Revelation Chapter Two, Overcoming

Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

This is the first of the “He who has an ear,” promises the Lord makes to the churches. First we should note that the promises the Lord makes here are to the churches, plural. Not just Ephesus, but Smyrna, etc., all benefit from the hearing and fulfilment of this promise, just as Ephesus benefits from Smyrna’s, etc.

We are told that if we have an ear to hear, we should. But who is speaking? The Spirit, or God the Holy Spirit. To the pseudo-Christian cults that deny the Holy Spirit’s personhood verses such as this are problematic to say the least. Inanimate objects do not speak; energy sources do not convey words that form intelligent speech. Yet we read in Scripture, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,” Acts 13:2. They were also, “sent out by the Holy Spirit,” Acts 13:4. Paul later wrote, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” 2 Corinthians 3:17. Now we know that God is Spirit, John 4:24. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with your forever–the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,” John 14:16, 17. Jesus is speaking of the Father, separating their persons. Then He mentions another Helper; the idea of the word another in this instance meaning someone similar to the former; the object here being Christ and the other Helper being sent on His behalf. He calls the Helper the Spirit of truth, who we also know as the Holy Spirit, again separate from but equal to Father and Son.

Jesus tells the churches that this promise is to him who overcomes. Before progressing, definition is in order for proper context. What does it mean Biblically to overcome? It actually has nothing to do with effort or patience or endurance. Human explanations and ways of doing things sometimes color our understanding too quickly, and we can assign a word or phrase a meaning it does not actually possess. So what does it mean? “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4, 5.

Overcoming the world simply means that we have found eternal life and grace through the person of Jesus Christ. Our faith is placed in the Son of God and we pass from death to life because the Father was well pleased to make the Son the offering for our sin. Those who believe have overcome. We have passed from death into life; we have been translated from Satan’s kingdom to the kingdom of God’s dear Son. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1. So the promise Jesus is about to make involves everyone who believes in Him.

He tells them that He will give us fruit to eat from the tree of life, which is currently in the midst of the Paradise of God. What is this tree, and where is Paradise? The tree of life is twice mentioned in Genesis. Genesis 2:9 gives us the geographical position of the tree: “The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden.” The Garden of Eden is what is being referred to here, of course. The tree is also mentioned in Genesis 3:22. Here the nature of the tree suggests longevity. The word “forever,” is employed, but the Hebrew term can mean a long time rather than literally eternal. Whatever the tree of life was in Eden, its food would have made man capable of living even longer than the original 900+ year lifespan they enjoyed. Isn’t that a strange thought? 

We find the term Paradise three times in Scripture. First Jesus comforts the dying thief by saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise,” Luke 23:43. We know from Paul’s writings that Christ, with that thief, descended into the earth, to Abraham’s Bosom, to bring the waiting saints into God's presence, Ephesians 4:8, 9. This makes Abraham’s Bosom synonymous with Paradise. Paul mentions Paradise, when he asserts that he entered Paradise and heard inexpressible things, 2 Corinthians 12:4. Paul’s testimony links Paradise with the former abode of the saints, having been wholly taken by the Savior into Heaven. The third and final mention is of course here in our current verse. It places the tree in Paradise, apparently having been removed from Eden but still existing in the place of peaceful expectancy that God made for those who were by faith, saved. Not that we will need to eat from the tree, since true eternal life is given by faith in Christ; but the tree itself becomes a symbol of the life we receive by abiding in Christ and feeding off of Him, as it were. What was denied to Adam in his sinful state will be freely given–along with all things–to those who overcome.