The Tree: From Eden to Eternity

There is a tree near the beginning of the Bible, and there is a tree near the end.

In Genesis, the tree of life stands in the garden of Eden. Then, in the final chapter of Revelation, it appears again beside the river flowing from the throne of God.

I find that beautiful. The biblical story begins with humanity losing access to the tree of life, but before Scripture closes, the tree is there again.

But what happens to the tree between Genesis and Revelation?

Once we begin looking, we discover that trees appear throughout Scripture in some unexpected places. They can speak of life and fruitfulness, but also kingdoms, pride, judgment, restoration and the promise of the Messiah.

The tree is more than part of the scenery.

It becomes part of the language of the biblical story.

The Tree of Life

Genesis 2:9 tells us that God caused trees to grow from the ground that were pleasing to the sight and good for food. Then our attention is drawn especially to two:

the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Hebrew word for tree is:

עֵץ etz

The Hebrew expression “tree of life” is:

עֵץ הַחַיִּים etz ha-khayyim

The word khayyim means life.

If you have read my earlier article about Khavah, Eve, you may recognize this theme. Genesis 3:20 tells us that Adam called his wife Khavah because she would become “the mother of all living.”

Life is woven deeply into the story of Eden.

God gives the adam freedom to eat from the trees of the garden, with one prohibition: he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then the serpent enters the story.

The woman sees that the tree is good for food, pleasing to the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom. She takes its fruit and eats, and the man eats with her.

The tragedy is not that the tree itself is evil. God created the garden and its trees as part of His good creation.

The tragedy comes through human disobedience.

Afterward, humanity is driven from the garden, and the way to the tree of life is guarded.

But the tree has not disappeared from the biblical story.

Like a Tree Planted by Water

Psalm 1 gives us another beautiful picture.

The person who delights in the instruction of the LORD is:

“like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in its season.”

Now a tree becomes a picture of a human life.

The visible fruit comes from something deeper. The tree is planted where it can receive life.

Jeremiah uses similar imagery when he describes the one who trusts in the LORD as a tree planted beside water, sending out its roots by the stream.

This is a beautiful picture of flourishing. But Scripture also uses trees in another way.

A tree can become enormous. Its branches can spread. Others can shelter beneath it. And its very greatness can become a picture of human power and pride.

The Trees of Eden

In the previous article, we encountered the remarkable Eden imagery of Ezekiel 28.

But we need to make an important distinction.

Ezekiel 28 does not call the cherub a tree.

For Ezekiel's great tree imagery, we move to Ezekiel 31.

There the prophet addresses Pharaoh and asks: “Whom are you like in your greatness?”

Ezekiel then describes Assyria through the image of a magnificent cedar in Lebanon. Its branches are beautiful. Water nourishes it. Birds nest in its branches. Animals shelter beneath it, and nations live in its shade.

Its greatness is breathtaking. Then Ezekiel brings us back to Eden. The trees in God's garden cannot rival its beauty. He even speaks poetically of “all the trees of Eden” envying it.

But this magnificent tree does not remain standing. Its heart becomes proud because of its height. And it is brought down. The image is striking because we have already encountered something similar in Ezekiel 28: beauty, greatness, pride and a fall.

One passage uses the imagery of a cherub in Eden. Another uses the imagery of magnificent trees.

We should not combine the two as though they were one description, but reading them near one another allows us to see how richly Ezekiel uses Eden imagery when speaking about human kingdoms and pride.

When a King Becomes a Tree

The same kind of imagery appears in Daniel 4.

King Nebuchadnezzar dreams about an enormous tree. It grows strong and reaches toward heaven. Its branches provide shelter and its fruit provides food.

Then a heavenly watcher commands: “Chop down the tree.”

Daniel eventually tells Nebuchadnezzar: “The tree... it is you, O king.”

The king's greatness had grown enormously, but he would be humbled. Again Scripture uses a towering tree to picture human greatness. This gives us an interesting contrast.

Psalm 1 celebrates the tree that flourishes because it is planted beside water.

Ezekiel and Daniel show us towering trees that represent kingdoms and rulers whose greatness does not make them untouchable.

Perhaps the important question is not simply:

How tall is the tree?

But:

Where are its roots?

Something Grows From the Stump

Then Isaiah gives us another tree image, but this one looks very different.

The tree appears to have been cut down. Only a stump remains.

Yet Isaiah 11:1 promises: “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.”

What appears finished is not dead. From Jesse's line will come the promised Davidic ruler. I love the contrast. The enormous trees of human power rise high and are brought down. But God's promised King emerges from what looks like a dead stump.

Human beings are impressed by height. God can bring life from a root.

The Tree Returns

Now travel with me to the final chapter of Scripture. Revelation 22 describes the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. And there we encounter the tree again.

The tree of life.

It bears fruit, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. The Bible begins with a garden, a river and the tree of life. It ends with the water of life and the tree of life in God's restored creation. What humanity lost in Genesis is present again in Revelation.

The tree was never forgotten.

From Genesis to Psalms, from the prophets to Revelation, trees can speak of life, fruitfulness, human kingdoms, pride, judgment, hope and restoration.

And right near the end of Revelation, another image appears. Not on the earth this time. In the heavens.

Jesus says: “I am... the bright morning star.”

We have followed the tree.

Next, let us look upward and follow the star.

Grace and Shalom,

Veronica N. Khavah

© 2026 by Voice of the Garden. All rights reserved.

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