LEAVES FOR HEALING
I. Afterlife – almost universally believed in
Belief in the afterlife is common to practically all peoples of the earth.
• Some American Indians called it the “happy hunting ground”
• Ancient Judaism accepted the idea of life beyond physical death, but with little grasp of what it would be
• There is clear evidence in the Torah of belief in life after death, indicating in several places that the righteous will be reunited with their loved ones, while the wicked will be excluded from the reunion.
• Modern Jews do not have much dogma about the afterlife, leaving a great deal of room for personal opinion. An Orthodox Jew may believe that the souls of the righteous dead go to a place similar to the way a Christian visualizes heaven, or that they are reincarnated through many lifetimes, or that they simply wait until the coming of the Messiah, when they will be resurrected.
• Koran describes in many passages Islamic belief in an afterlife very different from what Christians envision.
With few exceptions, most of humanity from the beginning has accepted and placed their hopes on “a world to come” that is better than the present one, and that they, personally will reach it.
Christians see heaven as home, which is reached after our brief earthly sojourn.
It’s a big part of our singing.
“This world is not my home.”
“Beyond this land of parting, losing and leaving lies the summer land of bliss.”
If nothing lies beyond this realm, this life is a mournful tale of a people who rise in life only to fall in death.
But Christians are confident that one day a trumpet will sound, every grave will be opened, and there will be a is a resurrection of the dead, and for those who eagerly yearn for it, everlasting life in the very presence of God.
Yet we wonder - what is heaven like?
II. Popular conceptions of heaven
We hear people describe their notions of heaven in many ways:
• The song “50 miles of elbow room”
• No allergies, no annoying boss, flat tire on the car, no snow, no wind, no weeds, no grouchy co-workers or neighbors – in short, anything I don’t like in this life will be absent in the next.
Therefore, heaven is sometimes seen as a place where all bad things aren’t.
But in heaven, what is there, and what is there for us to do?
If I enjoy bowling, will heaven have bowling alleys?
If I like to ski, will heaven have the best ski slopes imaginable?
Golf? The finest courses?
Will all my favorites pastimes and entertainments be at my disposal?
All my favorite foods and desserts, not unhealthy or fattening - no spinach or eggplant, nothing vile can enter there, so no buttermilk.
Heaven is often thought of as a place of leisure enjoyments and self-indulgence - with self at the center - which is what strive against in this life.
But is heaven something entirely different from even our favorite pursuits in this life?
And if it is, will our interests be automatically adjusted to an appreciation of those available in the new life?
Since we all here today join most of humanity in earnestly desiring a “better country” as the Hebrew writer put it, we might be surprised that although the entire bible points to Christ, and Christ points the way to heaven--indeed provides the only way--there are fairly few lines of scripture devoted to describing heaven.
The ones that give us most of it comes at the end of the bible (last chapters of Revelation), which likely was written by the last writer of sacred writings. Those prophetic descriptions describe a time or place glorious beyond imagining, where nothing, absolutely nothing blemishes ultimate peace and happiness.
III. Heaven in the Old Testament
Almost every time heaven is mentioned in the OT, it refers to the sky.
But there are some passages that clearly reveal firm belief in the hereafter.
The Torah (Gen-Deut) speaks of several noteworthy people being "gathered to their people, not suggesting an earthly gathering, as a funeral, but a celestial gathering." See, for example, Gen. 25:8 (Abraham), 25:17 (Ishmael), 35:29 (Isaac), 49:33 (Jacob), Deut. 32:50 (Moses and Aaron) II Kings 22:20 (King Josiah).
Although the Israelites didn’t realize it, the “promised land” is a type of heaven.
But Abraham had some inkling of it:
Hebrews 11:9-10 By faith he [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Ezek 47:1-12 contains a description of the future effect of the gospel, tinged with thoughts most closely associated with heaven. The vision Ezekiel saw is similar in several details to the one John saw when exiled to Patmos Island, which we will look at later.
