“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month [Greek: New Moon]: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev 22:2)
Is 66:22-23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”
“So with all the promises of God’s Word. In them He is speaking to us individually, speaking as directly as if we could listen to His voice. It is in these promises that Christ communicates to us His grace and power. They are leaves from that tree which is “for the healing of the nations.” Received, assimilated, they are to be the strength of the character, the inspiration and sustenance of the life.” {FLB 9}
“Especially will the sick be comforted by hearing the Word; for in giving the Scriptures God has given to mankind a leaf from the tree of life, which is for the healing of the nations. (MS 105, 1901)” {5BC 1134}
In the new earth, we will gather on the New Moon (the first day of each Biblical month) and on that day there will be a new kind of fruit on the tree of life, and we will partake of its leaves for our healing. And the good news is that we don’t have to wait until we reach the new earth to enjoy these blessings-we can come to the tree of life, the word of God, on each New Moon day and receive special healing from the disease of sin.
Jehovah has given us physical herbs to heal us from physical disease, and He has also given us spiritual “herbs” to heal us from spiritual disease. What happens if we don’t take time to receive the “herbal remedies” God has provided? We don’t receive healing! It is the same with the spiritual remedy of the word of God. We must take time to absorb and assimilate it into our being in order to receive its healing power.
The New Moon itself is a symbol of healing and restoration. The word “New Moon” in the Bible comes from the word whic “Renew” or “Rebuild”. The day of the New Moon comes at the beginning of the Biblical month and signals the beginning of the renewing of the moon. During the following weeks the moon continues to grow brighter and brighter – it continues to reflect more and more of the light of the sun. In the same way, as we continually partake of the leaves of the Tree of Life, and our minds are renewed and healed, we will reflect more and more of the glory (character) of the “Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2)