TREES
GOD MADE EVERY TYPE & SPECIES of TREE
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“THESE WERE THE VISIONS OF MY HEAD WHILE ON MY BED"
I was looking, and behold,
A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great. The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it. Daniel 4:10-12 |
Grass Trees (Xanthorrhoea species)
Above: Rex working in Rockingham removing and saving grass trees (Xanthorrhoea pressii) for the Mandurah Railway project.
We removed & transplanted 5000 Grass trees & 3500 Zamia Palms. With 95% survival rate. |
Palms in Millstream National Park Western Australia
About Boab Trees
Boab trees (Adansonia gregorii) are deciduous but unlike most deciduous trees that shed leaves in Autumn when cold weather approaches, to preserve moisture the Boab tree drops its leaves during the hot dry season.
The leaves have 5 to 9 longish leaflets. The first time I saw the flowers of the Boab I thought they were white Cockatoos. The flowers are big and white with a touch of pink. The hard woody fruits are brown covered in an almost velvet coating of hairs. When broken open they reveal dark brown kidney shaped seeds, packed in a yellowish fluffy material that tastes slightly lemon like sherbet.
The seeds can be eaten roasted or raw. It has been said that every part of the tree is edible. But I reckon the bark would be a bit hard to digest. The roots are being sold commercially and I’m told they have a delicate sweet flavour with a consistency similar to that of Chestnuts.
The leaves have 5 to 9 longish leaflets. The first time I saw the flowers of the Boab I thought they were white Cockatoos. The flowers are big and white with a touch of pink. The hard woody fruits are brown covered in an almost velvet coating of hairs. When broken open they reveal dark brown kidney shaped seeds, packed in a yellowish fluffy material that tastes slightly lemon like sherbet.
The seeds can be eaten roasted or raw. It has been said that every part of the tree is edible. But I reckon the bark would be a bit hard to digest. The roots are being sold commercially and I’m told they have a delicate sweet flavour with a consistency similar to that of Chestnuts.
Dendrology from a Biblical Perspective
Compiled by Rex Woodmore.
'DENDROLOGY' from Greek ‘Dendron’ & refers to a living tree.
More importantly I have come to accept Christ and Christ’s death on a tree as the central most important thing in all of my life.
In Deuteronomy 21:22 we see Christ died on a tree.
"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree,
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
1Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed
I was concerned about the use of the word tree instead of a cross, but thanks to Dr. Peter Moses, I have come to the clear understanding that the word translated tree (in verse 22) is the Hebrew word “xulon” which means timber and includes wooden products as well as a tree. It was the word used for firewood or wooden articles and for the material in a stick, club, staff, stocks, tree and timber.
There are three Greek words dealing with trees and timber “xulon” and “stauros” which are quoted and “dendron” which is not quoted, in the Bible.
It would appear that had the cross of Christ been a living tree then the word “Dendron” which relates to a living tree would have been used.
In Deuteronomy 21:22 we see Christ died on a tree.
"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree,
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
1Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed
I was concerned about the use of the word tree instead of a cross, but thanks to Dr. Peter Moses, I have come to the clear understanding that the word translated tree (in verse 22) is the Hebrew word “xulon” which means timber and includes wooden products as well as a tree. It was the word used for firewood or wooden articles and for the material in a stick, club, staff, stocks, tree and timber.
There are three Greek words dealing with trees and timber “xulon” and “stauros” which are quoted and “dendron” which is not quoted, in the Bible.
It would appear that had the cross of Christ been a living tree then the word “Dendron” which relates to a living tree would have been used.
Dendron is used today in our word Dendrology- the study of trees.
The biblical historic record shows trees were created by God on day three of Creation week. Marine creatures were created on day five, followed on day six by man & the animals. Then, last but not least, came the woman Eve.
