Here is the fill-in-the-blank exercise built around the Tree and Water of Life.

1. The Source: What is the Tree of Life?

In the Torah, the Tree of Life represents eternal physical and spiritual vitality sustained by being in God's presence. In the Wisdom literature, the "Tree of Life" becomes a metaphor for something specific that guides a person's life.

Genesis 2:9: "And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the ____________________ of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

Genesis 2:16-17: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may ____________________ eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely ____________________.'"

Genesis 3:22: "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take ____________________ of the tree of life, and eat, and ____________________ forever'—"

Proverbs 3:13, 18: "Happy is the man who finds ____________________, and the man who gains understanding... She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her."

Psalm 36:8-9: "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the ____________________ of life; in Your light we see light."

Jeremiah 2:13: "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of ____________________ waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Because of sin, humanity is cut off from the source of life. God establishes cosmic security guards to ensure mortal, rebellious humans cannot live forever in a corrupted state.

Genesis 3:24: "So He drove out the man; and He placed ____________________ at the east of the garden of Eden, and a ____________________ sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."

In the ancient Near East, water was life. The Old Testament consistently defines "living water" (running, fresh spring water) as God Himself—the only one who can satisfy the spiritual thirst of a dying people.

Jeremiah 2:13: "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of ____________________ waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Psalm 36:8-9: "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the ____________________ of life; in Your light we see light."

4. The Prophetic Hope: The Water Flows Out

The prophets looked forward to a day when God's presence would return to a dry, dead world. They envisioned literal and spiritual streams exploding out from the Temple, transforming the desert and even healing the deadest waters on earth.

Ezekiel 47:1, 9: "Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was ____________________ flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east... And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will ____________________... for they will be healed, and everything will live where the river goes."

Ezekiel 47:7, 12: "When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many ____________________ on one side and the other... Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the ____________________."

Zechariah 14:8: "And in that day it shall be that ____________________ waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea..."

John 4:10, 14: "Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would have given you ____________________ water... whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into ____________________ life.'"
John 7:37-38: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone ____________________, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of ____________________ water.'"

Phase 2: The Revelation Chiasm & The New

Testament Climax

Now we leap to the bookends of the New Testament. The chiasm of Revelation 1 and 22 doesn't just reference these images; it shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of both.

Revelation 22:14: "Blessed are those who do His commands, so that they may have the right to the ____________________ of life, even to enter through the ____________________ into the city."

2. The Free Gift of Living Water

The cosmic river Ezekiel saw trickling out of the temple is now a roaring torrent flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. The invitation is an echo of Isaiah 55, made real through Christ.

Revelation 22:17: "Both the Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come!' And let whoever hears say, 'Come!' And let whoever thirsts come; whoever wants to, let him take the ____________________ of life free of charge."

💡 Answer Key

Phase 1 (The OT Foundation):

  1. midst / wisdom (Notice that Wisdom—knowing and obeying God's path—is explicitly called a tree of life in Proverbs!)

  2. cherubim / flaming

  3. living / fountain (God explicitly calls Himself the fountain of living waters; to reject Him is to die of thirst).

  4. water / live / living (Ezekiel's vision shows the water flowing east toward the Dead Sea, turning death into life).

Phase 2 (The NT Climax):

  1. tree / gates

  2. water

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