The Tree of Life

This world is filled with religions, philosophies and opinions, but truth stands alone. Truth knows no opinion. Truth is omnipotent. Truth rules over all. Truth is not tolerant of contrary positions. Truth is God. John, chapter 17, verse 17:

Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.

John, chapter 1, verse 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 23:

Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Access to truth has been purchased for us through the shed blood of Christ Jesus. In order to inherit that truth, one may purchase it by surrendering his or her life unto Christ Jesus. There is no day like the day one becomes a son or daughter of God through the born-again experience. Meet your maker today. Click on to "Further With Jesus" on the navigation bar on your left to learn more. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Genesis, chapter 3, verses 22-24:

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

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.

MAN SAID:  This is just another example of the absurdity of the Bible!  The Bible is a book of fairy tales handed down by mere men.

Now THE RECORD. Could there be any truth to such a phenomenal story?—that there was actually a tree of life and that if you ate of it you would live forever? Can we find a remnant of that tree? Does the Bible give valuable pointers to which tree it was? Man has been enamored with such an idea since the beginning of time. It is the quest for our original immortal roots.

It’s interesting to note that God did not remove the Tree of Life from the earth after man had sinned, but instead set Cherubims to protect it from man. After Eve and Adam had cast off the Word of God, they were cast out of Paradise. It was at that point that they, their offspring, and all the elements of the earth became subject to the law of sin and death, known in science as the second law of thermodynamics. This law basically means that all things go from order to disorder, from life to death. This curse affects everything.

Sixteen hundred-plus years later a second disastrous happening took place that greatly accelerated the effects of the curse of sin and death. This second happening, which occurred during the flood of Noah, was the destruction of the water canopy that once encompassed the earth. It was suspended above the first heaven, which is the immediate atmosphere that surrounds the globe. According to the creation science model, the water canopy would have acted as a filter, filtering out the devastating killer rays from the sun such as ultraviolet rays and more. These harmful rays are deadly to all life, including the trees, grass, air, water, animals, and humans. Prior to the global flood in the days of Noah when the water canopy was destroyed, man lived 13 times longer than he does today, reaching the average age of 911 years.

The massive changes caused by the curse of sin and death affected all of creation and would also have affected the Tree of Life.

In this feature we will not prove emphatically which tree was once the Tree of Life, but rather, we will provide the spiritual and physical rationale that strongly supports the idea of such a marvelous record in the word of God—a record much maligned by carnal skeptics and ridiculed as fairy tales.

While searching for this miraculous tree we find in Scriptures, in history and in science, that one tree stands as a giant above all others, even while enduring the life-ending curse of sin. This proverbial tree is the olive tree. Romans chapter 8, verses 22-23 depicts the plight of all of creation as a result of the law of sin and death.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

In the Holy Word of God there is no tree like the olive. After the great flood, in the days of Brother Noah, he knew that the waters were drying up from the earth when the dove he released returned to the ark with an olive leaf in its mouth. The olive today represents the symbol of hope. Ancient law forbids the destruction of any olive tree even if it belongs to the enemy. The olive tree and its oil are written of hundreds of times in the word of God. It was olive oil that fueled the holy flame that burned continually before the veil of God’s most holy place (Exodus 27:20). Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies, beyond the veil. The two doors at the entrance were made of the wood of the olive tree (I Kings 6:32). Above the Ark of the Covenant, which was the spiritual center of the tabernacle of God, were the wings of two Cherubims, also made of the olive tree (I Kings 6:23-28). Thus the verse in Psalms 57, verse 1, and many others.

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Hosea chapter 14, verse 6 reads:

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

Zechariah chapter 4, verses 11-14 reads:

11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

The sweet psalmist of Israel wrote in Psalms 52, verse 8:

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

In James 5:14, the elders in the house of God are directed to anoint the sick with oil and pray the prayer of faith.

Salvation and entrance into the body of Christ are compared to the olive tree in Romans, chapter 11, verses 16-18.

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

There is no tree in the Scriptures like the glorious olive.

Medical science continues to uncover the tremendous marvels of this God-endorsed tree. The following excerpts are from an article published in Energy Times titled "Olive Leaf Extract: Nature’s Antibiotic:"

The source of olive leaf’s strength is a phenolic compound called oleurepein, the active ingredient extracted from the leaves of olive trees. According to Dr. James R. Privitera in the article titled Olive Leaf Extract: A New/Old Healing Bonanza for Mankind (NutriScreen), oleuropein works in a number of ways. Importantly, it interferes with the critical amino acid production that is essential for viruses and bacteria to thrive, and directly penetrates infected cells to stop viral replication.

Dr. Morton Walker notes in his book, Olive Leaf Extract (Kensington), that olive leaf can greatly help strengthen the immune system and fight all types of infections such as HIV, Epstein-Barr, herpes, the flu, sore throats and chronic sinusitis.

Again the article reads:

Today, the Hungarian government has adopted olive leaf extract for its Medicare system as its official anti-infectious disease remedy. Walker reports in Olive Leaf Extract that Dr. Robert Lyons, OMD, MS, of the Robert Lyons Clinic in Budapest, has been critical in developing innovative treatments in Central Europe, including the use of olive leaf extract.