Trees, plants or plant products are mentioned in almost every book of the Bible. Because of the diverse climate, and extreme fertility, the Bible lands supported many varieties of plants (around 3,500 species). The word 'tree' is in the King James Version of the Bible 287 times. Most of these trees were native to the area, but it’s likely that others were exotics. Not all of the names used for trees are recognized by us today. One example we are unsure of, is Gopherwood that Noah used to build the Ark.
Timbers traditionally used in boat building are hardwoods. A chunk of hardwood will sink, but like iron, when fashioned into a boat, it floats. Perhaps after serving God’s pre-ordained purpose, in the salvation of remnant mankind, the Gopher tree sank and became extinct burried beneath tons of flood laid sediments. It’s also possible that Gopherwood may have referred to a timber lamination process and if so then Gopher plywood may have been made from any suitable tree.
The first time we see the word tree in the Bible is in Genesis 1:11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
Later in Genesis 2:8-9 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The first time the word tree appears in the New Testament is when John the Baptist saw Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptised and he said to them, in
Matt 3:7 “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
The biblical historic record shows trees were created by God on day three of Creation week. Marine creatures were created on day five, followed on day six by man & the animals. Then, last but not least, came the woman Eve.
Trees, plants or plant products are mentioned in almost every book of the Bible. Because of the diverse climate, and extreme fertility, the Bible lands supported many varieties of plants (around 3,500 species). The word 'tree' is in the King James Version of the Bible 287 times. Most of these trees were native to the area, but it’s likely that others were exotics. Not all of the names used for trees are recognized by us today. One example we are unsure of, is Gopherwood that Noah used to build the Ark.
Timbers traditionally used in boat building are hardwoods. A chunk of hardwood will sink, but like iron, when fashioned into a boat, it floats. Perhaps after serving God’s pre-ordained purpose, in the salvation of remnant mankind, the Gopher tree sank and became extinct burried beneath tons of flood laid sediments. It’s also possible that Gopherwood may have referred to a timber lamination process and if so then Gopher plywood may have been made from any suitable tree.
The first time we see the word tree in the Bible is in Genesis 1:11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
Later in Genesis 2:8-9 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The first time the word tree appears in the New Testament is when John the Baptist saw Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptised and he said to them, in
Matt 3:7 “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
The last time the word tree is used is in:
Revelation 22:13-14.13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
In the Garden of Eden there were two unique trees found nowhere else, today we would say they were endemic species on the critical endangered list. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so God evicted them from the Garden of Eden. No longer could Adam even contemplate eating from the Tree of Life. It was beyond his reach. Physical death entered the human race. Adam began to die!
The last Adam (Christ) later came to Earth to die, so that through faith in Jesus, we may now inherit the eternal life Adam forfeited.
It is Christ alone who can say, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’
Perhaps the most famous of all tree fruits, is the one that the serpent used to tempt Eve.
Genesis 3:6 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Often this forbidden fruit is depicted as an apple – but it wasn’t an apple and it has been suggested that as this fruit had such a devastating effect on Mankind, perhaps it should be drawn, not as an apple, but as a hand grenade.
The Genesis account of the Tree of Life reminds us there is only one way to eternal life and that is through His Son, the Creator of Heaven and Earth—the Lord Jesus Christ.
Adam’s home was not a palace, but a garden - The Garden of Eden.
I would certainly prefer to live in the Garden of Eden than to live in a palace.
I am at my happiest being surrounded by things of creation, I prefer the outback to the city and I would rather sleep under canvas beneath oxygen producing trees than to sleep under concrete beneath radiation producing pylons.
While touring in the Southwest, my wife Lyn & I stopped for lunch in a small country town in the midst of the Karri forest surrounded by tall trees. Admiring the natural beauty of the area and thinking how I preferred the country to the city, I said “You know Lyn….., I don’t want to die in the city”
Moments later I crossed the road to a shop and was almost hit by a car and thought to myself ………………………….“That’s not quite what I had in mind”
Revelation 22:13-14.13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
In the Garden of Eden there were two unique trees found nowhere else, today we would say they were endemic species on the critical endangered list. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so God evicted them from the Garden of Eden. No longer could Adam even contemplate eating from the Tree of Life. It was beyond his reach. Physical death entered the human race. Adam began to die!
