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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 again Brian. My previous note may well have raised questions in your mind. May I just therefore add a few words about the interpretation of the Old Testament in the New. In Genesis 13.15-17 God promised to Abraham, 'all the land which you see I will give you and to your descendants for ever. -- I will gve it to you.' Note the 'for ever'. How was Abraham to see this? Hebrews 11.10, 14-16 tells us. 'He looked forward to the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God -- people who speak thus make clear that they are seeking a country If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city'. These words come in the midst of a series of practical fulfilments. What better evidence that earthly promises are to be seen as pointing to heavenly fulfilment? Compare again Haggai 2.6-8. 'Once again in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land --'. Compare Hebrews 12.27. 'This phrase "yet once more" indicates the removal of what is shaken, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,--.' Once again the prophecy is interpreted in heavenly terms. Note also how the reference in Haggai to the riches of the nations is interpreted in Revelation 21.24, 26 in terms of the everlasting kingdom. Compare also how in Hebrews 12.22 the writer says, 'We have come to Mount Zion', (that is, what the old Testament has been speaking of when it spoke of Mount Zion). And what does it signify? It signifies the city of the living God (which Abraham had been seeking) the heavenly Jerusalem, which is where the angels are gathered and where the glorified people of God can be found, 'the spirits of just men made perfect'. It is thus clear that the word of God constantly interprets Old Testament promises in heavenly terms. Paul does the same when he declares that the true spiritual descendants look to the heavenly Jerusalem and not to the earthly (Galatians 4.25-26). One more example and I will finish. If we take Isaiah 2.2 literally it means that the (so-called) coming Temple is to be built on Mount Zion. But in Ezekiel 43 it is made clear that the coming Temple will be built in a holy place, surrounded by a large holy area, both of which are outside Jerusalem. If these prophecies are to be taken literally they are clear contradictions. However if we see them both as pointing ahead, first to the building of the Temple which is the people of God, founded on Christ (1 Corinthians 3.10-16; Ephesians 2.18-22), and then to the heavenly Temple, all is resolved. Best wishes Jonp |