Sticks intro sampler - Flipbook - Page 21
But Scripture offers us an anchor. What I have found studying trees in the
Bible is that God meets us in our decisions and offers us clarity and hope.
Every tree, bush, or vine we survey in this Bible study is deeply embedded in
an ancient, symbol-driven world where imagery of a story didn’t just matter—it
had meaning. Sometimes God repurposes familiar symbols or images to signal
deeper significance. The Sticks Bible study will guide you through five parts of
the Bible where tree imagery is a key element, symbolizing what you and I might
call “decision trees.” Trees are where God’s people go to seek godly wisdom and
make hard choices that honor God.
My botanist friends are going to feel as though I stretch the metaphor a bit
as I group together Bible stories with trees, a bush, and a vine with branches. As
modern readers, we know that trees and bushes and vines are all different plant
species. Ancient readers would have been aware of the visual differences too, but
I wonder if they connected all the plants, vines, and trees that created firewood or
fire sticks together. Based on my word searches and research, there is a thematic
connection between all the trees, bushes, and vines we’ll study together.2
In Sticks, we’re going to explore these passages:
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Genesis 2–3: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil will show us how to choose wisely and not to take matters into our
own hands.
Exodus 3: The Burning Bush will help us choose to notice when God is
trying to get our attention.
Isaiah 1, 6, 11, 53: The Messiah Tree will help us choose to branch out
from our shady family trees.
John 15: The True Vine will teach us how to choose to stay connected to
Jesus for a fruitful life.
Revelation 22: The Tree of Life will help us choose to reframe our views
from the treetops.
We’re going to do this by looking at each story with tree imagery through four
different lenses:
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