By Dr. Stephen Phinney   

"And 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. And 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. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, 'These words are faithful and true'; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. 'And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.' I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things" (Rev 22:1-8).

THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE FOUR RIVERS

Here we are, in the last chapter of Revelation. We will finish with the spiritual dessert that will conclude our intense, but gracious meal of studying the final work of Jesus Christ.

I often wonder how John felt at this point of his vision! The tour our Lord took John on brings him to one of the greatest revelations of all - the river of the water of Life and the Tree of Life planted next to it. With no sea to be found in this prime estate (21:1), the source of such water is none other than what is proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. Everything is about the throne of God - it always has been and eternally, will be. So many scholars make this about a symbol of what the throne is about; but I am one who believes in the literal translation of this water. I believe you will see the pure, undefiled, and unpolluted outpouring of the water of Life. And all who are washed in it will become as pure, as the Lamb of God.

Now imagine, if you can, a large tree (Tree of Life) rooted on both sides of this river - the River of Life flowing under the center of this tree. Allow me to share some historical data regarding this tree. If you remember, If you remember, God had created many trees in the Garden of Eden, but only two were pointed out for specific reasons: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  

The Tree of Life was not something that showed up on the end of man's timeline. It was there before man entered the Garden. On the other hand, the Tree of Knowledge does not appear on the back end of prophecy stated in chapter 22, for good reason. It was the grand symbol (but actual tree) of the great city of Babylon. As we learned in chapter 18, Christ completely....Read More Here