OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor” (Isaiah 61:3, NIV).

The majestic tree dominated the front yard of my old friend’s home. Nothing ever seemed to bother that beautiful California oak. The summer heat, the winter cool, the rains, the wind, the occasional earthquake—nothing affected that great tree. California suffers through periodic “semi-droughts” but that never seemed to bother the oak, either. It stayed healthy and majestic no matter what was going on around it. Without fanfare, the oak had sunk roots deep into the earth and those roots continued to bring life to the part of the tree that is evident on the surface.

My, my! I wonder if there is a lesson for us here?

Throughout the Bible the oak tree is referred to as a symbol of strength and endurance. The strength of the oak does not come from what you can see of it above the surface; rather, its enduring strength comes from the roots that cannot be seen by the naked eye. The root system reaches down to where there are ample supplies of water and nutrients in the soil that feed the tree. The average large oak tree, I am told, needs as much as fifty gallons of water per day, so the root system is large and goes deep to reach that water. The root system not only brings the needed nourishment to the tree but it provides the anchoring base that allows the tree to withstand all kinds of assaults, from the wind, from the rain and from the shaking of earthquakes.

God likens His people to oak trees and says we can be just like them: “They shall be called oaks of righteousness.” These are not the words of a long-fulfilled prophesy that have no meaning for us. This is the expression of God’s heart for His people down through the generations. God wants His people to be strong and enduring and He has given us a clear insight as to how that can happen.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 is a powerful amplification of what Isaiah is presenting:

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Root systems that can hold a tree upright in all manner of weather and in all kinds of terrain do not magically appear, they cannot be bought in the Christian bookstore, and they don’t come solely from attending conferences and conventions. Extensive root systems develop slowly, and for our over-caffeinated, fast-track society that just goes against the grain of popular thinking. Too many Christians want to be strong…and they want to be strong now! And that is just not the way it works. Strong root systems take time to develop!

“A planting of the Lord.” There is nothing haphazard happening here. This is not the taking of seeds and scattering them to the wind, disregarding where they may fall. This is God picking a place for you, and personally putting the tender shoot in the ground, knowing exactly what lies ahead. God fully knows every detail of your life and the place of your planting and He is not prone to making mistakes; you were not planted in the wrong part of the garden!

“For the display of His splendor.” This is a great and powerful promise. We were destined to display the “splendor of the Lord.” It doesn’t matter how you feel, you are destined to display the splendor, the majesty of the Lord. There are days when I don’t feel that I am properly displaying God’s involvement in my life but here is the truth to get your spiritual arms around. A person who lives in consistent personal relationship with the Lord, who lives uprightly, is displaying one of the greatest portraits of God’s splendor in all creation. That man or woman is not going to be affected by the changing political, economic, environmental or personal safety climate. They are not going to wither when the heat is on or fall down when the winds of change are blowing or earthquakes of disaster strike. They will show to the whole world what it means to truly be a “Jesus person” because in the midst of uncertainty all around, they will draw life from an eternal source that can only be tapped into by receiving the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Maybe it’s time to strongly remind ourselves that we are here “for the display of His splendor.”