Shincheonji lesson 85: the reality of the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil
Lesson 85 · Intermediate
Main verses used
Links open the NET Bible.
What SCJ teaches
This section comes from class notes that an attendee wrote down during SCJ’s 9-month Bible study seminar, posted with the full Closer Look study. They are not SCJ’s printed curriculum, so the wording is the note-taker’s.
Shaking and listening
The opening reading says believers in every era had to listen to the one sent, and asks: “shouldn’t we listen to the words spoken on behalf of God and Jesus and believe them”? The evangelist then warns the class that some realizations “might frighten or shake us. This is intentional.” “Therefore, if we experience shaking, we shouldn’t worry. It’s part of the process.” The lesson’s stated hope: “To eat from Tree of Life that bears 12 crops of fruit every month!” If the tree has come back, “there should be a clear explanation of the types of fruit it bears each month.”
The parts of a tree
John 15 is read part by part. God is the gardener, Jesus the vine, and the disciples the branches. The seed is the word. Bearing fruit is not the fruit of the Spirit, the notes say: “he is actually talking about people.” Low fruit has a cure: “read, study, do our own blessings, review, and study for tests.” The leaves of Revelation 22:2 “represent evangelists who go out and give the medicine of the Word of God.” In the mustard seed parable, “these spiritual birds represent Holy spirits.” A true vine implies a wild vine, which is Satan’s tree (Isaiah 5; Jeremiah 2:21).
Trees through history
In Eden, “the tree of life that gives fruit represents God, while the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that gives lies represents Satan.” The fruit is words. At the first coming Jesus was the tree of life. Daniel 4’s great tree, home to beasts and birds, is “a prophecy about a huge tree representing Babylon.” Isaiah 5 shows choice vines that turn wild, so “It’s always possible to become a wild vine, so be extra cautious and protect yourself.”
The second coming
The tree of life is real people: it “generally represents a person born of the word. The word is like a seed.” The 12 tribes are the branches, and “how many branches does the tree of life have? According to Revelation 22:1-2, twelve.” The one who overcomes is the gardener. “The 12 crops of fruit symbolize the 12 tribes evangelizing every month.” The board: “At the second coming, there will be the tree of life, New John, and the 12 tribes.”
The tree of knowledge is Babylon, tended by the dragon. Its fruits are “many waters” that “we know as churches today.” Its food sacrificed to idols is seen “in commentaries, of which there are thousands, all saying different things. This includes study Bibles, ecclesiastical laws, and authorities.” “Avoid all of these”. The notes say the mark of the beast “represents lies” and tell students to “scrub off” that mark. They define “mad” as “unable to understand.” The tree, they add, “will be judged. It won’t exist forever, and God will bring it to an end.” The summary warns: “Any other source will lead you to where Satan wants you to go.” Students take home a question: “Have I been able to identify the location of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Have I left it or avoided it?”
In SCJ’s own books
Each passage was checked against the scanned page image; page numbers are as printed.
Creation of Heaven and Earth, Lee Man-hee (Shincheonji Press), page 89:
“Since, like Jesus, the tree of life is God’s true pastor, the people that belong to the true pastor are the branches, leaves, and fruit of the tree of life.”
Page 90:
“Because the tree of life in the spiritual world descends on and unites with Shincheonji (Rv 21:1-2), all nations must find Shincheonji to obtain healing and eternal life.”
Page 355 lists “the people who eat biblical commentaries, which are the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Rv 17:1-6).”
How the lesson notes compare with the books
- The tree of life is a pastor and his people. Same teaching (Creation p. 89).
- Commentaries as Satan’s fruit. Same teaching (p. 355).
- Naming the place. Difference in timing. The notes say the tree is the new John and 12 tribes. Creation names Shincheonji (p. 90).
- The tree of life in Eden. Difference. The notes: “So, in the book of Genesis, the tree of life that gives fruit represents God”. Creation p. 89 names Adam, “who received God’s word,” and the believers who listened to him.
