Faith and the Tree of Life: Lessons from the Bible

Death came through one tree. Salvation also came through another tree.

When God wanted to wipe out humanity with the Flood, He told Noah to build an ark from trees. This ark, made of gopher wood, symbolized Jesus, the Tree of Life.

Noah’s wooden ark of salvation worked just like Jesus’ wooden cross of salvation. Those who found shelter in Noah’s ark were saved. Similarly, those who seek shelter in Jesus will be saved.

Aaron’s Rod

Another sign of Jesus as the Tree of Life was Aaron’s wooden rod. When God sent Moses to Pharaoh to free the children of Israel, He told him to throw down Aaron’s rod. When he did this, Aaron’s rod turned into a serpent.

But why did this happen?

As sinful people, we were children and servants of the devil. So, Jesus, the Tree of Life in Aaron’s rod, took the form of a serpent like sinful man. This was so:

In all things, Jesus had to be made like us, His brothers, so that He could be a merciful and faithful High Priest in matters concerning God, to make atonement for our sins. (Heb 2:17-18).

Jesus used death to overcome death and bring life. Therefore, Aaron’s rod became the serpent that swallowed the serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, whose rods were also turned into serpents. In this way, death was defeated by Jesus, the Tree of Life in Aaron’s rod. (1 Corinthians 15:54).

When each of the 12 tribes had to place wooden rods before the Ark of the Covenant, Aaron’s rod came back to life and budded. It produced flowers and had almonds that were already ripe enough to eat. (Number 17:8). This means a piece of wood came back to life.

Aaron’s rod represented Jesus, the Tree of Life, who rose from the dead.

Moses’ Wooden Rod

Israel’s freedom from Egyptian slavery also came through a tree, symbolizing Jesus, the Tree of Life. Moses’ wooden rod parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to cross over safely on dry land. When Pharaoh’s army of 600 stubborn horsemen foolishly followed them, Moses stretched out his rod again and the sea returned, drowning the Egyptian army in the waves.

So, Moses’ wooden rod was a symbol of Jesus, the Tree of Life that offers salvation.

Ark of the Covenant

While in the wilderness, God instructed Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant. This was a special chest made of acacia wood, covered inside and outside with pure gold.

The ark was like Jesus, a Tree of Life. It stood for Emmanuel, God with Israel. It represented God’s throne on earth. It held God’s presence in Israel, providing access denied by the cherubim guarding the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. God’s presence in the ark protected the nation, led the Israelites into battles, and atoned for their sins during sacrificial rituals.

Bronze Snake On Wooden Pole

When the people complained against God and Moses in the wilderness, God sent snakes to bite and kill them. But when some repented and asked Moses to plead with God for them to remove the snakes, God instructed Moses to do something unusual.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. (Num 21:8).

This took us back to the Garden of Eden, where the serpent, representing Satan, deceived Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Now in the wilderness, healing came, not by removing the snakes, but by Moses making a bronze serpent and raising it on a wooden pole.

As with Aaron’s rod, this wooden pole represented Jesus, the Tree of Life. Anyone who looked at this serpent was healed of snake bites and lived.

Fourteen centuries later, Jesus pointed out that this strange remedy foreshadowed his crucifixion.

He said:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15).

Curse of the Law

The Law of Moses states:

He who is hanged is accursed of God. (Deut 21:23).

This law was put in place 1,400 years before Jesus was hanged on a tree. This meant that since Jesus was crucified by hanging on a tree, He came under God’s curse. This made Jesus’ crucifixion a problem for the Jews. They thought the Messiah could not be under God’s curse since Jesus was hanged on a tree.

But Paul made this a key part of the gospel. He saw that Jesus’ hanging on a tree at Calvary was meant to free mankind from God’s curse of the law. So, he said:

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, and we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:13-14).

In other words,

(God) made (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21).

Tree of Life

Death came through one tree. Salvation also came through another tree. Death came through the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Life comes through Jesus, the Tree of Life. Salvation comes when we partake of Jesus. As we eat from Jesus, we become Trees of Righteousness.

We should note that Jesus was crucified in a garden.

John says:

Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. (John 19:41).

So, in one garden, the Garden of Eden, Adam messed everything up for us. But in another garden, the Garden of Calvary, Jesus redeemed everything we lost.

Jesus promises:

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Rev 2:5).

Blessed are those who keep (God’s) commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. (Rev 22:14).

And so, Genesis started with access denied to the Tree of Life. Revelation ends with access granted to the Tree of Life. John says in Revelation:

He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Rev 22:1-4).

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev 22:17).