Oaks of Righteousness

Photo taken at Beall Woods State Park - Mt. Carmel, Illinois

I don't really know too much about Oaks apart from the fact that they are big (eventually) and they make good furniture.  I have often wondered why the Bible uses this species to represent righteousness.  There is a lot here, but to sum up the status-quot, we Christians should be strong and able to withstand temptation.  That's good, but I felt there must be more.  Lots of trees could fit that bill.  The Sycamore is a pretty big and strong tree.  The Redwood?  Why the Oak?

Here is what I have come up with.  Some of it is actually pretty cool.

Not only do oaks grow from pretty tough little nuts, these acorns can stay in a dormant state for a REALLY LONG TIME (that is the official way of saying that I don't really know the exact link but it is years).  When you least expect it, an acorn can germinate and produce an Oak.  I find that this image applies to most people too.  They meet Jesus, do the whole normal Christian struggle with trying to do Jesus' work for Him, fall away for a while, struggle back (sort of like a giant salmon run up the water falls of life; only the strongest fish survive).  Then, all of a sudden, the imperishable seed of Jesus Christ pokes through the surface and something real shows up in their life.  It does not smack of religion, but smells and tastes just like Jesus.

Another image that works for me is that Oaks produce this natural herbicide that kills off all the grass within about a 15' radius.  You just can't grow a good weed patch underneath an Oak tree .  Does this not also accurately describe the cross (another famous oak)?  "You will have no other gods before me."  "Take up your cross and follow Me."

When we take things that are hindering our walk with Him and lay them down at the foot of the cross (or even bury them there like the Old Testament Patriarchs did), they don't just stay there and collect dust that we might come back and pick them up some day.  They are killed (utterly defeated and cut off from life so that they whither and flake away) there at the foot of the cross.  My life is meant to be a reflection of the cross of Christ.  I should not walk hand in hand with that which is unrighteous.  I should kill those things off and not let them grow anywhere near me.  Obviously this is totally impracticable and not what God really desires for any of us, right?


Bless you Tri-state