What Trees Can Teach Us About God and His KingdomSample

Trees yield fruit only if God wants them to

We tend to see nature as a ‘system’. Whether a tree grows well and yields fruit, is dependent on other factors within the ecosystem, like rainfall, sunshine, nutritious soil, and so on. And the tree in turn feeds birds, they build nests in it, people profit from its fruit… But today’s text reminds us that trees are not just controlled by natural influences or human intervention. God says He is behind all this, and can change it if He wants to.

Before the Israelites entered the land which God had promised them to possess, they were presented with a choice. If they would obey the Lord, they would receive his blessings “and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit”. “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments… your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit” (Leviticus 26:14,20, ESV).

And God did what He had told them, as we read in Amos 4:9 (ESV). “‘I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me’, declares the Lord”.

It is clear that ecosystems normally function according to the ‘natural laws’ God has created. But God has the power to intervene. Natural disasters can be a warning from God, and prosperity can be a sign of his blessing. Did you realize that? Are you aware that we humans are dependent on God, even for ‘normal natural processes’?