Your task is to read the following and then write a paragraph of at least 100 words explaining the Revelation quote at the end.
Genesis:
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.
John:
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
(although Jesus himself was not baptizing, just his disciples),
he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
He had to pass through Samaria.
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, 4 near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
(The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?"
Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back."
The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.'
For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."
The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; 8 but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything."
Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you."
At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people,
"Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?"
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat."
But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.
Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.'
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work."
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done."
When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."
Ezekiel:
Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the facade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate, and around to the outer gate facing the east, where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
Then when he had walked off to the east with a measuring cord in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water, which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand and once more had me wade through the water, which was now knee-deep. Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade; the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand, but there was now a river through which I could not wade; for the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?" Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me, "This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Fishermen shall be standing along it from En-gedi to En-eglaim, spreading their nets there. Its kinds of fish shall be like those of the Great Sea, very numerous.
Only its marshes and swamps shall not be made fresh; they shall be left for salt.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Thus says the Lord GOD: These are the boundaries within which you shall apportion the land among the twelve tribes of Israel (Joseph having two portions).
All of you shall have a like portion in this land which I swore to give to your fathers, that it might fall to you as your inheritance.
This is the boundary of the land on the north side: from the Great Sea in the direction of Hethlon, past Labo of Hamath, to Zedad,
Berothah, and Sibraim, along the frontiers of Hamath and Damascus, to Hazar-enon which is on the border of the Hauran.
Thus the border shall extend from the sea to Hazar-enon, with the frontier of Hamath and Damascus to the north. This is the northern boundary.
The eastern boundary: between the Hauran--toward Damascus--and Gilead on the one side, and the land of Israel on the other side, the Jordan shall form the boundary down to the eastern sea as far as Tamar. This is the eastern boundary.
The southern boundary: from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, thence to the Wadi of Egypt, and on to the Great Sea. This is the southern boundary.
The western boundary: the Great Sea forms the boundary up to a point parallel to Labo of Hamath. This is the western boundary.
You shall distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
You shall allot it as inheritances for yourselves and for the aliens resident in your midst who have bred children among you. The latter shall be to you like native Israelites; along with you they shall receive inheritances among the tribes of Israel.
In whatever tribe the alien may be resident, there you shall assign him his inheritance, says the Lord GOD.
Revelation:
"Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations"
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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9 comments:
The quote from revelation shows a lot of different things. One thing that it shows is the river and that water gives life to everything around it. Next you have the tree of life which could be the same tree that Adam and Eve ate off of in the Garden of Eden. This shows that the bible starts in a garden and ends in a garden. The third thing that it shows is the fruit. The fruit could represent the 12 tribes of Israel or they could represent the 12 apostles. The last thing in revelation is the leaves that will heal the nations. These leaves from the tree of life will take away all the curses that god put on the earth with the 7 seals.
These passages contain a lot of nature references. To me, these are symbolic for expressing life and the world in which man lives.
I perceive the "tree of life" in Genesis to mean exactly as it states--a tree that produces fruit that, when eaten, yields life.
It seems that in the Bible, the word "life" can have two totally opposing meanings. Life can mean the time period when one is on earth and is ultimately "suffering". However, in the beginning, before man's original sin, life had a good connotation--Adam and Eve "living" (happy, in existence, etc.)
Then when you get into John, and once again, "living" is mentioned as an adjective to describe the water, I think it goes back to the original "good" connotation. (Living water) meaning life and happiness after death. Because the "living" water yields eternal life, those who drink it would never be thirsty again.
Again, in Ezekiel, there are more nature references. A river is mentioned: "Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh." This river signifies aspects of life again, pertaining to those who are in contact with it. In addition, trees are mentioned again, which "Every month shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Finally, in Revelation, the same things are mentioned once again. The special river containing trees on either side originates from the throne of God. I take it to mean this river is, once again, "life", and the things coming with it--the fruit from the trees, the medicine from the leaves--compliment life, while the water from the river and fruit from the tree of life are making it all eternal.
What is most interesting about this specific Revelation quote is that is quote the bible itself in Genisis, John, and Ezekiel. Genisis talks about the tree of life and how the water flows and will give them life forever and ever. John talks about how the water will save each and every person and if they only ask for it then they will recieve it and have everlasting life and never thirst again. Ezekiel talks of the water and how it will provide life with Jesus. It also talks about the way the trees are lined on the side of the river. by life and good and bad. Revelation just takes all those scriptures and sums them together and talks about them in a much simpler term and then relays the message much faster, and even more bluntly.
Aarons comment is really good. it explains how things begin and end with something so that things go in full cirlce. applause for you Aaron :)
i also like the pickle comment... nice
Stephanie, yours is long but well put together. i like it. you explained everything very well and i understood everything that you were explaining. thanks and see yah :0:)
I like yours Aaron. I agree with Megan, it signifies a "cycle". I think mine hit on all the passages together as opposed to just the revelation.
Stephanie what does it mean when it says the living water? What do the fruit and the leaves represnt? Also what does Genisis begin with and what does Revelation end with how are they similar?
While it is true that the River of Life symbol is used throughout the Bible, John seems to show as does Ezekial it flowing from the Temple, remember this is Jewish, but in Revelation, John has the Lamb of God, Christ, at the altar...thus heralding a new Temple sacrifice that will give the life-giving water that will restore the Tree of Life that Adam and Eve were cut off from in Genesis...This Tree has leaves to heal the wounds of mankind for eternity.
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