Revelation 22.1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing (therapein) of the nations/peoples (ethnos). 3 No longer will there be any curse.The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

• Over these weeks we’ve been tracing the Bible’s image of trees—Jeremiah 17: a tree rooted in water, healthy even in high heat; Psalm 1: the introductory vision of the Psalms, a tree delighting in God’s word. And now, Revelation 22: the tree of life at the end of history.
  
  
• Revelation calls us to read with the end in mind—to see where the story is headed, and to live today with that hope.
  
  
• John’s vision gives us three big questions:
  1. What is there?
     • A tree, planted on each side of the river of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding every month.
     • Its leaves are “for the healing (therapia) of the nations”—healing for all peoples.
     • Even when we only glimpse healing here and now, Revelation promises that the tree exists. One day, every longing for restoration will be met in full.
  2. What is not there?
     • “No longer will there be any curse.”
     • From Genesis 3 onward, humanity lived under curse: first, that life is always fractured; second, that even good things are fragile and can be lost.
     • But in the new creation, the curse is gone forever.
  3. How is it not there?
     • Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13 ). On the tree of the cross, He bore our curse and traded it for His Spirit.
     • This is the true prosperity gospel—not wealth or ease, but the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence with us. Like Frodo carrying a treasure he didn’t realize he had, we often miss the value of the Spirit already within us.
• This vision matters because it speaks to a suffering world. Nations are fractured, people are broken, and creation groans. But God sees it all, and promises: healing is coming.

From this passage we see that hope comes as: 1) faith that the tree of healing truly exists, 2) freedom from the curse through Christ’s cross, and 3) the Spirit’s presence now as the foretaste of God’s final restoration.

Pray - For Awareness of the Holy Spirit: Holy Spirit, give us eyes to see the treasure we already have in You. Remind us that in Christ, the curse is broken, and healing is promised. Plant us by Your living waters, make us a community rooted in Your presence, and let us taste the happy of God even now as we wait for the tree of life at the end of history. Amen.