The last Adam (Christ) later came to Earth to die, so that through faith in Jesus, we may now inherit the eternal life Adam forfeited.
It is Christ alone who can say, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’
Perhaps the most famous of all tree fruits, is the one that the serpent used to tempt Eve.
Genesis 3:6 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Often this forbidden fruit is depicted as an apple – but it wasn’t an apple and it has been suggested that as this fruit had such a devastating effect on Mankind, perhaps it should be drawn, not as an apple, but as a hand grenade.
The Genesis account of the Tree of Life reminds us there is only one way to eternal life and that is through His Son, the Creator of Heaven and Earth—the Lord Jesus Christ.
Adam’s home was not a palace, but a garden - The Garden of Eden.
I would certainly prefer to live in the Garden of Eden than to live in a palace.
I am at my happiest being surrounded by things of creation, I prefer the outback to the city and I would rather sleep under canvas beneath oxygen producing trees than to sleep under concrete beneath radiation producing pylons.
While touring in the Southwest, my wife Lyn & I stopped for lunch in a small country town in the midst of the Karri forest surrounded by tall trees. Admiring the natural beauty of the area and thinking how I preferred the country to the city, I said “You know Lyn….., I don’t want to die in the city”
Moments later I crossed the road to a shop and was almost hit by a car and thought to myself ………………………….“That’s not quite what I had in mind”
Even though we don’t have a garden like Eden, we are all better off seeking the simple things of life, the less luxury we seek to gratify our pride, the nearer we approach the innocent life that God would want for us.
Nothing can be more satisfying to the soul than that which God has provided in His creation. Much contentment can be gained from God’s created natural world and even more contentment can be gained from God’s matchless grace.
But lust, craves every conceivable thing and is contented by nothing.
What an adventure one could have looking for the lost Garden of Eden,
but what a pointless search it would be.
Adam and his family would have known the original location of the garden and the river that went out of Eden to water the garden, and they knew where it parted and became four riverheads. The Pishon,The Hiddekel, The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers
but the global Flood would have been so catastrophic, that the garden and the rivers, which served as its borders, would have been completely destroyed. Today’s Euphrates River is not the original and as we should expect, this new Euphrates River runs on top of huge thick layers of Flood-deposited rock.
No matter what story man may fabricate about the beginning of trees on Earth, God tells us that the first trees were spoken into existence by Him on day three of Creation week. God created trees to serve and sustain the pinnacle of His creation-mankind (you and me). Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and through the amazing process of photosynthesis pump out life sustaining oxygen. Man has not been able to duplicate this.
When you next see a tree, don’t just see it as an oxygen pump that sustains your life on earth, see it as having served God’s purpose in a monumental moment in history, when Christ died on a tree for us. He was nailed to a cross made from a tree. The timber cross had been a living tree that had died in the service of its Creator.
I am not a tree hugger. I am not one who imagines a tree has thoughts and emotions. The tree, during its life, had no way of knowing what its role in the plan of God was, but God knew, because God knows all things.
I do have thoughts and emotions and yet I have no way of really knowing what role I play in the plan of God, but God knows, because God knows all things.
I can’t imagine how it would be if I knew that I had been chosen before the foundation of earth to serve my Master, my Creator My God, in such an important way as did the crucifixion tree.
We usually think of a fruit tree as a tree that provides us with a human food source, in the form of edible fruits. But in reality all trees that are flowering plants, produce some sort of fruit. Big fruits may contain few seeds and the smallest fruits may contain many. The largest tree fruit on earth has only one seed! The Coco de Mer is from a palm found only in the Seychelles Islands. It is often called, incorectlly, the "double coconut." Like the coconut, the seed is enclosed by a hard woody endocarp or shell and a thick husk. A single seed may be 30 cm long and weigh 18 kg. It really is the largest seed produced by any plant on earth. The fruit takes 6-7 years to mature and germination can take two years.
