(2) The tree of life--22:2. The word tree in the text is in singular number, but it must of necessity be considered collectively for the verse reads: On either side of the river was there the tree of life. The phrase either side means each side, as in the crucifixion of Christ (John 20:18) with the thieves, “ on either side one.” It was evidently the collective use of the word tree, as it was of the street also of the great and grand city, described a streetway, or a passage system; otherwise there was a vision of traffic congestion in the New Jerusalem! The tree of life was envisioned as bordering the banks of the river of life--on either side of it--affording to all inhabitants the source of perpetual spiritual blessings. It is not uncommon for a species of tree peculiar to a certain geography to be described in the singular term, but referring to its collective growth. The balsam tree of Gilead was not one tree but rather a kind that flourished in Gilead. So the reference to the tree of life on each side of the river of life was not intended to limit the picture to one tree, but rather to make known its kind--it was the tree of life, to be found only in the New Jerusalem. Its fruit was life-giving, and its balm was soul-healing. The concept adds to the force of these figures and enlarges the range of their truths. The tree of life was further described as bearing twelve manner of fruits and its yield was every month. The numeral twelve in its use in chapter twenty-one was applied to the apostles, which must also be true here, to symbolize that apostolic teaching, or doctrine, was the allsufficient source of spiritual sustenance. The yielding of the fruit every month, or the whole twelve months of the year, indicated that there were no seasons in this fruit-bearing, no unyielding intervals--the spiritual supply was perrennial and perpetual. The spiritual vision was extended in the description: the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. As there will be no imperfections in heaven, and consequently no need of healing there, here is another proof that this whole vision was the symbolic description of the church in the state of triumph and victory over the persecutions. The healing of the nations meant the source of salvation for all of every tongue or clime or race of man. The prophet Jeremiah used a similar figure (Jeremiah 8:22) in reference to Israel: “ Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The substance of the vision was that in the New Jerusalem, the church of the Redeemer and of the redeemed, there was an all-provident tree which produced the fruit of all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), and which was the remedy for every ill or want (1 John 1:7; John 2:1-25 : l-2) That balsam tree that grew only in the choice land of Gilead, which produced the balm known as balsamodendron Gileadense, was the similar and appropriate symbol of spiritual healing in the message of the prophet Jeremiah to the nation of Israel. This balm was highly esteemed for its healing properties (Ezekiel 27:17), and was once an important article of merchandise among the eastern people. The language of Jeremiah (chapter 8:22; 46:11;51:8) cannot be exceeded in eloquence and tenderness in the expression of disappointment that “ the daughter of Zion,” the chosen people of God, should remain spiritually wounded and diseased, when there was healing balm of unfailing remedy within their reach. There could have been no finer figure of divine grace than the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations in the delineations of the New Jerusalem.