Tiffany Ann Lewis: "Lessons Of Love In The Terebinth Tree"

From the desk of Steve Shultz:

This is an intriguing word about the "Terebinth Tree" from Tiffany Ann Lewis... There are some great parables that I bet you haven't heard of in her teaching here.

I'll give you this...God is a good Father who always has our best interests at heart, even when we don't see it or wonder why situations didn't happen...or as we face some of the challenges we go through and think, "Where is He?"

You'll glean from Tiffany's word in just how good God is even when He restrains us through some of life's journey!

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"Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between Heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on." 2 Samuel 18:9

Boy do I hate it when that happens!! However, sometimes being stuck in the terebinth tree is exactly what I need and I don't even know it. Let me explain.

The Holy Spirit highlighted the words, "Hanging between Heaven and earth" as I read this passage in preparation for the weekend sermon and I saw the restraining hand of God in the terebinth tree. I envisioned Absalom dangling there, struggling to get out of this maddening situation while completely oblivious to what was really going on. You see, Scripture reveals that Absalom was "hanging between Heaven and earth." Something far more significant than hanging beneath the terebinth tree was going on...something spiritual was happening between Heaven and earth at this moment in time.

God Loves Us Enough to Restrain Us

I see the terebinth tree as a type of the Lord's restraining hand of love. While Absalom was a prince and grew up in a palace, he did not have the dream life. He grew up on Dysfunction Junction. His brother, Amnon, raped his sister and his father, King David, didn't do anything about it. So, Absalom killed his brother to avenge his sister yet, the pain was far from gone. (Photo via Wikipedia)

Fast forward several years and we see the bitterness in Absalom's heart raging out of control. He usurped his father's throne and he and his army are on a mission to kill King David. However, in the providence of God, Absalom's army was overthrown and he is left running for his life. In what must have felt like a terrible twist of fate to Absalom, David is safe and he is stuck "hanging between Heaven and earth."

Can you identify? Has life handed you situations you never wanted and turned out like you never imagined? I'm sure this is not the way Absalom wanted life to unfold. Nevertheless, here he is, suspended in midair.

With no ground under his feet, Absalom could no longer run fueled by his rage and revenge. Often, when faced with these kinds of situations we want to run as far from God as our spiritual feet will take us. We run to food, drink, or some other source to get our mind off the pain. Or we run to our anger and it fuels our unforgiveness, rage, and revenge even more. The cycle just keeps going and going until someone stops it. Enter in the terebinth tree...

A Restraining Hand of Love

A gentleman in our congregation, who is a psychotherapist, recently told me of an episode at work where he had to physically restrain a young man. The boy was acting up and was a threat to himself and others. Though the young man was kicking, screaming, and biting, the therapist was able to restrain him and talk him down from the rage that was stirring within.

It doesn't feel like love does it?
If God loved me He would have protected me.
If God loved me He would have let justice reign.
If God loved me He would get me out of this mess.
If God love me... (fill in the blank).

It is during times like this that we become very vulnerable to a particular lie of the enemy—that God doesn't care about our suffering. Or another lie, which is possibly even worse to our tender soul, is that God is getting pleasure out of our pain because it will teach us some lesson in the greater scheme of life.

While it is true that God will use pain and suffering (aka trials) to produce a faith in His children that is more valuable than gold as 1 Peter 1:6-7 teaches us, God takes NO JOY in the painful process we are going through. This particular truth has helped me release my grip a bit and fall into the healing hands of our sovereign God more than once. I pray it will help you too. It is critical that we see His heart as revealed in Scripture or it's going to be very difficult to trust Him in the terebinth tree (restraining hand of God).

Let me show you here in this portion of Scripture.

The Heart of The Father

If we were to look at the whole situation revealed in 2 Samuel 18, we would see that when the soldiers are preparing for battle, King David gave explicit instructions, "...deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom" (2 Samuel 18:5).

Deal gently with Absalom. Now, David knew that Absalom did not deserve any kind of special or gentle treatment; he is, after all, committing treason and trying to kill not just his father, but the king of Israel. Can you see the heart of our heavenly Father displayed in King David here? God wants to give us grace and mercy and deal kindly with us...even when we don't deserve it.

