Full Forrest

Introduction

Apart from God and humans, trees appear more often than anything else (this includes animals)

"tree" appears in that translation 293 times

"fruit" appears 212 times

"branch," 107

"Root," "57

"Forest," 51.

"Vine," 72.

"Leaf," 19

Just that right there, tree, fruit, branch, root, forest, vine, leaf gives you over 800 appearances. And that doesn't include the hundreds of times that specific species of trees are mentioned: palms, acacia trees, oak trees, terebinth, willow, sycamore, fig, olives, pomegranates. And you could name about 10 more. ]

CREATION DAYS

Day one: God creates light (one act)

Day two: God separates the waters (one act)

Day three: God causes the land to emerge (one act) and causes fruit trees to emerge from the ground (a second act)

Day four: God fills the skies with the sun, moon, and stars (one act, corresponding with day one)

Day five: God fills the waters and skies with fish and birds (one act, corresponding with day two)

Day six: God creates animals to fill the land (one act, corresponding with day three) and causes humans to emerge from the ground (a second act, corresponding with day three) The second act of creating humans on day six corresponds to the second act of creating trees on day three in the creation account. This symmetry should set the stage for us to begin associating trees with humans in the biblical story.

Psalm 1 (ESV)

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.