Growth is something we regularly observe and admire in nature. Consider the great Redwood forests of the American west, or any forest for that matter. One stands in awe of the magnificence of towering trees and understand that these grand structures did not appear over night. They grew over a period of years from insignificant beginnings as tiny seeds. This journey from insignificance to magnificence make trees and their life-cycles excellent metaphors for the process of personal development.
Unmovable and unshakable a tree is the perfect symbol of a firm character. They are permanent fixtures in their habitats. Landmarks that can withstand almost anything only to occasionally fall victim to the most extreme forces. That is how we perceive individuals of good stature. Firmly grounded, of unmovable and unshakable character even under pressure. That is why sprinkled throughout the pages of the Bible are agricultural illustrations that used trees to describe a person of notable character.
In the book of Daniel is one of the best illustrations of the use of a tree metaphor. In this passage King Nebuchadnezzar receives a vision that he did not understand of a large tree and ask Daniel to provide the interpretation. It is a lengthy passage, but worthy of including in total so that context is clearly understood.
‘Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth and its height was great. ‘The tree grew large and became strong and its height reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed themselves from it. I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows: “Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field; And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, And let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,
and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.” ‘This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you. Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries! The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged— it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,” this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” (Daniel 4:10-27)
This tree in Daniel 4 is to be admired. A healthy, fruitful, large, strong, and tall specimen that the whole earth took notice of. Not only that, the tree provided food and shelter for everyone. This vision describes the majesty of King Nebuchadnezzar in the height of his greatness. “[I]t is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth.” The tree represents his stature and the greatness of his character. Likewise the punishment of having is character destroyed is illustrated by the tree being cut down, but not uprooted. When the tree is uprooted it dies because it is no longer connected to its source of water, but a tree cut down has a possibility of growing again. In this case King Nebuchadnezzar being cut down meant the destruction of his character through the the loss of mental faculties — psychosis. All that was admirable about the king went away in an instant.
Another great example of the tree as a metaphor for character is found in one of the most widely quoted passages of scripture, Psalm 1:1, 2. The Psalmist writes:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalms 1:1,2)
This psalm, as does the passage in Daniel 4, relates the tree to a person with an admirable character. In this passage, however, it is clearer what type of character the person is admired for. In this case the tree is a person who avoids bad advice and company and meditates on the law of God. Elsewhere in the Bible the adjective righteous is the term used to describe such persons and righteousness is the term use to describe the object of their pursuit — a good character.
Although a relatively short passage it contains a lot of information to unpack. The Psalmist, unlike the author in Daniel, only points out three features of the tree. These features are where the tree is planted, that it bears fruit, and its leaves do not wither. It turns out that even with this limited description the tree is easy to visualize. It is green, luscious and laden with fruit. These three details reveal that the tree is healthy and productive.
Leaves are key indicators of a tree’s health. You may recall from biology class that leaves play a very important role in a process call photosynthesis. The leaves use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to create food for the tree. Without them the tree would have nothing to fuel itself and could not survive. A healthy tree, therefore, has leaves in abundance that are the proper color, shape and size according to the season.
A withered leaf is caused by cells in the leaves not receiving enough water, that is why the second detail, the location of the tree next to the river, is key to a tree’s health. Access to water is fundamental to the health of the tree. It is the main vehicle for transporting nutrients and fuel throughout the tree. A river bed also provides a great source of nutrients deposited from up stream.
Note that a river is not a man-made water source. It is important to note that the water source is natural and not man-made. A person’s character cannot be watered by another person. Dependance on other people means that the person has given control of their well being to someone else. A water source that can be controlled and cut off at the whim of others is dangerous. Think of how a lawn suffers from a neglectful home owner who forgets to water it, likewise a individual will suffer if the water supply for their character is cut-off.
What does water represent in Psalm 1? Well, if the tree is representative of a person’s character, water must be the source of nourishment mentioned in the passage — delighting and meditating on God’s law. It is the practice of rabbinic teachers, Jesus considered among them, to carefully analyze what is considered now the Old Testament scripture. The results of this meditative deliberations are taught to others who put into practice these teachings. Jesus in his famous exchange with the woman at the well in John 4:13,14 declares his teaching to be much more valuable. “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (See John 4:13, 14). If you recall eternal life is the same thing promised to those who ate of the Tree of Life. To make this metaphor even clearer Jesus speaking to his disciples says “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37, 38). Believing Jesus’s guidance would benefit a person by creating an inner watering for their own character which is their personal Tree of Life.
The third descriptive element of the tree in Psalm 1 is fruitfulness, Fruitfulness is a indicator of productivity. Regardless of the type of tree you visualize, whether mango, apple, lychee, pear, or date, the fact that this tree is healthy and productive is the key to this description. It is universally understood that a fruit tree that bears fruit when it is expected to and that has no withering leaves is a healthy and productive tree. A desirable one. A tree that can be counted upon to benefit others.
In the context of this metaphor a person is fruitful if they bear the fruit described in the new testament book of Galatians. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” ( Galatians 5: 22, 23) These fruits are a combination of actions, emotions and character traits. People give love as an action, experience joy and peace as emotions, and display the character traits of patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are all external expressions of a person.
The passage contrast these fruits with outward expressions that are negative, the deeds the flesh. These also listed in Galatians: “immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and other similar acts. (Galatians 5:19-21). These are all strictly actions, suggesting that the mere absence of the fruit of the spirit would result in these types of actions. In either case these actions or attributes contribute to how an individual is viewed.
The fruit are character traits, the outward display of a person’s character. “By their fruit ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20). If you think of how trees are identified the color, size and shape of their fruit is key. Character is a composite of an individuals behavioral traits, qualities that make an individual distinct from other people. ( www.collinsdictionary.com)
The metaphor of a person as a tree is not unique to Psalm and Daniel and in the chapters that follow we will take a closer look the various elements of this metaphor through the parable of the sower, one of Jesus’s most known stories. We will explore further how the tree represents a person’s character and the inner mental structure on which a person’s life is built. How that structure is very much rooted in the nervous system but is outwardly displayed as a person’s character traits, fruit in the metaphor. How character is developed through proper watering through the teaching of Christ. We will add to the metaphor an understanding of a person’s heart as soil and the external forces that affect a person’s emotional state and eventually their character. We will elaborate on how to cultivate this personal Tree of Life.
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