Tree of Life in Revelation 22:2

From a question on Quora:

In Revelation 22:2, is it one tree of life bearing 12 fruits, or 12 trees of life bearing different fruits? 

The minister could be right — it is twelve trees — or he could be wrong — it is symbolic of twelve human behaviors or attributes produced by the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life. Or he could be half-right because there are twelve trees that symbolize twelve attributes.

Observe the context.

Let’s take verse 2 together with verse 1:

• Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1–2, NASB; in good translations, italics indicate the words are interpolated by the translators to help the sentence make sense in English.)

Notice that “in the middle of its street” at the beginning of verse 2 is actually the ending of verse 1.

Let the Bible define its own terms.

When cross-referencing, give priority to the same author speaking on the same subject.

How does the same writer, John, define the the River?

• Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:38–40, NASB)

So the river symbolizes God the Holy Spirit and His work. Right away, we should recognize that Revelation 22:1–2 is not to be taken as literal alone. Rather, the passage is filled with symbolism.

Notice that God the Son is called the Lamb. This does not mean Jesus of Nazareth was a sheep. Rather, the title evokes His sacrifice on behalf of those who will receive justification as a gift from the great Giver of gifts.

"Literal interpretation" includes recognizing typology.

So if the River is the Holy Spirit, the the Tree of Life is probably symbolic, too. In Genesis 3, the tree of life is described as though it were a literal tree. Since various persons and things throughout the scriptures have both literal existence and symbolic meaning (“typology”), there’s no scriptural reason to reject Eden’s tree of life as either literal or symbolic. I believe we get a clue about the symbolism of Revelation's tree of life in Proverbs 3.

• 13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
  And the man who gains understanding….
  18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
  And happy are all who hold her fast.

If the tree or trees of life is (are) symbols, then they represent behaviors or attributes, such as wisdom and understanding, that convey and bring blessing. Coincidentally, Proverbs 3 identifies twelve such attributes or actions (depending on how you count them):

1. Knowledge (see Psalm 1:2–3)
2. Obedience
3. Kindness
4. Truthfulness
5. Faith (see Jeremiah 17:7-8)
6. Confession
7. Humility
8. Respect
9. Holiness (see Psalm 1:1, 3)
10. Giving
11. Submission (to correction)
12. Wisdom / Understanding (see Proverbs 3:13 and following, especially verse 18)

The New Testament often cites the Old Testament.

Having established that the tree of life could be symbolic, whether the tree of life in Revelation 22 comprises one tree with multiple fruits or multiple trees of various types becomes more clear. We can confirm that tree of life refers to multiple trees by cross-referencing the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of heaven:

• By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12, NASB)

The meaning of bearing every month (Ezekiel) or each type of tree bearing in its own time (Revelation) speaks more to the perpetual production of fruit than to the types of trees taking turns. In other words, the emphasis is on the constancy of the Spirit’s work.

Now let’s put the picture together: In Revelation 22, tree of life is a collective noun. It refers to a class of object that has variety within the class. There may be a total of twelve trees of twelve types, or there may be a billion of each of 12 types. The separation of right-bank from left-bank trees is irrelevant. They share unity in their source.

A central feature of heaven's operation is that God the Holy Spirit flows forth from God the Father and God the Son, performing the work of God. The work of the Holy Spirit continuously produces in God’s people the the traits that result in abundant lives that not only are blessed, but also are blessings to others.

Literal and symbolic meanings are not mutually exclusive.

Returning to Eden’s tree of life, we should remind ourselves that what Ezekiel and John saw could be both literal and symbolic. We do not have to choose one or the other. Our focus should be on the traits that can cause our lives to become more abundant, as well as on God, whose Holy Spirit is the cause of those traits.

By the way, once you digest the symbolism, you can see the Trinity identified in Revelation 22:1-2.


Since I've already posted an earlier version of this on Quora, I can't copyright it; but I still ask that, when you "borrow" it, please give credit where credit is due.