Verse 2 also says that the tree of life produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month. The fruits of the tree of life will be the food of God’s redeemed for eternity. They will be continually fresh, produced every month, twelve fruits yearly.
The fact that there are twelve fruits means that the fruit of the tree of life is rich and sufficient for the completion in God’s eternal administration. Remember the significance of the number twelve: it is completion in God’s administration for His economy eternally. Thus, the twelve fruits are for the eternal completion in God’s administration for His economy.
The mention of “each month” indicates that in the new heaven and new earth the moon will still be there to divide the twelve months. The sun will also be there to separate day and night into periods of twelve hours each. Although the number which represents the church is seven, signifying that God is added to man, His creature, in His present dispensation, twelve is the number of the New Jerusalem, signifying that God is mingled with man in His eternal administration. In the New Jerusalem are the twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles, twelve gates which are the twelve pearls with the names of the twelve tribes, and twelve fruits of the tree of life. As far as space is concerned, the city proper is twelve thousand stadia, one thousand times twelve, in three dimensions, and its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, which is twelve times twelve. As for time, in the new heaven and new earth, there are twelve months yearly, twelve hours daily, and twelve hours nightly.
All God’s redeemed will enjoy the tree of life for eternity (22:14). Our enjoyment of the tree of life is for God’s administration. God redeemed us to enjoy the tree of life, and this enjoyment is for God’s administration of His eternal economy.
Verse 2 also says, “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” In the Bible, leaves are a symbol of man’s deeds (Gen. 3:7). According to the record of the Bible, the first time man used leaves was to make a covering for himself. The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their life and life supply inwardly, that they may enjoy the divine life for eternity; whereas the restored nations are healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their guide and regulation outwardly, that they may live the human life forever. When the nations look at the way the Lord Jesus does things and behaves Himself, His deeds will become a source of healing to them, and this healing will maintain their human life forever.
Those in New Jerusalem “shall reign forever and ever” (22:5). The New Jerusalem will reign over the nations under its shining. Revelation 21:24 says, “And the nations shall walk by its light.” At the end of this age a great part of the inhabitants of the earth will be killed during the time of the sixth and seventh trumpets. The rest will be judged by Christ at the throne of His glory when He comes back to earth. The condemned ones, the “goats,” will be cursed to perish in the lake of fire, while the justified ones, the “sheep,” will be blessed to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:31-46). They will not be saved and regenerated as the New Testament believers; they will only be restored to the original state of man as created by God. They will be the nations as citizens of the millennial kingdom, in which the overcoming believers will be kings (20:4, 6) and the saved remnant of Israel will be priests (Zech. 8:20-23). After the millennial kingdom, a part of these nations, deceived by the Devil, will rebel against the Lord and will be consumed by fire from heaven (20:7-9). The rest will be transferred to the new earth as the nations, living around the New Jerusalem and walking by its light. They will be the peoples mentioned in 21:3 and 4. They, as the created but unregenerated man, will be maintained to live forever in their created state by the healing of the leaves of the tree of life. Even to them there will be no more death (21:4). Under the shining of the New Jerusalem with the divine glory, neither will they be in darkness.
Revelation 21:24 also says of New Jerusalem that “the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.” The kings of the earth here are the kings of the nations in the new earth. The redeemed and regenerated saints will be kings over these kings (22:5), and Christ will be the King of kings for eternity. The glory of the nations will be their choice produce (Gen. 31:1, 16; Esther 1:4), and their honor will be their preciousness in condition and their dignity in position.