The Bible begins and ends with the great Tree of Life — first in the orchard of Eden, and later in the midst of the paradise of heaven. ”The Tree of Life (i.e., etz ha’ chayim: עֵץ הַחַיִּים) was in the midst of the garden…” (Gen. 2:9); “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the Tree of Life (etz ha-chayim) with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month” (Rev. 22:1-2). Notice that the “twelve fruits” (καρποὺς δώδεκα) from the Tree of Life are directly linked to the “twelve months” of the Jewish year (κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ: “each month rendering its fruit”). Twelve months; twelve fruits…. This teaches us that the sequence of the holidays (mo’edim) was intended to teach us revelation about God. That is why God created the Sun and the Moon for signs and for “appointed times” (Gen. 1:14), as it also says: “He made the moon to mark the appointed times (לְמוֹעֲדִים); the sun knows its time for setting” (Psalm 104:19).
The Scriptures state twice: “Take root downward and bear fruit upward” (2 Kings 19:30; Isa. 37:31). As Yeshua said, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit (John 12:24). We pray we might surrender ourselves to the Lord fully, being immersed in His passion, “bearing fruit in every good work (ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες) and growing in da’at HaShem (דַעַת אֱלהִים) – the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). The “fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life” lit., etz chayim (עֵץ חַיִּים), literally, “the Tree of lives” (Prov. 11:30). It is the fruit of Yeshua, the Tzaddik of God, the Righteous One, who bears fruits of healing in the lives of those who turn to Him in trust…
The Tree of Life is mentioned ten times in Scripture, corresponding to the “ten words of God” (i.e., the Ten Commandments). In the Torah it first appears in the center of the paradise of Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22-4), but it is soon lost to humanity because of Adam’s transgression. In the book of Revelation, it reappears in the center of the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7, 22:2), resurrected on account of the faithful obedience of Yeshua as mankind’s “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). Those who have washed their robes by means of His righteousness are given access to this Tree in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14). The paradise lost by Adam has been regained by the greater ben-adam, the Son of Man, Yeshua the Messiah, the Savior of the children of men…
…