|
CREATION AND THE BIBLE: TREES
One biblical image for life is the tree. Have you noticed that there is a tree at the beginning of the Bible and one at the end? References to the Tree of Life act like bookends for the library of books that is our Bible, appearing near the beginning of Genesis and again in the last chapter of Revelation.
In the second creation story in the book of Genesis the Lord God ‘out of the ground…made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food’ (Gn 2:9). In the middle of the garden stands the tree of life, a symbol for immortality (Gn 3:22). Then in the book of Revelation, in John’s vision of the new Jerusalem there is a river of life-giving water flowing through the city and ‘on either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations’ – a super-abundance of nourishment and healing (Rev 22:2).
Elsewhere in the Bible trees, shrubs and other plants play a prominent role. In the introductory article in The Green Bible American writer J Matthew Sleeth refers to the ‘trail of green trees as well as vines, bushes, branches and leaves’ that runs through the Bible from beginning to end.
In the Old Testament the dove sent out by Noah returns with an olive branch (Gn 8:11); the Lord appears to Abram on his arrival in the land of Canaan by the oak of Moreh (Gn 12:6-7); God calls to Moses from a burning bush (Ex 3:4); in Judges the trees want to elect a king, asking in turn the olive tree, the fig tree, the grapevine and the thorn bush (Jgs 9:8-15); Solomon brought cedars and fir trees from Tyre to Jerusalem for the building of the Temple and his palace (1 Kgs 6:14-15; 9:10-11).
Job uses a tree as an example of hope in times of trouble: ‘For a tree there is hope, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again…’ (Jb 14:7); in the first psalm those who live good lives are ‘like a tree planted near streams of water, the yields its fruit in due season…’ (Ps 1:3); wisdom is ‘a tree of life to those who grasp her’ (Prv 3:18).
In the prophets there is this wonderful picture of God’s care for his people: ‘I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine…’ (Is 41:19) and ‘all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom (Ez 17:24).
In the New Testament Jesus often refers to trees to teach a lesson: ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, not can a rotten tree bear good fruit’ (Mt 7:18) and ‘Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When the branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way…’ (Mt 24:32-33). He tells a parable about a fig tree (Lk 13:6-9) and uses the mustard seed and the mulberry tree to teach about faith (Lk 17:6). Jesus is the carpenter who dies on a tree, and who after his resurrection is mistaken by Mary Magdalene for a gardener (Jn 20:15). He is the gardener tending a renewed Eden.
These are just a few of the many hundreds of such biblical references to the trees and other plants that make our world a truly special place. If you can get a copy of The Green Bible you might like to read Matthew Sleeth’s article:
Sleeth, J. Matthew 2008. ‘The Power of a Green God’ in Maudlin, Michael G. & Baer, Marlene (eds). The Green Bible: NRSV. New York NY: HarperCollins Publishers, I17-I24.
|
