Welcome to the first installment of Taking Root – Extra Credit! A brand new mini-blog for those of you who just can’t get enough of my writing… okay, maybe that’s not what this really is. Moving forward, I will occasionally add “Extra Credit mini-blogs,” which are born from my habit of writing too much. Sometimes I write a Taking Root article and then think “oh man, this is way too long… I’m going to need to cut this back.” These mini-blogs are effectively the trimmings I have swept up off the floor after cutting down a normal Taking Root article. It may not be as pretty, polished, or nice as a standard article, but maybe there’s still something worth reading in there! Without further delay, let’s dig into some of the odds and ends that didn’t make it into the article last Wednesday.
Making Connections - Psalm 1 & Proverbs 3
If you read the recent article titled “Why Meditation Literature?”, and you were curious about where all these patterns, imagery, repetition, and overarching themes are, here’s a great example using the verses from Psalm 1 and Proverbs 3 that I shared last Wednesday. I’ll share those verses again for the sake of reference:
“How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!
Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3
“My son, don’t forget my instruction, but let your heart keep my commands; for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.
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Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.
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Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.”
Proverbs 3:1-2, 13-14, 17-18
You probably noticed that the excerpt from Psalm 1 mentions a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears fruit and leaves that don’t wither, and that Proverbs 3 also mentions a tree, specifically the tree of life. Is it possible that these ideas are connected? Do we see this same imagery elsewhere in scripture? You may be thinking of a few different verses, but as I often like to tell people, everything in the Bible leads back to Genesis, so let’s start there:
“The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river went out from Eden to water the garden.”
Genesis 2:9-10
Here we see the tree of life, and mention a stream of water flowing nearby to nourish it. This really seems to connect Psalm 1 and Proverbs 3, doesn’t it? The tree of life is planted among other trees, all of which are nourished by a stream. But we’re not done!
“All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for eating and their leaves for healing.”
Ezekiel 47:12
Here we see clear imagery and symbolism that connects Ezekiel’s writing to the garden of Eden. Reading the rest of the chapter helps paint a wider picture, so I’d recommend doing so! But as it relates to the other verses, we once again get trees that are producing fruit, and flourishing because they are planted by the water. This time, the water isn’t just water, is it? It’s special somehow, because “the water comes from the sanctuary.” Interesting, right?
Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse.
Revelation 22:1-3
Once again, we have crystal clear imagery that points us to the garden of Eden, this time also making strong connections with Ezekiel 47 (almost directly quoting it!). Once again, Revelation 21 & 22 are filled to the brim with Garden imagery. You can tie almost every single verse back to the Garden of Eden in those two chapters. Here, we see the water coming from God Himself, just like it came from the sanctuary of the Temple in our verses from Ezekiel (the sanctuary is the place where God’s presence was thought to be within the Temple/Tabernacle). By connecting all of these verses, we get this really powerful image of what God has in store for His people – something that we can cling to with hope and trust. Hope that one day, God is taking us back to Eden, to live with Him forever, when He makes all things right in all of creation.
… But how does this relate to Psalm 1 and Proverbs 3? Remember how I said everything in the Bible points to Genesis? Well, it also points somewhere else – Jesus.
The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me
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If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
John 15:5, 7-8
According to Psalm 1, if we delight and meditate on the Lords instruction we will be like a tree that produces fruit. According to Proverbs 3, wisdom/the Lords instruction is a tree of life which we should embrace. According to John 15, we produce fruit when we remain in Jesus and His words (instruction) remain in us. Jesus is the Tree of Life who we cling to and the wisdom we dwell in, and in doing so we produce much fruit.
This is meditation literature. You may not notice all of these connections at first, but when you think of the Bible as a unified text, things start to fit together. Each author is building off of what another has already written. The Tree of Life and the Living Waters are great examples, as they are present in the very first chapters of the Bible, as well as the very last, and they are woven throughout the entire book. The 6 excerpts I’ve written about here are barely the tip of the iceberg with these themes. Maybe we’ll do a deep dive on them later, but for now I’ll leave you with this:
When we seek God’s wisdom and dwell on his instruction, we become like a tree planted in the Garden – the place where God dwells with humanity. By seeking God’s wisdom and dwelling on His instruction, we get a little taste of Eden.
God Bless,
Matt
