which is the source and substance of all things, both angelic and physical. This is the ultimate reality of a trees roots.

The trunk of the tree symbolically represents the evolving, developing soul or the invisible part of man. As the tree grows, the trunk gets taller and thicker. The soul, likewise, grows through experience and gets stronger by embracing the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

Mr. Metzner states that the branches of the tree are humans qualities, such as social skills, traits, and various attributes of the personality. These characteristics "serve to relate us to the world and to other people (p. 165)."

The leaves and flowers of a tree are the thoughts and images within the mind. As the leaves react to the sunlight, likewise body and soul react to the thoughts in the mind, along with various physical experiences.

The fruits of the tree are basically the fruits of our actions both from a physical, psychology, and spiritual standpoint. According to the Mr. Metzner, this is the result of the creative impulse within the man.

Is the physical body the 'tree of life'?

Finally, if there is any doubt that a tree of life and a tree of knowledge of good and evil ever existed, all humans have a witnesstheir own physical bodies. The nervous system looks like a tree with a brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves coming off the spinal cord (see illustration on p. 33). The nervous system is the highest system in the body that animates and controls all other systems in the physical body.

The nervous system functions as both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil for the body. Clearly, no one, especially the medical community, denies that nerves are the bodys life. If the brain is dead, then so is the body. One can get a heart transplant, but no one has ever received a brain transplant.

The great knowledge of the nervous system discerns good and evil or duality for the body. For example, if we are in a dangerous situation, it is the nervous system that prepares the body for fight or flight without our conscious thought. When a baby touches a hot stove, it is the nervous system that brings about the reflex action that causes the baby to remove its hand from the heat without having any prior knowledge of "hot" or a stove. Our nervous systems also discerns sour and sweet, pain and pleasure, tension and relaxation. All of these examples show how the nervous system is able to discern two sides within the body. Thus, it serves as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Many scholars understand the relationship between the nervous system and the tree of life. Dr. Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. states in his book Opening to Inner Light "& the tree of knowledge ... of truth, corresponds to the cerebrospinal and sensory nervous system; this is clearly a treelike branching structure, the function of which is to give us knowledge of the physical world of matter and how to survive in Naturethat is, what is good to eat and what is not (p. 176)."

Conclusion

I hope that the reader of this article has learned the mystery of 'tree worship' by various cultures. Their reverence of nature shows that mankind always had a desire to worship God or a creator throughout history. It also shows that mankind was able to see that the tree represented universal principles, such as stability and renewal of life and these principle could be applied to this life and the next.

Yahweh Elohim gave Israel the correct interpretation and spiritual reality of trees that enabled mankind to see that physical trees are just symbols. Under the Law of Moses, Yahweh forbade Israel against worshipping trees as the Gentile tribes did. When the Messiah came, He told Israel that men are trees and He was the green tree with fruits that they had to partake of in order to receive eternal life (Mt. 7:16-20; Jn. 15:1-8).

We receive the fruits of the Spirit found on the tree of life through having faith in the Holy Spirit within our minds. Unless we are exercised, and motivated through life struggles and challenges, we cannot obtain eternal life or the fruits of the Spirit in our soul. The Apostle John said: "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. 2:7)."