Tall trees

The islands of New Zealand were isolated from any and all human occupation until about 1200 years ago. Eons before various waves of migration hit our shores, unique flora and fauna flourished in our temperate climate. Vast forests of a magnificent tree, the Kauri, covered almost our entire northern island, and occupied the warmer lowland parts of the main southern island, and many of our coastal islands. Kauri is second only in size to the world’s largest trees, the Redwoods of California.

Kauri has the highest volume of timber of any tree in the world. It was used by Maori to fashion waka (canoes), and by the British Navy and commercial sailing ships for masts and spars. It was pit-sawn for settler’s homes and provided valuable kauri gum. Many of the trees so wantonly milled in the 1800’s were saplings when David went looking for Goliath. By the early 1920’s the seemingly endless forests were almost gone.  

One of the more unusual properties of the Kauri tree is its ability to shed its branches as it matures, eventually leaving a trunk clean of any knots or other imperfections, sometimes to a height of more than 60 meters. Even the wound from the lost branches usually disappears, resulting in timber of unparalleled strength and beauty.

The timber is keenly sought after, and “swamp Kauri” that has lain, preserved in the ground for thousands of years, fetches a considerable price for use in fine furniture and tourist items. This ancient Kauri predates even the pyramids. One prehistoric forest, of a species now long extinct species, has been unearthed. It was buried in such a catastrophic manner that some think that Noah’s flood was responsible for its demise.

By contrast, our modern forests are gigantic “factories” of a species introduced from the Americas. Pinus radiata or Monterey pine, grows like a weed in this country, and matures in just 20 to 25 years, and rots even more quickly. The timber from this tree is very useful, but lacks most of the characteristics of the Kauri that it has almost completely replaced.

Pinus is a gangly tree and requires constant “maintenance” to be turned into productive lumber. Its tangle of branches must be removed regularly if a single trunk is to grow, and the knots and holes from this “surgery” never fully heal. The tree is so shallow rooted that in stony soils it’s often blown over in strong winds. We have millions of acres of this imported "cash-crop"  under cultivation in New Zealand.   

God likens us to trees… And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of water that brings forth its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf shall not wither, and all which he does shall be blessed. Psalm 1:3

This tree is just not any tree that has sprung up spontaneously, nor is it one that had its genesis in a modern plantation… rather it is one that grows in a favored place. The Hebrew word used for rivulets implies a great deal more than our modern word. The word is peleg, and it is an illusion to the Oriental system of irrigation, whereby large areas of desert were watered by a series of constantly dividing irrigation canals from either a large river or lake. The tree that the psalmist is talking about here is one that been chosen, "a tree planted" for a reason; to bring forth its fruit in season.

 

In this consumer age that we all live in its possible to buy maturity…. people who don’t want to wait 4 decades for a  Norway maple to grow in their front yard can buy a 30-foot specimen from just about any nursery for a thousand dollars or so. A 50-foot European beech is a bargain for only $10,000.

However we can’t buy spiritual maturity…A growing Christian whether a baby believer or a seasoned saint is like a healthy tree – planted, nourished and fruitful, and the process takes time…all the time that we’ve got on this planet. 

A tree is not like a weathered, gnarled and tortured fence-post.  Trees are living things, especially trees that have been transplanted in the temple courts.  

We don't transplant dead stumps, we transplant trees that are alive.  And in the same way ,as a  righteous person, you are alive, and  not just physically alive.  We are spiritually alive.  God is the source of our life.  The New Testament often talks about this.  In Ephesians 2:5 Paul says that "because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions."

A Cedar in Lebanon

The righteous will flourish like palm trees; they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12 

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” Ezekiel 47:12 ESV 
 



 From God's Word

  The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 
 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
 They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
 to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalm 92:12-15 ESV