Trees of the Forest

California Redwood

"All the trees of the forest will know 

that I the Lord bring down the tall tree

and make the low tree grow tall.

I dry up the green tree

 and make the dry tree flourish

‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”

Ezekiel 17:24

It was an amazing experience standing among the majestic California Redwoods. Their unbelievable height and the width at their base suggested strength. For me, the majesty and strength is a sense of the sacred, a feeing of a holy place, of God's presence. Just as a sunrise, a panoramic mountain view, or being by a peaceful ocean creates a sense of God's presence, so do the Redwood trees.

The most familiar visions in Ezekiel are the Wheel representing his prophetic call and the Valley of Dry Bones Representing a revitalized Israel coming home.

But there is a dark story. Nebuchadnezzar ordered King Zedekiah deported to Babylon, destroyed the city walls of Jerusalem, looted, burned, and leveled the temple. In the wake of these simultaneous destructions, an acute crisis unfolded for the people of Judah. 

They asked: What do we do now? Where is God in our trauma? Will the path forward be confusing, troubling, and entirely unsure. 

These are basic questions for people of faith be they the people of Judah, our own lives, or as we live through several ongoing crises now and in the future. 

Ezekiel's describes God as powerful enough give and take life, to build up and to tear down tall trees and to make small ones grow and flourish. In other words, God’s power can be seen in the reversals and upheavals that upend all of our expectations and our assumptions about power and prestige. 

And there, by God's grace, is a promise of salvation. "I the Lord have spoken and will do it" 

No matter the trauma; personal, cultural or political, God tears down and then builds up.