For reasons we will never know this side of Heaven, the soldiers didn't obey the king's command and they killed Absalom. While we might be tempted to say that justice was served and Absalom got what he deserved, once again, I would like us to see the Father's heart in the midst of it. Look with me at 2 Samuel 18:33, "Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: 'O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!'"

This phrase "deeply moved" indicates that David was trembling with his grief. He was not rejoicing over the victory his warriors wrought. He was not rejoicing that Absalom got what he deserved. He was trembling over the reality that he lost his son. This is not how David, Absalom's father, wanted it to end. He was so deeply moved he uttered a prophecy, "If only I had died in your place!" This prophecy was fulfilled over 1000 years later as Jesus, the Son of David, died in our place so that none would perish, so that none would be lost (see 2 Peter 3:9).

His Love Revealed in the Terebinth Tree

I would like to dig a little deeper into Scripture with you. There is a great connection to the terebinth tree and Jesus Christ in the original Hebrew text.

To be clear, we are going to look at the Hebrew meaning of the word, not the botany of the plant. Apparently there is much confusion about what type of tree a terebinth is and some scholars believe that it refers to a large tree, not a specific species. Did the writer mean it was an oak tree or a terebinth tree? Biblical botany (or any other botany for that matter) is not a passion of mine. I can't tell the difference from a weed, a flower, or poison ivy...but I can read Hebrew and what is revealed in the text is stunning.

The word "Terebinth" in Hebrew is: 'elah (Strong's #424) and has been translated as: oak, terebinth, and even as "the valley of Elah" where David killed Goliath (1 Sam. 17:2). It is generally thought of as being a strong tree. However, its root has a wide range of other usage in Scripture. (Photo via flickr)

The root word is 'ayil (St. # 352) and has been translated as: a porch, portico or "arches in" KJV (Ezek 40:16-36); and as a mighty leader in Exod. 15:15. But it's most significant usage is that of a ram, a male sheep in Gen. 15:9 where God makes His covenant with Abraham and again on Mount Moriah as the ram that is caught in the bush becomes the substitute sacrifice for Abraham's beloved son, Issac in Gen. 22:13. It also appears in Ex. 29:1 as the "ram of ordination" that was sacrificed when Aaron and his sons were dedicated to the priesthood.

How a ram is connected to the meaning of this word is a mystery nevertheless, it is connected! Through this divine detail left us in Holy Scripture we can spiritually see Jesus Christ as both our great High Priest and Lamb of God meeting us right there in that terebinth tree! Then He ushers us through the portico and into the holy place through His substitutionary sacrifice so we can meet with the Father face-to-face at His throne of grace.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

Beloved, if you take one thing away from this article, it is my prayer that you can see the terebinth tree is not a place of punishment, it's a place of Divine intervention and a sign of God's love. The "trouble" that we often feel stuck in could very well be saving us from running down a path that will lead us to utter destruction either physically through addiction, exhaustion, and non-satisfaction or spiritually through anger, unforgiveness, and an overall lack of joy.

Hanging in the terebinth tree can be a place where we can look to our Lord and gain the strength to say, "Not my will but Thy will be done." Today, if you are hearing God's voice I pray you have the strength to let go and let God. The healing will come when we let our heart fall into our Father's hands.

Let's pray: Heavenly Father, help us to not harden our heart towards You in the midst of experiencing Your restraining love. Help us to let go of whatever we are hanging onto whether it be a past grudge or a current offense for that which we hold onto holds us. Let it be Jesus. Amen and Amen.

Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing With the Flame of the LORD Ministries
Email: tiffanyann@tiffanyannlewis.com
Website: www.tiffanyannlewis.com

Tiffany Ann Lewis is an enthusiastic Bible teacher with a unique focus on Biblical Hebrew.  She is passionate about empowering individuals through the Word of God, knowing that it will instill a deeper devotion to Him and give them hope for the journey. After all, as the hymn states so well, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and righteousness. Tiffany Ann and her husband Rodney have been married for over twenty-five years and have one darling daughter, Ashley, and two glorious grandchildren, Gloriana and Dean. She is currently working on her Master Degree in Biblical/Theological Studies at Quest Bible Institute & Seminary while she is serving as a pastor at Crossroadz Christian Church in upstate New York.

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