Then there’s the smallest seed in the world, the North American Spotted Coral orchid, an orchid that produces the world's smallest seeds, with 35 million to the ounce. The seed is like dust, yet by God’s design there is as much genetic information in the tiniest seed, as there is in the largest seed.
Nothing can be more satisfying to the soul than that which God has provided in His creation. Much contentment can be gained from God’s created natural world and even more contentment can be gained from God’s matchless grace.
But lust, craves every conceivable thing and is contented by nothing.
What an adventure one could have looking for the lost Garden of Eden,
but what a pointless search it would be.
Adam and his family would have known the original location of the garden and the river that went out of Eden to water the garden, and they knew where it parted and became four riverheads. The Pishon,The Hiddekel, The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers
but the global Flood would have been so catastrophic, that the garden and the rivers, which served as its borders, would have been completely destroyed. Today’s Euphrates River is not the original and as we should expect, this new Euphrates River runs on top of huge thick layers of Flood-deposited rock.
No matter what story man may fabricate about the beginning of trees on Earth, God tells us that the first trees were spoken into existence by Him on day three of Creation week. God created trees to serve and sustain the pinnacle of His creation-mankind (you and me). Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and through the amazing process of photosynthesis pump out life sustaining oxygen. Man has not been able to duplicate this.
When you next see a tree, don’t just see it as an oxygen pump that sustains your life on earth, see it as having served God’s purpose in a monumental moment in history, when Christ died on a tree for us. He was nailed to a cross made from a tree. The timber cross had been a living tree that had died in the service of its Creator.
I am not a tree hugger. I am not one who imagines a tree has thoughts and emotions. The tree, during its life, had no way of knowing what its role in the plan of God was, but God knew, because God knows all things.
I do have thoughts and emotions and yet I have no way of really knowing what role I play in the plan of God, but God knows, because God knows all things.
I can’t imagine how it would be if I knew that I had been chosen before the foundation of earth to serve my Master, my Creator My God, in such an important way as did the crucifixion tree.
We usually think of a fruit tree as a tree that provides us with a human food source, in the form of edible fruits. But in reality all trees that are flowering plants, produce some sort of fruit. Big fruits may contain few seeds and the smallest fruits may contain many. The largest tree fruit on earth has only one seed! The Coco de Mer is from a palm found only in the Seychelles Islands. It is often called, incorectlly, the "double coconut." Like the coconut, the seed is enclosed by a hard woody endocarp or shell and a thick husk. A single seed may be 30 cm long and weigh 18 kg. It really is the largest seed produced by any plant on earth. The fruit takes 6-7 years to mature and germination can take two years.
Then there’s the smallest seed in the world, the North American Spotted Coral orchid, an orchid that produces the world's smallest seeds, with 35 million to the ounce. The seed is like dust, yet by God’s design there is as much genetic information in the tiniest seed, as there is in the largest seed.
Despite there being several native species of orchid in the Holy land, orchids and their tiny seeds, don’t seem to be mentioned anywhere in the Bible.
The seed mentioned in the Bible as being the smallest was the Mustard seed. They are of the genus Brassica but interestingly an older name was Cruciferae, meaning "cross-bearing". The four petals of their flowers form a cross.
I struggled for a while with the issue of there being smaller seeds than the mustard seed. Because in Matthew 13:31-32 we read:
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Today, we know that there are seeds that are much smaller than mustard seed and one might question whether a mustard plant, which is often a low growing herb, would grow into a tree that is large enough to hold a bird nest.
In Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
If we have faith, as small as a mustard seed, we won’t share in the doubt of those who might question the validity of scripture. In defence of my faith - my answer:
It’s important to realise that Jesus was not comparing the mustard seed to all the seeds in the world, but to seeds that a local Palestinian farmer might have (as He said) "sowed in his field," The black mustard seed was, at about 1 mm in diameter, the smallest seed sown by first-century farmers in that part of the world. It is said that in Israel black mustard can grow to several meters and is certainly large enough to hold a bird nest. (If anyone can varify this, then please do so)
We have to remind ourselves that the Bible scribes were not presenting scientific papers and they often used every day terminology in order to communicate simple truth. Jesus was talking to a group of ordinary local folks, not to an international conference of Botanists, Agronomists and Dendrologists.
