Page 96 - Through New Eyes

90 THROUGH NEW EYES

illustration of this is the cross of Christ, whose four extremities
correlate to the four horns of the altar. As blood was put on the
four horns’ of the altar (the four corners of the earth), so the
blood of Christ was on the four ends of the cross (head, hands,
feet). The cross is our altar, and our ladder to heavens

God’s Grove
We have noted that God’s people are spoken of as trees. Gen-
esis 2 sets up the connection by saying that both men and trees
come out of the ground (Genesis 2:7, 9). We have mentioned
already such passages as Psalm 1 and Judges 9, where trees sym-
bolize men. An interesting sidelight on this symbolism is pro-
vided in Mark 8:24, where the blind man healed by our Lord in-
itially saw men as trees walking.
Trees represent men, and tr~es are found in association with
men. Such associations often convey imagery to us, and so let us
briefly trace this imagery as it appears in Scripture. To begin
with, of course, is the Garden of Eden, a planting of trees and
also the first planting of humanity. Cast from Eden, man could
only expect the scorching sun; it is a sign of God’s blessing when-
ever we find the righteous dwelling at groves of trees.
In the Patriarchal era, the tree that stands out is the tere-
binth or oak.G Abraham in particular is pictured dwelling among
oaks (Genesis 12: 6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1, all mistranslated “plain” in
the A. V,; and cf. Genesis 35:4, 8). When Israel entered the
land, she was reminded that she was but following in the foot-
steps of Abram, who had lived at the oaks of Moreh (Deuteron-
omy 11:30).
In the Mosaic era, while other trees are mentioned from time
to time, the tree that seems to stand out is the palm. God’s plac-
ing of Israel in the land of Canaan is repeatedly spoken of in
Edenic terms as His “planting,” His grove of trees (Exodus 15 :17;
Numbers 24:6; 2 Samuel 7:10; Psalm 44:2; 80:8-12; Isaiah 5:2,
7; 60:21; 61:3; Jeremiah 2:21; 12:10; 24:6; Amos 9:15). This grove
of human trees around God’s arboraceous footstool — for the Ark
was made of wood overlaid with gold — was celebrated annually
at the Feast of Tabernacles, when Israel was commanded:

Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of
beautiful trees, palm branches, and boughs of leafy trees and