[This is one in a series of mid-week devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during February 2021]
Mulberry, Pear, Poplar and Balsam trees; it sounds like it might be a valuable orchard. Mulberries and pears provide fruit for consumption, poplar wood is good for construction and fuel whilst balsam has a medicinal application. Apart from their agricultural benefits, these trees have something else in common. They have all been mentioned in various English translations of the account of king David’s battles against the Philistines at the Valley of Rephaim:
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry (or pear, or poplar or balsam) trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army. [2 Samuel 5 v24]
We are familiar with pears, they produce a nutritious fruit that can be a tasty snack or an essential component of a fruit salad, or they can be pressed to provide various types of drink. However, pears are not specifically mentioned anywhere else in the Bible so it is a matter of some curiosity as to why that word was chosen.
Mulberries are also juicy and nutritious but perhaps not so common in our grocery baskets. I recall that, like walnuts, handling them direct from the tree produces a dark and persistent stain on the skin. Indeed a reference in the apocryphal book of Maccabees indicates that the juice of mulberries was used to accustom fighting elephants to the blood on the battlefield. Perhaps more relevant to us is this passage from Luke:
And the Lord said, “If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you. [Luke 17 v6 AMP]
The generic term ‘poplar’ includes a number of different trees but generally they are deep-rooted, fast-growing and have a commercial value for construction timber and biomass fuel. They have a very light-coloured wood, a characteristic which Jacob exploited when tending his father-in-law’s sheep.
Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. … When the flocks came to drink, they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. [Genesis 30 v37-39]
Identifying the balsam tree is more ambiguous as there are several options for the source of balm, the aromatic and medicinal ointment associated with the name. One likely choice is the terebinth tree:
Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre [in Hebron], while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. … He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” [Genesis 18 v1, v10 AMP]
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What can we learn from this arboreal discourse?
» Firstly, it demonstrates that the diversity of God’s creation far exceeds the simple description of the creation of trees and plants given in Genesis 1 v11.
» Secondly, we can see in each of the examples that God can intervene in the natural order when it suits his purposes to do so.
» Thirdly, David’s army, the disciples, Jacob and Abraham and Sarah were all active participants in God’s plan but they had to wait for God’s timing.
It’s a lesson that David wanted to share with us:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. [Psalm 27 v14 NIVUK]
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
Thanks Steve,
A really interesting reflection which I have never thought about before.
Really enjoyed this – thanks Steve