Expert: Rev. Frank Ricketts - 8/1/2005

Question
Well I was thinking about any tree, but i recall something about trees that are adorned and that it is not supposed to happen as it is "a false god" or something like that.  You have another brother in Indianapolis, his name is Frank Ricketts and he is also a minister.  God must have been so pleased with you he made two.  God Bless and Thanks for your assistance.
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Followup To
Question -
I know that there are references to decoration or adornment of trees in the bible i thought it was in Deut. but not sure.  I find it odd that we have them in some churches and not others at the holidays.  also do you have a son named Frank also in Indianapolis?  If so we knew one another years ago before I moved to Washington DC.  Wonderful man.  Thank you Rev. Ricketts.  God Bless you and your wonderful work. Brad
Answer -
Are you asking about Christmas trees in church or any type of tree placed in church?
No I have three sons, but none named Frank.
I wait for your answer.
God bless.

Answer
I pray that this answers your question.

Characteristics of a Tree

Created by God

Genesis 1:11,12 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Fixed varieties

Genesis 1:12, 29 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good ... And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Can be grafted

Romans 11:24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

Subject to God's judgments

Haggai 2:17,19 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me, saith the LORD ... Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

Trees used for

Christmas tree

Jeremiah 10:3-4
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Shade

Genesis 18:4
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

Burial sites

Genesis 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

Food

Deuteronomy 20:19,20 & Acts 5:30 Deuteronomy 20:19,20 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Buildings

1 Kings 5:10
So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.

Idolatry

Isaiah 44:14,17 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it ... And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

Fuel

Isaiah 44:15,16,19 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: ... And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Lists of trees in the Bible

Almond

Jeremiah 1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

Aloes

Psalm 45:8
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Ash

Isaiah 44:14
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

Bay

Psalm 37:35
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

Cedar

1 Kings 10:27
And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

Chestnut

Ezekiel 31:8
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

Cyprus

Isaiah 44:14
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

Elm

Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

Fig

Deuteronomy 8:8
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

Fir

1 Kings 5:10
So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.

Hazel

Genesis 30:37
And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

Juniper

1 Kings 19:4,5
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

Lign aloes

Numbers 24:6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.

Mulberry

2 Samuel 5:23,24 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.

Myrtle

Isaiah 41:19
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil
tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Oak

Isaiah 1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

Oil

Isaiah 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Olive
Judges 9:9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Palm

Exodus 15:27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

Pine

Isaiah 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Pomegranate

Deuteronomy 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

Poplar

Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

Shittah or shittim

Exodus 36:20 And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

Sycamore

Amos 7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

Teil

Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

Vine

Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

Willow

Isaiah 44:4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

Trees figurative of ...

Righteous

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Believer's life

Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Wisdom

Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Basic character

Matthew 7:17-19 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Jesus)

Continued prosperity

Isaiah 65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Judgment

Luke 23:31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Eternal life

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Covenant

Romans 11:24
For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

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