What the Bible says
- Revelation gives the tree 12 kinds of fruit. It does not count branches. flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2, NET)
- In Jesus’ explanation of the sower, the birds stand for the evil one. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. (Matthew 13:4, NET) When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. (Matthew 13:19, NET)
- The birds of Revelation 19 are called to God’s banquet, and then they eat the flesh of the slain. The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh. (Revelation 19:21, NET)
- Jesus ties fruit to love. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples. (John 15:8, NET) My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you. (John 15:12, NET)
- The notes say Stephen prayed “Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.” Acts 7 reads differently. Then he fell to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he died. (Acts 7:60, NET)
- The notes cite Revelation 7:14 for the 144,000 firstfruits. That verse describes the great multitude; the firstfruits are in Revelation 14:4. These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, (Revelation 14:4, NET)
Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible
This lesson opens by warning that some realizations “might frighten or shake us. This is intentional.” “Therefore, if we experience shaking, we shouldn’t worry. It’s part of the process.” It says, “At the second coming, there will be the tree of life, New John, and the 12 tribes,” with twelve branches, and “The 12 crops of fruit symbolize the 12 tribes evangelizing every month.” The leaves are evangelists, the birds in the mustard tree “represent Holy spirits,” and the tree of knowledge is Babylon, whose “many waters” are what “we know as churches today.” Commentaries, “study Bibles, ecclesiastical laws, and authorities” are food sacrificed to idols: “Avoid all of these.” The summary warns, “Any other source will lead you to where Satan wants you to go.” SCJ’s The Creation of Heaven and Earth (p. 90) says “all nations must find Shincheonji to obtain healing and eternal life.” Revelation 22 and John 15 describe the tree of life and the vine in their own words.
1. Fear and shaking as “part of the process”
The lesson tells students that being frightened or shaken is intentional and “part of the process.”
- Telling people in advance that distress is a sign of progress makes it hard for them to treat that distress as a warning.
- God’s word brings conviction, but it also brings peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you … Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage” (John 14:27). Paul writes, “for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
- When something you’re being taught frightens you, it’s worth stopping to “test the spirits to determine if they are from God” (1 John 4:1), not pushing through it.
2. The tree of life: Twelve kinds of fruit, not twelve branches
The lesson asks, “how many branches does the tree of life have?” and answers “twelve,” with the twelve crops as the 12 tribes evangelizing.
- “On each side of the river is the tree of life producing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). Revelation doesn’t count branches.
- The picture echoes Ezekiel 47:12, where trees by the river from the sanctuary “bear fruit every month” and their leaves are “for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12). It describes the abundant life of the new creation, where “there will no longer be any curse” (Revelation 22:3).
- Access comes to “those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life” (22:14). (See Lessons 82 and 83.)
3. John 15: The Father is the gardener, Jesus is the vine
The lesson rightly reads John 15 with God as the gardener and Jesus as the vine. Then it says that at the second coming the one who overcomes is the gardener.
- “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1). The roles belong to the Father and the Son.
- “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit because apart from me you can accomplish nothing” (15:5).
- No later figure becomes the gardener or the vine.
4. Fruit is love, and the remedy is remaining in Jesus
The lesson says fruit means people, and the cure for low fruit is to “read, study, do our own blessings, review, and study for tests.”
- Jesus ties fruit to love: “My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples” (John 15:8). “My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you” (15:12).
- His remedy is relationship: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me” (15:4).
- Fruitfulness comes from remaining in Christ, not from passing course tests. (See Lessons 17 and 60.)
5. The birds: Same chapter, opposite meanings
The lesson says that in the mustard seed parable, “these spiritual birds represent Holy spirits.”
- In the same chapter, birds devour the seed along the path (Matthew 13:4), and Jesus explains that “the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart” (13:19).
- If birds are holy spirits in 13:32 but the evil one in 13:19, there’s no fixed dictionary. The mustard parable’s point is growth: the smallest seed becomes “the greatest garden plant” (13:31-32). (See Lessons 3 and 17.)