Surely no reasonable person would expect our Lord to have said, in today’s political correctness: “The kingdom of heaven is like the seed of a Corallorhiza maculata which a man took and sowed in his field, which at 35 million to the ounce, is indeed the least of all the seeds…….
Why would a first century farmer in Palestine want to grow the North American Spotted Coral orchid? And even if he wanted to, the seed would probably have blown away in the wind.
At one time I was a sales rep for a supplier of vegetable and flower seeds. One day an irate customer complained that there was no seed in his packet of Begonia seeds, only dust that he threw away. If he had shown the smallest faith in us, he wouldn’t have wasted seeds worth their weight in gold.
The Bible tells us humans can be like fruit trees, some good & some bad. Matt 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Then in Jeremiah 17:7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear[a] when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Just like trees, some people produce big good fruits, others produce small fruits.
The Evangelist, Billy Graham shared the word with millions of people. I guess you would say the good fruits that he bore, were big.
Then there are others like my nephew, who despite personal difficulties in his own life, stands on street corners sharing his love of Christ with any who wish to listen.
Then there is the lady, who quietly shares her faith with all those that she meets in the shops or at her children’s school and there are our Sunday school teachers, who share , encourage and sow the seeds of Christ’s love in the hearts and minds of children.
Compared to Billy Graham, the fruit of these faithful Christians may appear to be small, but remember every fruit has one or more seeds and even though your fruit may be small the dozens of seeds, you sow, may germinate in the minds and hearts of many of those, with whom you share your faith.
When my wife and I lived in the country, I tried teaching Sunday school. I wasn’t confident in my ability and thought my work was fruitless.
Then 2or3 years later we met the Mother of one of my students and she said: “My son still prays like you taught him to” …………..Wow! My work, wasn’t fruitless after all.
The seed mentioned in the Bible as being the smallest was the Mustard seed. They are of the genus Brassica but interestingly an older name was Cruciferae, meaning "cross-bearing". The four petals of their flowers form a cross.
I struggled for a while with the issue of there being smaller seeds than the mustard seed. Because in Matthew 13:31-32 we read:
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Today, we know that there are seeds that are much smaller than mustard seed and one might question whether a mustard plant, which is often a low growing herb, would grow into a tree that is large enough to hold a bird nest.
In Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
If we have faith, as small as a mustard seed, we won’t share in the doubt of those who might question the validity of scripture. In defence of my faith - my answer:
It’s important to realise that Jesus was not comparing the mustard seed to all the seeds in the world, but to seeds that a local Palestinian farmer might have (as He said) "sowed in his field," The black mustard seed was, at about 1 mm in diameter, the smallest seed sown by first-century farmers in that part of the world. It is said that in Israel black mustard can grow to several meters and is certainly large enough to hold a bird nest. (If anyone can varify this, then please do so)
We have to remind ourselves that the Bible scribes were not presenting scientific papers and they often used every day terminology in order to communicate simple truth. Jesus was talking to a group of ordinary local folks, not to an international conference of Botanists, Agronomists and Dendrologists.
Surely no reasonable person would expect our Lord to have said, in today’s political correctness: “The kingdom of heaven is like the seed of a Corallorhiza maculata which a man took and sowed in his field, which at 35 million to the ounce, is indeed the least of all the seeds…….
Why would a first century farmer in Palestine want to grow the North American Spotted Coral orchid? And even if he wanted to, the seed would probably have blown away in the wind.
At one time I was a sales rep for a supplier of vegetable and flower seeds. One day an irate customer complained that there was no seed in his packet of Begonia seeds, only dust that he threw away. If he had shown the smallest faith in us, he wouldn’t have wasted seeds worth their weight in gold.
