The Bible often uses trees as a symbol for the vitality and importance of the spiritual life. The “Psalm 1 Man” is described a man who is life a tree, planted like water. Israel is often referred to metaphorically as a fig tree. The Gospel’s effect on our lives and society is compared to a tree of healing in the book of Revelation.
In my devotional time this morning, I also made an interesting connection - that the wicked man in the Bible is also compared to a tree.
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. - Psalm 37:35-36
This is interesting in and of itself. That a wicked man is like a tree that spreads out, but is temporary. His roots never take hood.
What really got me about this concept, though, wasn’t the laurel tree. It was the footnote. “The identity of this tree,” the footnote says, “is uncertain.”
When our identity is uncertain, we cannot be rooted. W…
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