A Branch Saved a Nation
A branch saved a nation. You read that correctly. It’s not a typo. The nation of Israel was saved from annihilation by a branch. But it’s no surprise when you consider that trees & variations of them are a unifying, redemptive theme of the Bible. If there was a tree of life, that is, a tree whose fruit provided life in the Garden located in Eden, it should be no surprise for Bible readers that there is also a BRANCH of life.
One variation of a tree is the BRANCH. Branches can kill (the case of Absalom) or they can save lives. When Pharaoh and his Egyptian army pursued the nation of Israel to the edge of the Red Sea, it looked like certain annihilation for the nation. Israel was trapped. They had no escape. The Red Sea stood as a giant water barrier between them and life. What could they do? Enter a branch.
God told Moses:
Raise your BRANCH[1] and stretch out your hand over
the sea to divide the waters so that the Israelites can go
through the sea on dry ground. Exodus 14:16
Moses obeyed the voice of the LORD, raised his branch, & the sea divided, providing a path of dry ground through the sea and certain deliverance for Israel.[2] They ended up at a mountain. This is the same pattern that was begun in the Garden. God first divided the waters over the land until dry ground appeared. Then he placed Adam on Eden Mountain. It’s the same pattern that Jesus followed in Luke’s Gospel. No surprise, of course.
So, a branch, part of a tree placed over water. Sound familiar? Well, it was multiple trees[3] that saved Noah and his family from a watery deluge and brought them to a mountain. It was a tree placed in the water that saved the nation from dying of thirst (Ex 15:22f) and led them to a mini-paradise (Elim). A branch saved the day & became the source of life for Israel. A reminder of the tree of life and a future anticipation of another tree which will provide eternal life.
Look for the trees and all their variations (seeds, vines, bushes, thickets, reeds, baskets, fruit, roots, stump, manger, cross, harvest, crops, branches, etc.) to help you understand and keep track of the long story of God’s redemptive program. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.
Can you think of how this BRANCH episode in Moses’ experience was fulfilled in the life of Jesus? What branch comes to your mind?
Thank you for reading.
[1] English translations render this Hebrew word as “staff,” but it is literally “branch,” the same piece of wood which Moses used in Exodus 4:2,20. This is another example of how trees play a unifying role in God’s redemptive story. He used the tree of life to provide eternal life, the ark to maintain life, the branch to continue life in the same way as He used the Jesus’ death on a tree to provide eternal life. Trees are a key.
[2] Hebrews 11:29
[3] We do not know what “gopher” really is. But we know that Noah’s Ark was made literally of “trees.”