Lyons conducted an extensive clinical study on 500 patients with a variety of infections such as tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, herpes, and bacterial skin infections. After being treated with olive leaf extract, the rate of improvement and recovery was approximately 98 percent. All patients were found to have a strengthened immune system and no side effects were recorded.

Finally this news about HIV:

Olive leaf extract is a natural source of substances known as protease inhibitors which may help people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. In the Spring 1996 issue of Positive Health News, Mark Konlee states that protease inhibitors are rapidly changing the lives of people with AIDS who experienced difficulty taking the drug called AZT. Olive leaf extract, combined with drugs called immune modulators, has produced positive effects for people with AIDS.

In one case study, Konlee reports that an AIDS sufferer reduced his viral load from 160,000 organisms per ml of blood down to 30,000 in two weeks. After 11 weeks, the patient’s viral load was reduced to 692. A viral load decrease this dramatic is rarely (if ever) attained through the use of AZT alone.

In another case, a person with HIV found his viral load dropped from 37,000 to 19,500 in three-and-a-half months while taking olive leaf, a significant development. (Of course, if you suffer from AIDS consult a health practitioner and do not stop taking your medication.) [End of quote]

This following excerpt is from the publication Better Nutrition:

Relatively new to the modern American botanical scene is Olea europaea, or olive leaf. For centuries, the olive tree has been revered as the "tree of life." In this century, most of us know it as an international symbol of peace, and as the source of a healthful and delicious culinary oil. Additionally, it seems the leaf of the olive tree may well have significant value as an immune-enhancing herb.

Some are familiar with the movie Lorenzo’s Oil. It is the story of a young man named Lorenzo Odone, who was afflicted with a deadly brain disease known as ALD. Lorenzo’s Oil, discovered by his parents, is now believed by researchers to have the ability to prolong the lives of those afflicted with ALD, if administered before the symptoms appear. Lorenzo’s Oil is a combination of two fats extracted from olive oil and rapeseed oil. It is taken orally.

Another diet the world is familiar with is the famous Mediterranean diet. A large percentage of the dieter’s calories in this way of eating is from fats, and in the Mediterranean diet, the principle fat is olive oil. The general results are a healthy heart and trim body, plus so much more.

Stacks of scientific information continue to pour in touting the powers of the products of the olive tree. An excerpt from an article in People magazine follows:

In a recent study at the Athens School of Public Health, women who ate olive oil more than once a day had a 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer than women who had it only once. In Spain researchers at the Escuela Nacional de Sanidad found that women who consumed the most olive oil were 40 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate the least.

Why? For one thing, olive oil is rich in a group of antioxidants called polyphenols, which seem to fend off heart disease and cancer. It also teems with substances called squalenes, which in animal studies have slowed the growth of colon, lung, and skin cancers, according to Chin Rao, a researcher at the American Health Foundation. Japanese physicians now use a purified form of squalenes to boost the tumor-killing ability of chemotherapy. "As far as food goes," says Rao, "olive oil appears to be the only significant source." [End of quote]

Oleuropein (ah-leh-YOUR-ah-peen), a compound found in the olive tree and isolated from its leaf, is credited with the phenomenal long life of the olive tree, which is said to be able to live for thousands of years. This bitter compound protects against nearly every insect and bacterial predator.

In the test tube, olive leaf extract has been found to be effective against nearly 90 viruses, retroviruses, bacterium, parasites, yeasts, protozoans, fungi, molds and other microbes and diseases. Just a few you may be familiar with are anthrax, botulism, chicken pox, chlamydia, ebola, Hepatitis A, B, and C, and more.

Based on patient and physician reports, olive leaf extract, which researchers claim is not a cure but an immune system booster, is reported effective in helping the body fight nearly 125 conditions including allergies, candida, cholera, HIV, Epstein-Barr, Lymphocytic Leukemia, shingles, yeast infections and more.

Could this olive tree, whose fame spans all of time, have been the original Tree of Life that sat in the middle of the garden of God? Could today’s olive tree be the remnant of this Tree of Life? We have cited many Biblical pointers, but cannot answer "yes" emphatically. But as to whether there was once such a Tree of Life in the Paradise of God, we can emphatically answer "yes," because the Word of God declares it and those who are washed in the blood of Christ shall see this tree again. Jesus Christ declares in Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Then again the Word of God declares in Revelation, chapter 22, verses 1-2:

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.

GOD SAID, Genesis, chapter 3, verses 22-24:

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

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.

MAN SAID:  This is just another example of the absurdity of the Bible! The Bible is a book of fairy tales handed down by mere men.

Now you have THE RECORD.





References:

King James Bible

Godsaidmansaid.com

Jaret, P., "New Reasons to Love Olive Oil," (Reprint from Health Magazine) People, February 8, 1999.

Jasko, R., "Olive Leaf Extract: Nature’s Antibiotic," Energy Times, October 1999.

Report from the National Life Extension Research Institute, "Olive Leaf Extract," 1998

Rubin, R., "Lorenzo’s Oil Brings Hope for the Afflicted," USA Today, October 22, 2002.

Starbuck, J., J.D., N.D., "Olive Leaf," Better Nutrition, September 1999.

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