6. The book and the notes disagree on Eden
- The notes say the tree of life in Eden “represents God.” SCJ’s book says it was Adam, “who received God’s word,” and the believers who listened to him (The Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 89).
- Genesis describes real trees “in the middle of the orchard” (Genesis 2:9), guarded after the fall “to guard the way to the tree of life” (3:24). (See Lesson 69.)
7. The “many waters” are peoples, not churches
The lesson says the waters are what “we know as churches today.”
- Revelation explains, “The waters you saw (where the prostitute is seated) are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (Revelation 17:15). Babylon is “the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth” (17:18). (See Lesson 35.)
8. Commentaries and study Bibles aren’t “food sacrificed to idols”
The lesson says commentaries, study Bibles, ecclesiastical laws and authorities are idol food: “Avoid all of these.”
- Revelation 2:14 describes Balaam’s teaching, which led Israel to “eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14). That was real compromise with pagan worship. (See Lesson 19.)
- God gives the church “pastors and teachers” to “build up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12), and explanation helps people understand (Nehemiah 8:8; Acts 8:30-35).
- SCJ’s own books, which explain Scripture, are commentaries by this definition. Banning every other source leaves students with only one. (See Lessons 42 and 78.)
9. Telling students to “scrub off” the mark of the beast
The notes say the mark of the beast “represents lies” and tell students to “scrub off” that mark.
- In Revelation, the mark belongs to those who worship the beast: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand” (Revelation 14:9). Believers are “sealed for the day of redemption” by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
- Telling Christian students they carry the beast’s mark from their former churches uses fear to separate them. (See Lesson 47.)
10. Saying “all nations must find Shincheonji”
SCJ’s book says “all nations must find Shincheonji to obtain healing and eternal life” (The Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 90).
- “let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge” (Revelation 22:17).
- “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand” (John 10:28).
- Eternal life is in Jesus: “this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11-12). It isn’t found by locating an organization.
11. “Any other source will lead you to where Satan wants you to go”
- Scripture encourages believers to read and meditate for themselves: “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules” (Psalm 119:99). And “the anointing that you received from him resides in you” (1 John 2:27).
- When a course says every source but itself leads to Satan, students lose the ability to check it.
What the lesson is really for
This lesson identifies SCJ as the tree of life and every other source as the forbidden tree:
- Fear and shaking are part of the process.
- The tree of life is New John and the 12 tribes, bearing fruit by evangelizing monthly.
- Churches are Babylon’s waters, and commentaries and study Bibles are idol food to be avoided.
- SCJ’s book says all nations must find Shincheonji for healing and eternal life.
The biblical answer: the Father is the gardener and Jesus is the true vine, and believers bear fruit by remaining in him and loving one another (John 15:1–12). The tree of life stands in the new creation, open to those who wash their robes (Revelation 22:2, 14). Babylon’s waters are the peoples of the world (17:15). And the water of life is offered at no cost to anyone who is thirsty (22:17).
What’s happening behind the lesson
These notes are our reading of the lesson text, using Steven Hassan’s BITE model (behavior, information, thought and emotional control). They describe what the text does, not the teacher’s intent. Hassan notes that not every group uses every item. Source: Steven Hassan, BITE Model, Freedom of Mind.
- Emotional: can recast distress as progress. Some realizations “might frighten or shake us. This is intentional.” “It’s part of the process.”
- Information: can rule out outside sources (our reading). Commentaries and study Bibles are Satan’s fruit: “Avoid all of these”. In our reading, “Any other source will lead you to where Satan wants you to go” leaves only the class as a safe source.
- Thought: can create pressure to choose one of two groups. The tree of life is “New John, and the 12 tribes,” and the many waters are “churches today.”
- Behavior: can tie spiritual health to coursework. Low fruit calls for more “review, and study for tests.”
Jesus’ call to remain in him and love one another, as in John 15:12, is not a control technique in itself.