Why are there leafs for the healing of the nations in the new earth?

[Slimsumo]

If everyone is in a glorified body, why the separation between those in the New Jerusalem and the others outside of it who appear to need leafs for healing`? This isn't the millennium either, its the new heaven and new earth in context. Any good explanations?

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:2 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.

 

[BBerean]

If everyone is in a glorified body, why the separation between those in the New Jerusalem and the others outside of it who appear to need leafs for healing`? This isn't the millennium either, its the new heaven and new earth in context. Any good explanations?

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:2 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.

I have not thought a lot about it , but remember the garden of eden , after Adam and Eve sinned the tree of life was barred from them by an angel , why because they would live forever in a sinful state . God said the day they eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they shall surely die . Otherwise if not for sin they would have lived forever. So there is a truth from the beginning that got destroyed by sin . Now restored in the new world as I see it . God said in Revelation 21 ?” Behold I make all things new “ a restoration and more . A few thoughts.

 

[Omegatime]

Those that survive the Tribulation and the Sheep/Goat Judgement will enter the kingdom with flesh and blood.

16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. Zech. 14

 

[Proximus]

and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

There are different ways to intrepret the Apocalypse, and here is the explanation claiming that explains "the spiritual sense". Certainly, the following is taken out of the greater context, and yet may give some idea:

"936. 'And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations' signifies the rational truths therefrom by means of which those who are in evils and consequently in untruths are led to thinking soundly and living properly. By 'the leaves of the tree' are signified rational truths, treated of below. By 'the nations' are signified those who are in goods and consequently in truths, and in the opposite sense those who are in evils and consequently in untruths (n. 483). Here it is those who are in evils and consequently in untruths, because it is said 'for their healing', and those who are in evils and consequently in untruths cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it; but if they have a strong judgment they can be healed by means of rational truths. Things similar to those in this verse are signified by these words in Ezekiel:-

Behold waters going forth from under the threshold of the house from which there is a river, upon the banks of which is a tree of very much food on this side and that, whose leaf does not fall, nor is consumed; it is reborn month by month (in menses), whence its fruit is for food, and its leaf for medicine Ezek. xlvii 1, 7, 12;

where also the New Church is treated of. The reason why by 'the leaves' are signified rational truths is because by 'a tree' is signified a man (n. 89, 400); and then by all [the parts] of a tree are signified the things agreeing to them with the man, as by the branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. By 'the branches' are signified the man's natural and sensual truths, by 'the leaves' his rational truths, by 'the flowers' the earliest spiritual truths in the rational, by 'the fruits' the goods of love and charity, and by 'the seeds' are signified the man's last and first things. [2] That by 'the leaves' are signified rational truths appears clearly from the things seen in the spiritual world; for trees appear there also, with leaves and fruits. There are gardens and paradises composed of them there. With those who are in goods of love and at the same time in truths of wisdom there appear fruit trees with beautiful luxuriant foliage; but with those who are in truths of some wisdom and speak reasonably and are not in goods of love, there appear trees with plenty of leaves but without fruit. But with those who have neither goods nor truths of wisdom, trees only appear stripped of leaves like those in the world in the time of winter. A man not rational is nothing else but such a tree. [3] Rational truths are those that proximately receive spiritual truths, for a man's rational is the first receptacle of spiritual truths; for in the man's rational there is a perception of truth in some form, which the man himself does not see by a process of thought as he does those that are beneath the rational in 'the lower kind of thought that conjoins itself with external sight. Rational truths are signified by 'leaves' also (Gen. iii 7; viii 11; Isa. xxxiv 4; Jer. viii 13; xvii 8; Ezek. xlvii 12; Dan. iv 12, 14 [H.B. 9, 11]; Ps. i 3; Lev. xxvi 36; Matt. Xxi 19; xxiv 32; Mark xiii 28); but [the leaves] are significant according to the species of the trees. The leaves of the olive and the vine signify truths rational by virtue of celestial and spiritual light, the leaves of the fig-tree truths rational by virtue of natural light, while the leaves of the fir, poplar, oak and pine signify truths rational by virtue of sensual light. The leaves of these excite terror in the spiritual world when they are shaken by a strong wind. These are the ones understood in Lev. xxvi 36; Job xiii 25. But with the leaves of the former [species] it is not so." (Apocalypse Revealed, Emanuel Swedenborg).

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

It might just be figurative language for the true tree of life, ie, Jesus

 

[Slimsumo]

Those that survive the Tribulation and the Sheep/Goat Judgement will enter the kingdom with flesh and blood.

16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. Zech. 14

But the Bible teaches flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the kingdom of God in 1 Cor 15?

It might just be figurative language for the true tree of life, ie, Jesus

The Lamb is the there next to the tree of life. That is Jesus.

These verses are a real mystery.

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

The Lamb is the there next to the tree of life. That is Jesus.

These verses are a real mystery.

