Nature is all throughout the Bible. How can we see God in nature? Eryn Lynum, Bible teacher and master naturalist, joins us this week as we look at trees and the important role they play in the Bible! Today we start with tree seeds and the parable in Matthew 13.
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Transcription:
Guest Speaker: Eryn Lynum
Welcome to the Bible for Busy People Podcast. I’m Eryn Lynum and I am thrilled to be with you this week, filling in for Erica while she’s on vacation. I’m a master naturalist, author, and Bible teacher, and I love using nature to teach God’s word. Really, we see this all throughout the scriptures. God used these rich nature narratives and analogies to deliver truth. We see Jesus teaching this way throughout the gospels. He used things like soil and seeds, olive branches, sparrows and wildflowers. Nature is all throughout the Bible, and I believe that this is intentional because we can learn about God through what he has made. Romans 1:20 says that God’s invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world through what has been made so that they are without excuse. As we study nature, we can learn more about God.
So, why are we looking at trees this week? Two main reasons. First, God calls trees good. Genesis 1:12 tells us
The Earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Secondly, all throughout scripture, God and Jesus used trees to teach truth in nature. Trees are what’s referred to as a keystone species. This means they are essential in the ecosystem and they help support so many other species, including insects, birds, mammals, and of course, us humans. In fact, later this week we’re going to learn about how we can’t even breathe without trees. Well, it just so happens that trees are a keystone in scripture also. Dr. Matthew Sleuth wrote a wonderful book about trees in the Bible called Reforesting Faith. In it, he writes that the Bible has a trail of trees, and he makes the point that every big event in the Bible is accompanied by a tree, part of a tree, or something that came from a tree. And so I think if God paid so much attention to trees, if they were important to him, then we should pay attention to them also.
So this week we are going to explore trees in scripture. Starting today with tree seeds. Let’s read Matthew 13:3-8, where Jesus teaches a parable about seeds.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
This passage often focuses on the soil, and we’re going to also, but for our purpose today, I also want to narrow in on the seed itself. A seed holds potential for life, but until it lands or is placed in the right conditions, that life remains wrapped up tight in its shell. This past week I wanted to plant some wild flowers in our yard. I went into my garage where I knew I had some seed packets and they had been sitting on the shelf for about a year, and it really struck me that when I opened those seed packets, the seeds were still tight and dry within their shell. They weren’t doing anything on the shelf, but then I put them in the soil in our yard and watered them throughout the week, and now I’m seeing these signs of life. These little sprouts bursting forth. A seed holds potential, but until we tuck it into that soil, it is only potential. You know what’s interesting about trees? It’s estimated that each tree, despite all the seeds that it drops throughout its lifetime, successfully raises exactly one adult offspring tree.
Let’s look at an example given from the book, the Secret Life of Trees. The author is looking at a beach tree and he says that it might produce about 1.8 million beach nuts throughout its life, but from those exactly one might develop into a full grown tree. You see, every seed holds potential for life, but many of those seeds never realize that potential. They require the right conditions of healthy soil and water and sunlight.
You know what I find so interesting about this passage in Matthew is that it’s not so much about the seed as it is about the soil conditions. What type of soil are we planting our faith in? Are we giving our faith the best chance to thrive and flourish? This passage pertains to salvation, but we also have seeds of careers, marriage, ministry, parenting. Everything that we embark on in life is like a seed. It holds potential. It can bring life.
Last summer, my husband and I took our four young kids on a trip to Redwood’s National Park in California. We had never seen the redwood trees before, and I kid you not, if you have not seen them, go. They are unbelievable. These old growth forests have trees stretching up to 350 feet high, and they can have diameters of around 30 feet. Walking through these incredible woods, I remember finding a redwood cone. These cones when they’re still attached to the adult redwood tree, they can hold around 150 to 250 seeds of a redwood tree. Staring at that small cone in my hand and then looking up at those incredible trees, I couldn’t fathom how something so small could produce a massive tree like the ones that I was standing beneath. But isn’t this how God works? He wants to do the same in your faith, in your marriage, in your family, and work, and ministry.
God takes our seemingly small efforts and offerings and he can turn them into something so magnificent and beautiful, but it matters where those seeds are planted. Are we planting those seeds in rocky soil, where it can be easily stolen away or displaced? Or in shallow soil where it has no chance of rooting down,or in thorny or weedy soil, where our beliefs and work are choked out by distractions or cares of the world or false ideas? We have these seeds and where we plant them matters because as we will see tomorrow, from the seeds sprout the roots, and where we are rooted matters. First Corinthians 3:6-7 says,
I planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
This is liberating news. Ultimately, it is God who coax his life from those seeds. He matures Our faith, blesses our work and brings forth great and beautiful things. And we can cooperate with God’s work in our hearts and minds and lives, as we plant our seeds in deep nourishing soil. Thanks for joining me. I hope you’ll listen in tomorrow as we move from seeds to roots. Dear heavenly Father, our creator, God, you are so good. Lord, we have these seeds, this potential in our lives for the work you are calling us to. Lord, grow our faith, grow our work, grow our ministries, everything you’ve called us to Lord. You are the one who brings forth beautiful things. Amen.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