The Bible tells us humans can be like fruit trees, some good & some bad. Matt 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Then in Jeremiah 17:7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear[a] when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Just like trees, some people produce big good fruits, others produce small fruits.
The Evangelist, Billy Graham shared the word with millions of people. I guess you would say the good fruits that he bore, were big.
Then there are others like my nephew, who despite personal difficulties in his own life, stands on street corners sharing his love of Christ with any who wish to listen.
Then there is the lady, who quietly shares her faith with all those that she meets in the shops or at her children’s school and there are our Sunday school teachers, who share , encourage and sow the seeds of Christ’s love in the hearts and minds of children.
Compared to Billy Graham, the fruit of these faithful Christians may appear to be small, but remember every fruit has one or more seeds and even though your fruit may be small the dozens of seeds, you sow, may germinate in the minds and hearts of many of those, with whom you share your faith.
When my wife and I lived in the country, I tried teaching Sunday school. I wasn’t confident in my ability and thought my work was fruitless.
Then 2or3 years later we met the Mother of one of my students and she said: “My son still prays like you taught him to” …………..Wow! My work, wasn’t fruitless after all.
Sadly unlike trees, that all produce fruit, some people remain fruitless, but apart from that sad fact, man and trees may have more in common than at first we realise and one Bible story even has someone confusing men with trees.
Mark 8:22-25 22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Perhaps I should try to paint that scene: “I see men like trees, walking.”
I’m sure anyone who knows my tree paintings would agree my men would have to look like Boab trees!
Trees and man are both made of elements found in the earth. The big difference is that, on day three of Creation, God commanded trees to grow from the earth. Whereas on day six God actually made the first man, Adam, from the earth.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. But then we see the first woman Eve, was made, not from the earth but from Adam’s rib. Genesis 2: 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Mark 8:22-25 22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Perhaps I should try to paint that scene: “I see men like trees, walking.”
I’m sure anyone who knows my tree paintings would agree my men would have to look like Boab trees!
Trees and man are both made of elements found in the earth. The big difference is that, on day three of Creation, God commanded trees to grow from the earth. Whereas on day six God actually made the first man, Adam, from the earth.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. But then we see the first woman Eve, was made, not from the earth but from Adam’s rib. Genesis 2: 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Today we might see that as cloning.Historically, Cloning is not something new (There is nothing new under the sun).
Ecclesiastes 1:9 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun
Man has a history in a type of cloning that goes back thousands of years.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun
Man has a history in a type of cloning that goes back thousands of years.
My wife Lyn and I have been personally involved in the cloning of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of plants. Plant nurseries have what is called ‘’Mother Stock” these are plants that are continually pruned and these cuttings produce new plants. Every time a plant is grown from a cutting, it’s a clone with the same DNA as its parent plant.
In Romans we read of another type of plant cloning -grafting andgrafted olives. Grafting is simply a means of obtaining rapid production of a desirable cultivated variety of olive. Olive trees grow easily from seed but may take seven years to fruit and their fruit is likely to be small and inedible. But by grafting a piece from a tree that produces good fruit, it is possible to reproduce those good features in about two years.
The Apostle Paul's argument in Romans 11 about the wild and cultivated olive may be confusing. He likens God's chosen people, Jews, to a cultivated olive tree, from which God has cut off some of the branches. In place of these Jews, God then grafted in faithful Gentiles (which He likens to previously useless, wild olives), so they can share in the vigour of the cultivated tree. Paul sees this operation as `contrary to nature,' for this is not the usual way of grafting olives, one would expect the cultivated olive to be grafted upon the wild stock; by using this analogy Paul demonstrates clearly the richness of God's grace in the salvation of the Gentiles.
Two particularly significant tree products mentioned in the Bible are two of the three types of gift, given to the Christ child by the wise men.
