“Then we entered a wood, not like the dark woods we have here–no, no; but light, and all over glorious; the branches of the trees moved to and fro, and we all cried out, “We will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.” {AH 547.1}.
The entirety of that story is found in {DS, January 24, 1846}. It seems to me it’s a mixture of earth and heaven. I will highlight some of the most intriguing things
“Here we see the tree of life, & the throne of God. Out of the throne came a pure river of water, and ON EITHER SIDE OF THE RIVER WAS THE TREE OF LIFE. On one side of the river WAS A TRUNK OF A TREE AND A TRUNK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER, BOTH OF PURE TRANSPARENT GOLD. At first I thought I [saw] two trees. I looked again and [saw] THEY WERE UNITED AT THE TOP IN ONE TREE. So it was the tree of life on either side of the river of life. Its branches bowed to the place where we stood.”
Comment
Here is a tree of life its trunk on either side of the river. Can it be that the one on earth when it was lifted back to heaven was joined with the one in heaven and then the river between!
“We all descended from this place DOWN INTO THE CITY, and with Jesus at our head we all descended from the city down to this earth, on a great and mighty mountain, which could not bear Jesus up, and it parted asunder, and there was a mighty plain. Then we looked up and saw the great city with twelve foundations, twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate, and all cried out the city, the great city, it’s coming, IT’S COMING DOWN FROM GOD, OUT OF HEAVEN, AND IT CAME AND SETTLED ON THE PLACE WHERE WE STOOD. Then we began to LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS THINGS OUTSIDE OF THE CITY. There I saw most glorious houses, that had the appearance of silver, supported by four pillars, set with pearls most glorious to behold, which were to be inhabited by the saints. In them was a golden shelf, I saw many of the saints go into the houses, take off their glittering crowns and lay them on the shelf, THEN GO OUT INTO THE FIELD BY THE HOUSES TO DO SOMETHING WITH THE EARTH, not as we have to do with the earth here; no, no. A glorious light shone all about their heads, and they were continually shouting and offering praises to God. And I saw another field full of all kinds of flowers, and as I plucked them, I cried out, well they will never fade. Next I saw a field of tall grass, most glorious to behold. It was living green, and had a reflection of silver and gold as it waved proudly to the glory of King Jesus. THEN WE ENTERED A FIELD full of all kinds of beasts; the lion, the lamb, the leopard and the wolf, altogether in perfect union. We passed through the midst of them, and they followed on peaceably after. THEN WE ENTERED A WOOD, NOT LIKE THE DARK WOODS WE HAVE HERE, NO, NO; BUT LIGHT, AND ALL OVER GLORIOUS. THE BRANCHES OF THE TREES WAVED TO AND FRO, AND WE ALL CRIED OUT, WE WILL DWELL SAFELY IN THE WILDERNESS AND SLEEP IN THIS WOODS.
Comment
When you look at the quote in DS which AH has cut from; these are fields out of the city in the new earth if am not wrong for the Jerusalem has just landed and they are being shown in vision earth made new. So this is not in heaven. We disqualify then the quote in AH as referring to heaven. In {Hvn 122.1} in the “Holy City” is inclusive “the paradise of God, the Garden of Eden, which was taken up after man’s transgression”. So on earth it seems there is a garden inside the city with a tree of life and saints will gather every month to partake of the fruits of the tree of life for immortal vitality yet still we have something akin to such garden outside it in the new earth.
“There were all kinds of trees around the temple to beautify the place.”
Comment
In the earth made new, it seems the outside or surrounding of the city is akin to what is inside the city in terms of the garden
Lastly
“The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely. They bore the express image of Jesus, and their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom and happiness of the place. I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely than those on the earth. THE REPLY WAS, “WE HAVE LIVED IN STRICT OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, AND HAVE NOT FALLEN BY DISOBEDIENCE, LIKE THOSE ON THE EARTH.” Then I saw TWO TREES, one looked MUCH LIKE THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE CITY. The fruit of both looked beautiful, but of one they could not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of one. {EW 39.3}”
Comment
In the worlds unfallen there is the same garden as was the one on earth with the trees of life and the knowledge of good and evil but notice that the tree of life in the un-fallen worlds is “MUCH LIKE THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE CITY” not “LIKE” meaning there is a difference between the tree of life in the city and the worlds that were created including earth; hence it can be slightly deduced that the tree of life in the City is either enjoined with the one that was taken from the earth forming two trunks and the river between or something is not revealed but the tree of life on earth and other worlds is not the same as the one in the city. Blessings
