jjburklo writes:
... the purpose of the tree is still unclear, ...
Is its exact function every mentioned in the Bible? No its not.
I don't know the purpose of the tree of life.
the purpose of the tree is still unclear, so
it shouldn't hold any relevance.
It's unclear either way
It is, apparently, unclear to you. But ...
Here's what I found with a quick search of scripture. Twelve verses talking about the Tree of Life.
Here are half a dozen of them:
"And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, ..." Gen 2:9
"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: ... " Gen 3:22
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Gen 3:24
Then, in the New Testament, anticipating a return to the Edenic estate:
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev 2:7
"... the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations." Rev 22:2
"Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, ..." Rev 22:14
Here's what a quick search turns up on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Two whole verses:
"And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Gen 2:9
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen 2:17
It seems that the purpose of the Tree of Life is made a lot clearer in the scripture than is the purpose of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This is a simple story.
Ask a simple question.
Get a simple answer.
If eating from the Tree of Knowledge gets you knowledge then ...
What do you get when you eat from the Tree of Life?
As the story has it, we would clearly live forever could we get our hands on that carefully guarded fruit.
db