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NASB | Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 2:9 And [in that garden] the LORD God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil. [Rev 2:7; 22:14, 19] |
Subject: The fruit and leaves of the tree of life |
Bible Note: Hi You will note that I did deal with your question concerning the meaning of olam, in other words what I considered was most important about your question. I avoided what I felt could only lead to absurdity. But if you mean do I believe in a coming mythical hybrid kingdom which is neither fully earthly or fully heavenly, with resurrected Apostles, who have amazing powers given by the resurrection, rather unsuccessfully ruling on thrones over sinful earthly people, where some second rate 'Gospel of the Kingdom' is preached which is a pale shadow of the true Gospel, and where Jesus is in charge of a failing experiment in Jerusalem, while the lambs which are at perfect peace with the lions and the wolves are only terrified of the men in the Temple who are slaying as many lambs as possible in what are called 'memorial offerings' (which are nothing like Old Testament sacrifices but are simply the product of vivid imaginations), and there are trees of life of which the fruit is for the heavenly favourites, and the leaves are for their earthly counterpart, then no, I don't. In my view it is a monstrous distortion of the truth. Do you consider that Jesus sacrifice of Himself was an allegory of the Old Testament sacrifices? No, of course not, it is the reality of which the sacrifices were the shadow. In the same way the Old Testament provided shadows of which New Testament truth is the reality. It was impossible for the prophets to teach New Testament truth in an Old Testament environment. There was no conception of a heavenly existence for men. Any such talk would immediately have been connected with polytheism. To them it was the gods who lived in such places. Thus it had to be presented in terms of a future EVERLASTING kingdom. When the early missionaries went to the eskimoes they proclaimed 'the great igloo in the skies'. They had to use ideas that the people understood. In the same way the prophets depicted heavenly realities, not by allegories, but in earthly terms, the only ones understandable to their listeners. Like the offerings and sacrifices they were the shadows of the great reality to come. It is quite frankly unbelievable that if Paul had believed in the Millennium he would not have mentioned it. Can you imagine any preacher who believed in it not doing so today? Of course not. And neither would Paul. So yes, I do consider that the Old Testament provided shadows of what was to come and no, I do not allegorise it. I accept it for what it is, a picturing of indescribable greater realities in the only way in which they could be sensibly portrayed. Best wishes Peter |