Like Shittim Tree (18th March 2012)

Scripture Reading: Exodus 25:10~16(KJV)

10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

12. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

14. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

 

 

 

The road from Egypt to Israel is in endless desert. Passing Read sea, the Desert of Shur, the Desert of Zin, the Desert of Sinai, and the Desert of Paran then we can reach Dead sea and go to Israel. Going into Israel, we can see green trees and grass in every hills and mountains.

Driving in dry desert for a long time, I can find some trees which are standing on there. The trees are Shittim trees often presented in Bible. It is easily called as Acacia trees which have a lot of throne.

This kind of tree is shown only in the Sinai Peninsula. The height is aroudn 4~7m. It is very hard, not easily decayed. So Egyptians used this for building ships and making funeral coffins. But Israelites used the trees for making holy things for the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle and so forth according to God's words. How can be it made? It was cut, remove thrones, peel the barks, and trim up well for matching each pieces.

I felt a lot by Shittim tree in the desert. It is alive without very few water, against serious drought, strong sand wind, and hottest sunshine.

That is to say, it is able to weather hardships of every situation.

We have the period of desert. How can we overcome it? Some are weak to give up their lives because of desert's violence. on the other hand like Shittim trees, some are strongly enduring the desert in order to wait the moment of victory.

How the tree can stand in all the hardship of deserts? The reason is its roots are stretching long to water till even few hundreds kilo meter away. By this, I can be aware of another truth. We have to take our roots of faith very deeply. By grace and love of God, we can survive in rough world. We have to be searching continuously His filling in us. Without his supply, we can not live in these dry lives. We need water of eternal life.

Finally, Shittim trees have a lot of thrones and look very poor with twisted trunks. If it was used as holy things for the temple of God, it must cut it, remove thrones, peel the barks, and trim up well for matching each pieces. Then, it was covered by gold in the end. humble and poor trees was changed to be holy existence for worshiping God. What is the meaning of gold? It presents blood of Jesus Christ and filling with Holy Spirit. Think about it! Shittim tree itself can be holy? Never it can be! Like this, by touch of God, we can be holy. Getting out of instinct lives like animals, we can live like spiritual human beings. For this, we need absolute salvation of Jesus Christ and power of Holy Spirit.

Bible clearly says the followings;

In Hebrew 13:12 "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood." Also, in 1 Peter 1:2 "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance." These are shown to us about the process of happy lives; that we believe in Jesus Christ, obtain eternal lives, leading by Holy Spirit and then live as perfect human beings.

Do you want to be happy as living like perfect human being? You need only our true Lord, Jesus Christ and real power of Holy Spirit. Others ask us if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can get money? bread? Responding to them, I ask again whether people can be happy only by money or bread. To be happy, money or bread is nothing but an element. Real happiness is being perfect human. It means living completely as living spiritually. However, it come true by our intentions and wills. Never it come true! This world is too dark and evil to make us happy. So 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."

By God's chosen us, we can be helped by power of Holy Spirit. Blood of Christ covered on our weakness and sins. Therefore, we can get a victory against any hardships of this World. We are happy to live. We have a hope for our future because we are happy. Having hopes is a symbol of happiness. Those who have no future are like dead men. Having hopes is to have bright future. It is a biggest blessing to us. Rome 15:13 clearly says to us "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Now we are belongs to God, almighty. Even though we are poor like Shittim trees, by His touch, blood of Christ and power of Holy Spirit, our lives must be happy having hope of bright future.

Let's Pray!

Oh our Lord! Please give us grace of Shittim trees. By your touching, make us be holy in blood of Christ and filling with Holy Spirit. Then when sending your gospel to others, make them see our changed happy lives. By this, make them come back to you! In Jesus name we pray Amen.