IV. Heaven in the New Testament
1 Cor 15 is all about the resurrection, leaving no doubt that it is an indispensable part of what Christ accomplished by his own death and resurrection, esp. v51-54:
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
The most extensive description of heaven in the bible is in Rev. 21:9 - 22:5 (which read).
Images of heaven in Rev 21 and 22
• walls of jasper
• Gates of pearl
• foundations of gems
• streets paved with gold (21:21) like transparent glass
Notice that heaven is described in terms of earthly treasure and wealth--things men strive for.
This picture of dazzling splendor is written for comprehension by humans who still live in the flesh. Nothing our minds can grasp could give a more striking view of the magnificence of the future abode of the saints than those things valued most highly here.
But if seeds could talk, one seed could no more describe to another seed the beauty of a lily than a larva could describe a butterfly - except in a “seedly” kind of way.
John continues, describing things with deeper meaning. He saw:
• crystal river of the water of life
• glory of God illuminated it
I don’t propose to go through all the images and their meanings, but I want us to look at one in particular:
Rev 22:2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
V. Leaves for Healing of the Nations (Rev 22:2)
Why is healing needed in heaven? Some sickness or injury--something experienced in the next life that requires healing? Rev 21:4 says there is no sickness there. What is the place of healing in the heavenly realm?
And … nations in heaven?
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
It does seem odd for nations to be mentioned in a celestial context.
God’s promise to Abraham included blessing to “all nations” in his posterity:
Gen 26:4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
The promise to Abraham was realized in Christ - Abraham’s seed.
In the earthly realm we still have nations--they rise and fall
To those who belong to Christ, and are citizens in his kingdom, the lines between nations are erased.
Though there is conflict between nations, Christians in every nation - Russia, Israel, Yemen, Nigeria, Honduras, Brazil - are one in Christ.
Some are dying for Christ. They are our brothers and sisters, regardless of their nationality.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
In the eternal glorified state, all of the rifts and contentions between nations will be healed, and just as the Christians in them are one, the nations themselves will be one. The fractures between nation and nation will be healed..
By what? By the leaves of the tree of life.
We may ask, the nations will be healed, but what about people?
Will the citizens of heaven from all nations have need for healing?
The need for healing is never far from our minds.
Look at our prayer list. One after another after another needs healing.
Those who struggle with diseases and injuries would place healing high on the list of desired benefits of heaven.
“If I’m suffering from arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, or a serious injury, I’d rather be made well than to walk on a street of gold.”
The tree of life with its healing leaves is one and the same as was watered by the river of Eden.
That tree was for a time the panacea of Eden. They that ate of it had no need of a physician. The Apostle John describes the same in the New Jerusalem, and the abundant supplies of God’s grace and goodness to his redeemed people, in a future state. John saw a river flowing from the throne of God; on each side of it he saw the tree of life, which bears twelve kinds of fruit, and yields it fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Even after the fall, God graciously and wonderfully provided healing agents in the plants around us: willow bark, aloe vera, coriander, basil, etc.
Leaves for healing is an image drawn from medicinal herbs.
The healing power in the leaves is none other than Jesus himself.
He is the great physician - the healer of nations.
The healer of you.
Isa 53:5 By his stripes we are healed.
Peter explains:
1 Pet 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
In that short statement we have the essence of the gospel.
What can it signify but that the presence of Christ preserves the inhabitants of Heaven - from all nations within the reach of God’s promise to Abraham - forever free from sickness. Every malady is arrested and cured before it begins. We don't get sick there, because the leaves of the tree of life constantly administer preventative healing.
We don't get sick, because Christ, the healer, is there.
In the language of heaven, the leaves of the trees along the river of life-giving water are for the forgiveness of sins, already accomplished once and for all, their effect being evident and continuous eternally - the means by which perpetual health, life, and well-being are sustained.
Do you have this healing of the soul?
