Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Rules for war?

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Most of us are aware that there are rules for our daily lives. However, there are also rules for war. Deuteronomy 20 is one of the examples of God given instructions for war. Included is a command not to destroy the trees; (Deut. 20:19-20) this is actually a law in Judaism that comes from this scripture which prohibits the pointless destruction of trees. What we also see in this scripture is the comparison of man to a tree. In the last part of verse 19 is the phrase 'man is the tree of the field'. Although this is translated and even interpreted in Hebrew in different ways, this is the direct transliteration.

Other instances in the Word of God when man is compared to a tree includes Jeremiah 17:7-10 and Psalm 1:2-3. We see that those who trust in the Lord and who walk in His ways will be like a tree planted by water. What exactly is a tree and how do we compare? It begins from a small seed, is attached to the ground and opens up or reaches to the sky. So to man begins from a seed, if his roots are deep he will grow and from that growth, as he looks upward toward God, will produce fruit and life.

The Believer's roots are faith and what our lives should produce is a refreshing to others. In the seasons of life of both a tree and mankind there is wind, heat, cold and drought or those things which come against us. Man experiences pressure, times of lack and even dry desert times when it seems that we're all alone. Where does our inner strength come from? A strength that is always there, one which rises up to the occasion, not just a one time or short term feeling strong. It is dependent on our relationship with Yeshua, our confidence in Him and our ability to let go and put our trust in Him.

Yeshua is that tree of life whose seed fell and died and lives again in us. Yeshua alive in us is the tree of life which enables us to dwell in the Kingdom of God here on earth. It is not our strength, knowledge or ability. One additional point we should remember is that there are many different trees and each has their own fruit. Some provide perfume, others shade from the heat, spice trees and fruit trees or trees which provide food. This is important for us to remember as we look at one another, each producing different fruit in our lives. Just as we appreciate the differences in nature we should appreciate the differences in each other. Our success at the end of the journey will be when we hear the words, "well done my good and faithful servant."

This is taken from the Harvest of Asher Facebook page.