the tallest trees in the world
The redwood forest is a fairytale to visit. It has centuries of secrets throughout its cinnamon-red bark tree groves, whispered like fireflies ready to be caught. Some of the massive trees in the forest are as old as 2000 plus years; mere saplings destined to scrape the skies in the Northern Hemisphere when Jesus walked this earth.
Redwoods can grow to 350 feet tall. There’s much happening between the ground and the crown of the redwood. Simply standing next to these giants is quite humbling. We can’t help to look up at these tall trees in admiration. They hover over us as nature’s guardians.
I can only imagine the Earth’s quake when they fall. That was their great peril many moons ago when logging was rampant in Humboldt County of Northern California. Chopping down a redwood tree wasn’t an easy task in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before electric saws were invented, this was done with axes and hand saws, which took days to complete.
What was left behind in that early period of logging the coastal redwoods was a forest floor filled with headstones of old-growth tree stumps. The cut stumps revealed the secret of how long the trees had lived. The top of a tree stump has concentric rings, with light-colored rings representing growth occurring in the spring and early summer, and dark rings representing wood that grows in the late summer and fall. The combination of one light ring plus one dark ring would equal one year of life for the tree. In the mid-1850s, redwood forests covered 2,000,000 acres of the California coast. By 1910, conservation efforts began to preserve the remaining redwood trees. By 1968, 90% of the trees that stood the test of time had been logged. Today, these old-growth redwoods comprise only 39,000 acres, located in the Redwood National and State Parks.
a king, a dream, and a tall tree
Trees are quite predominant in nature and in the Bible. Around 2500 years ago Nebuchadnezzar was king over the Neo-Babylonian Empire (605 – 562 B.C.); a pagan warrior-ruler-builder who wreaked havoc on his enemies. He destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, Solomon’s temple, and led its people into captivity to Babylonia. Among the exiles was Daniel, a young Jew from Jerusalem taken captive who proved to be quite useful to the king with the interpretation of dreams (when the king wasn’t throwing him into a fiery furnace for refusing to serve other gods or worship the golden image the king had set up).
One night, Nebuchadnezzar saw terrifying images and visions while lying in bed and none of the wise men of the land could interpret the dream. Sorcerers and soothsayers, diviners, and Chaldeans came to him and couldn’t reveal its meaning.
The king dreamt of a tree that grew strong, and its height reached the heavens above and could be seen all over the earth. Then an angelic watcher, a holy one come from heaven appeared and shouted:
“Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,
Shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit;
Let the animals flee from under it
And the birds from its branches.
Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
But with a band of iron and bronze around it
In the new grass of the field;
And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,
And let him share with the animals in the grass of the earth.
Let his mind change from that of a human
And let an animal’s mind be given to him,
And let seven periods of time pass over him.
This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers,
And the decision is a command of the holy ones,
In order that the living may know
That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,
And He grants it to whomever He wishes
And sets over it the lowliest of people.”
Daniel 4:14-17
Nebuchadnezzar is a color monotype print with additions in ink and watercolor portraying the Babylonian king by English poet, painter, and printmaker William Blake (1757-1827). Photo / Tate Gallery in Great Britain
Daniel interpreted the dream and gave the king a decree. He revealed to Nebuchadnezzar that he was the tree that became great and strong, whose dominion reached far and wide. He was the tree to be chopped down to the stump, to be driven from his people, to live among wild animals, to be given the mind of an animal, and eat grass like an ox, for 7 years. But Daniel also advised him to renounce his sins and wickedness by doing what was right and kind.
King Nebuchadnezzar didn’t heed Daniel’s wise counsel and a year later he was walking on the roof of his royal palace and prideful words leaped from his heart and rolled off his tongue.
“Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’ While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.”
The frightful dream was fulfilled.
And at the end of 7 long years, King Nebuchadnezzar looked up to the heavens and his sanity was restored and he praised the Most High. The restoration of his honor, his splendor, and his throne followed suit. Daniel 4 not only includes the king’s dream, but a testimony of his pride, God’s glorious and miraculous power and reign, and his merciful restoration.
tall tale takeaways for spiritual growth and freedom
In working with formerly incarcerated clients, I’ve found a common denominator: self-serving decision-making without regard to God or others will lead to bondage, both physically (sometimes with a prison sentence) and spiritually. The latter is much worse than the former, with the possibility of lasting an eternity without true repentance. Below are a few keys to freedom that will lead to a life set apart for God, His ways, His plans, and His glory.
1) Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, not your own.
Nebuchadnezzar was focused on building his own kingdom and exalting his own name. And in his chase after the things of this world, he neglected the oppressed. After interpreting the dream of the tree to the king, Daniel earnestly advised him to repent of his sins and help the oppressed and he failed to do that, causing the gavel of justice to come down. This incessant striving to build and exalt our own kingdom is rampant in this technological age and has become a spiritual pandemic. John Calvin once said that it is the task of the church to make the invisible kingdom visible. That should be our sole desire and pursuit. God promised that He would take care of the rest.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.
(Matthew 6:3, NASB)
2) Pride leads to insanity and destruction, humility to peace and prosperity.
While the Kingdom of God includes His supreme reign over all, it innately also includes His thoughts and ways of being, which are naturally not our thoughts and ways. In seeking God’s kingdom, we are also in pursuit of aligning with His heart and mind. Prideful, self-aggrandizing thoughts and subsequent behaviors can lead to mental health and emotional issues. Our minds are literally lost in the world of self and are unable to hear or see anything else. This leads to an inflated sense of power and corrodes personal and social relationships. This is what King Nebuchadnezzar experienced. God wisely counsels us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, so that He will lift us up in due time.
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18, NLT)
Laying your life down in tender surrender before the Lord will bring life, prosperity, and honor as your reward. (Proverbs 16:18, TPT)
3) God is merciful and sovereign; therefore, judge not.
When God decreed Nebuchadnezzar’s 7-year sentence for having a prideful heart, he didn’t completely destroy him or his kingdom. He simply humbled him because he would not humble himself. Leaving the stump and its roots imprisoned in a band of iron and bronze, represented God’s mercy toward him. In nature, trees can grow back from a cut stump. If the root system has enough remaining nutrients, then the impossible becomes possible. For some of my formerly incarcerated clients, the prison was their saving grace. Everything they pridefully pursued was stripped from them, and like a cut tree stump, they waited behind bars, sought the Lord, and were freed spiritually before they were freed physically.
In the Bible, we learn that the ‘Year of Jubilee’ released those from debts and all kinds of bondage; prisoners, captives, and all slaves were released, debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners. This occurred after seven cycles of seven years, or after 49 years. King Nebuchadnezzar was completely restored after 7 years. And as He works with us and through and for us in our weakness, we too can shout, “Grace, grace,” like the prophet Zechariah, as God lays the capstone Jesus Christ in our new heart-temple.
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and will show clemency on whom I will show clemency. (Exodus 33:19, Jubilee Bible 2000)