Matthew 2:11 and when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Frankincense is a whitish resin from a large tree called Boswellia and is the only incense plant mentioned in Scripture. It’s still collected today by nomadic tribes from wild trees, for use in perfumes and aromatherapy. Myrrh is a small tree that produces a fragrant gum. It has antibiotic properties and was used by Egyptian embalmers to reduce decay in mummies. It was worth its weight in gold, and five times more valuable than frankincense.
It appears Nicodemus spared no expense when he supplied a mixture of about 100 pounds (over 45kilos) of Myrrh and Aloes (which incidentally we now call Aloe Vera) to prepare Jesus' body for burial
John 19:39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
In Romans we read of another type of plant cloning -grafting andgrafted olives. Grafting is simply a means of obtaining rapid production of a desirable cultivated variety of olive. Olive trees grow easily from seed but may take seven years to fruit and their fruit is likely to be small and inedible. But by grafting a piece from a tree that produces good fruit, it is possible to reproduce those good features in about two years.
The Apostle Paul's argument in Romans 11 about the wild and cultivated olive may be confusing. He likens God's chosen people, Jews, to a cultivated olive tree, from which God has cut off some of the branches. In place of these Jews, God then grafted in faithful Gentiles (which He likens to previously useless, wild olives), so they can share in the vigour of the cultivated tree. Paul sees this operation as `contrary to nature,' for this is not the usual way of grafting olives, one would expect the cultivated olive to be grafted upon the wild stock; by using this analogy Paul demonstrates clearly the richness of God's grace in the salvation of the Gentiles.
Two particularly significant tree products mentioned in the Bible are two of the three types of gift, given to the Christ child by the wise men.
Matthew 2:11 and when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Frankincense is a whitish resin from a large tree called Boswellia and is the only incense plant mentioned in Scripture. It’s still collected today by nomadic tribes from wild trees, for use in perfumes and aromatherapy. Myrrh is a small tree that produces a fragrant gum. It has antibiotic properties and was used by Egyptian embalmers to reduce decay in mummies. It was worth its weight in gold, and five times more valuable than frankincense.
It appears Nicodemus spared no expense when he supplied a mixture of about 100 pounds (over 45kilos) of Myrrh and Aloes (which incidentally we now call Aloe Vera) to prepare Jesus' body for burial
John 19:39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
For thousands of years, trees have been put to valuable use by man. But ungrateful sinful man doesn’t always use trees as God would want him to: In the Bible we see trees created byGod, to sustain life, being used instead, to end life: Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
We see trees God gave us, for fuel, being used in Idolatry
Isaiah 44:16,17 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “ Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it,
God gave us trees for shade, food and for building, including the building of Noahs Ark.
Genesis 6:14 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood;
People enthusiastically search for Noahs Ark, Garden of Eden & Ark of the Covenant and some search for “the secret’ of Eternal life.
Of all those treasure hunts one might imagine Eternal life is the least likely to be found. How wrong they are! The treasure of Eternal Life is right under their noses.
We see trees God gave us, for fuel, being used in Idolatry
Isaiah 44:16,17 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “ Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it,
God gave us trees for shade, food and for building, including the building of Noahs Ark.
Genesis 6:14 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood;
People enthusiastically search for Noahs Ark, Garden of Eden & Ark of the Covenant and some search for “the secret’ of Eternal life.
Of all those treasure hunts one might imagine Eternal life is the least likely to be found. How wrong they are! The treasure of Eternal Life is right under their noses.
So for all the treasure hunters (with whom I have an empathy), if you haven’t already been blessed with the discovery of Eternal life, imagine a treasure map. Now believe it or not, I’m familiar with such things. An old prospector once gave me an old faded map with the classic ‘’X’’ marks the spot and it lead me to the discovery of valuable minerals and financial gain. The beneficial effect of this discovery, for me, was short lived.
Some years later on the faded pages of a book, I was shown another type of ‘’X’’ marks the spot. The ‘’X’’ was the cross of Christ and the treasure that lay awaiting me, I found at the foot of the cross. “Eureka!” I’ve found it! Life eternal! The beneficial effect of that discovery, for me, is forever! I have tasted the fruit of life!