There's a lot of really weird stuff going on in Revelation that IMO are crude, vague indicators of what the realities behind them really are.

 

[Lanolin]

Well, the world got so polluted with the smoke and burning of hell-fire, so God needed to plant trees again and have rivers to cleanse the land. The trees leaves provide oxygen, which is needed when the world was basically dying and suffocating from all that sin.

 

[PaulThomson]

If everyone is in a glorified body, why the separation between those in the New Jerusalem and the others outside of it who appear to need leafs for healing`? This isn't the millennium either, its the new heaven and new earth in context. Any good explanations?

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:2 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.

IMO because we do not lose free will when we are resurrected, and we are able to make mistakes and fall short of perfection after resurrection. Angels were created perfect but fell. We are made a new creation, but that does not mean we cannot fall. If we make a mistake, we will not need to respond like Adam and Eve and hide from God. We know that God is full of loving kindness and tender mercies and will instantly forgive us, if we call on Him and are honest with Him about what we have done and are contrite. Jesus sacrifice is a once far all perpetual sacrifice, so it will avail for sinners on into eternity. The tree of life in the garden was available for eating when the human started to become weak. It would reviatalise him/her and extend his/her life.

Why did God cut off access to the tree of life? He tells us -

Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become (HaYaH qal perfect) like one of us for to know (qal infinitive construct) good and evil. Now, lest he keep on reaching (qal imperfect) out his hand and keep on taking (waw-qal perfect) also of the tree of life and keep on eating (waw-qal perfect), and keep on living (waw-qal perfect) forever—”
Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Gen 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

God does not say, “If man eats even once from the tree of life He will live forever.” But "If man keeps on eating from the tree of life, he will keep on living forever.” Man needs to keep on eating forever to keep on living forever.

If we sin after resurrection, we will start to feel sick, and we will need to eat leaves from the tree of life to become whole again.
There will be people from every nation among the redeemed all over the new earth, bringing offerings to the holy city. Some of them will sin and need healing, which will be freely available by eating leaves from the trees of life, just as, by looking to the bronze serpent, healing from snake bites was freely available to Israelites who had sinned in the desert .

People assume there can be no imperfect behaviour among the resurrected in the new heaven and earth. Scripture never says that, actually. When we see -
Rev 21:4
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”, many of us assume that means there can be no more sin. There can be missing the mark, imperfection; but confidence in the merciful God and Saviour to readily forgive our imperfection, our mis-steps means we will not react as many do now, thinking God is angry with us and is just waiting for a chance to whack us hard. We will know god so much better then, and be so much more ready to run to Him after our failures to thank Him for His mercy to us.

That’s how I understand the verse.

 

[Omegatime]

IMO everyone who enters the Millenium with flesh and blood to repopulate the earth are considered unrighteous.

Zech 14:16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

Even the sheep from the Sheep/Goat Judgement did not realize what they did right! They helped a neighbor!

34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

This happened inside the Day of the Lord and their works saved them, not because of faith in the Lord

 

[tablet123]

If everyone is in a glorified body, why the separation between those in the New Jerusalem and the others outside of it who appear to need leafs for healing`? This isn't the millennium either, its the new heaven and new earth in context. Any good explanations?

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:2 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.

The people inside the city have eternal life.

The people outside the gate are not in that vicinity.

But they are the lost which cannot be healed and cannot have salvation.

When it says they are outside the gate it means they cannot enter not that they are outside the gate in that area.

The tree of life was in the garden of Eden.

The tree of life will be at the New Jerusalem after the millennial reign.

So the tree of life is spiritual unlike the physical trees in the garden.

So that is why it is at the New Jerusalem.

Jesus is our Savior but it looks like the tree of life plays a part too.

For the New Jerusalem can be considered the spiritual garden of Eden.

Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

When Adam and Eve sinned and were put forth from the garden God protected the tree of life which if they ate of that tree in their sinful condition they would of stayed like that and all their offspring so there would not be salvation.

They might of wanted to go back and eat of the tree of life thinking they could reverse the sin and the curse because of it.

 

[Lanolin]

Note that in Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, they hid behind fig leaves.
God saw them and made aprons out of skins for them to wear. Maybe it was more comfortable than fig leaves.

Have you seen fig leaves. They can be quite big, like dinner plate size, or from the fruit fig tree, an interesting shape, but they are not soft and furry like lambs ears. They are tough and a bit rough.

 

[Lanolin]

I mean its a lot of figurative/symbolic language in the Bible esp Revelation and its brings up interesting word pictures.

They are meant to signify spiritual truths though, so ask God for wisdom about what it means. Some of it will remain a mystery to us until God chooses to reveal it to you.

 

[rogerg]

Rev 22:2 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.

The tree and its leaves were being shown to John before the end of time, not after - while God's plan of salvation was still in-effect and in-progress and the healing continuing - that it would "shortly come to pass", not that it "came to pass".

[Rev 1:1 KJV] 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:

[Rev 22:1-2 KJV]
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 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.