Some years later on the faded pages of a book, I was shown another type of ‘’X’’ marks the spot. The ‘’X’’ was the cross of Christ and the treasure that lay awaiting me, I found at the foot of the cross. “Eureka!” I’ve found it! Life eternal! The beneficial effect of that discovery, for me, is forever! I have tasted the fruit of life!
It reminds me of a story, I’m told it’s true, where an Australian family sold their rural property to go looking for sapphires. The new owners of the property, looking forward to their planned farming venture, brought in a bulldozer to make a dam in their paddock. In the freshly exposed soil they found small blue pebbles. Farming was postponed and the property became a major sapphire mine. Sadly the original owners, who hadn’t seen the treasure under their noses & went prospecting, found nothing.
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The Gospel Message
I hope and pray that someone will read this message and will be moved to ask potentially life changing questions that will reward them richly with eternal treasures ”How can I eat of the fruit of the tree of life? And How can I be saved ?”
The answer is good news, Jesus invites you to receive eternal life right now...today!
The "gospel" means "good news". But before the good news, you must understand the bad news...
Adam and Eve - the human race - were created perfect, in the image of God. They could have lived with God, in blessing and happiness forever. However, they chose to disobey God, choosing their own selfish desires instead. They rebelled and as a result, the whole human race has inherited the sin of Adam, and is by nature sinful -- selfish, indifferent rebellious and disobedient to God.
Because God is perfect, righteous and holy, He must judge all sin. This means that all people are condemned to Hell.
However, God’s love, grace and mercy is amazing. He doesn't desire that anyone should suffer in Hell. He offered to pay the penalty of sin on our behalf. The Lord Jesus Christ, as perfect God and sinless man, was judged for our sins and paid the penalty of death for us.
The good news is that sin is no longer a barrier between us and God. The penalty has been paid. All our sins have been forgiven.
But, Jesus Christ now stands between us and God. The only acceptable way to God is by believing that Jesus died for our sins, Confess before Him that you are a sinner. If we do this, we will be "saved" from eternal judgement.
John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no-one comes to the Father but through Me."
Jesus promises to give eternal life to everyone who believes that He died for their sins.
John 11:25……………“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
From our study of Biblical Dendrology, one thing should be quite clear,
Christ died and hung on a tree (timber which once was a living tree) & He arose triumphant from the grave!!
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
Thank you for your interest.
Email Rex Woodmore: [email protected]
The "gospel" means "good news". But before the good news, you must understand the bad news...
Adam and Eve - the human race - were created perfect, in the image of God. They could have lived with God, in blessing and happiness forever. However, they chose to disobey God, choosing their own selfish desires instead. They rebelled and as a result, the whole human race has inherited the sin of Adam, and is by nature sinful -- selfish, indifferent rebellious and disobedient to God.
Because God is perfect, righteous and holy, He must judge all sin. This means that all people are condemned to Hell.
However, God’s love, grace and mercy is amazing. He doesn't desire that anyone should suffer in Hell. He offered to pay the penalty of sin on our behalf. The Lord Jesus Christ, as perfect God and sinless man, was judged for our sins and paid the penalty of death for us.
The good news is that sin is no longer a barrier between us and God. The penalty has been paid. All our sins have been forgiven.
But, Jesus Christ now stands between us and God. The only acceptable way to God is by believing that Jesus died for our sins, Confess before Him that you are a sinner. If we do this, we will be "saved" from eternal judgement.
John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no-one comes to the Father but through Me."
Jesus promises to give eternal life to everyone who believes that He died for their sins.
John 11:25……………“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
From our study of Biblical Dendrology, one thing should be quite clear,
Christ died and hung on a tree (timber which once was a living tree) & He arose triumphant from the grave!!
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
Thank you for your interest.
Email Rex Woodmore: [email protected]