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What About the Trees? Another Living Parable

What About the Trees? Another Living Parable

Last updated on: October 12, 2026 at 5:04 pm by David Weiss

What About the Trees? Another Living Parable 2026-10-12T17:04:52-04:00 David Weiss

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Autumn Leaves

Image of autumn leaves curtesy of Wikimedia Commons, manipulated by the author.

After I finished writing the last article about falling leaves as a living parable. I thought of something more. This often happens, but this one stuck. I reread the article after posting with a more rational eye. While the point about the importance of letting go cannot be ignored, but there’s more to the story. Letting go is part of a larger design.

There Is a Time for Every Season

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” There is a time for the coming of the leaves, and there is a time for the leaves to fall. There’s a time for the tree to be bare and for the roots to be driven deeper. This allows the tree to bear the weight of new leaves, as the cycle begins again. The change of the seasons allows the tree to “live long and prosper.” There’s a time for ever season under heaven, for trees and in life. This reminds us of the eternal nature of life, and draws our hearts to heaven. Letting go of earthly things draws our hearts to the eternal.

But What About the Trees?

Jesus took our minds to the vine and the branches. He showed us that the key to a fruitful life is our connection to Him. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to switch out the word “vine” for “tree.” The connection is still about fruitfulness. He is the trunk of this family tree and we branch out from Him, empowered and nourished by Him so we can bear fruit. We branches are pruned by God to be more fruitful. The key is as long as we are connected to the tree, fruitfulness remains.

A Different Metaphor

Back in the seventies, my all time favorite band, Rush, brought out a song called The Trees. The premise of the song is laid out in the first verse:

There is unrest in the forest.
There is trouble with the trees.
For the maples want more sunlight,
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

It’s a brilliant little piece of Neil Peart poetry, though as I age I struggle with the premise. It’s a bit too socialistic, or maybe humanistic, for me, and the conclusion the song comes to no longer hits with me.

Hatchet, Axe and Saw

The song ends with these words:

So the maples formed a union,
And demanded equal rights.
They say, “The oaks are just too greedy,
We will make them give us light”

Now there’s no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

I loved this song, and I still do. When I first heard it, my teenage heart soared at the idea of forced equality. Back then my heart was consumed with getting even, but is forced equality, really equality? Isn’t forced equality just a different form of oppression? Is the best answer ever found at the edge of a blade? Wouldn’t it be better to lift others up rather than cutting someone down? Because remember, these aren’t really trees, they’re people.

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

In Isaiah 61, we see trees become living parable. The passage starts off by talking about the Spirit of the Lord being upon someone to do great things for the poor and the broken hearted.This person will free the captives and release those who imprisoned. He will “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” It’s a Messianic prophecy that points to the Messiah. This is the passage Jesus read in the synagogue to announce who He is and why He came. That was the truth. He is the Messiah, but He almost got himself killed for His proclamation. Fortunately, it was not His time.

A Better Kind of Oak

The passage continues by speaking of what the Messiah will do for the people. Giving them beauty for ashes. In other words He will remove their mourning. He will give them gladness instead of despair, but then look what it says.

Isaiah 61:3 “that they may be called oaks of righteousness,”

Wait, I thought oaks were a bad thing. Nope, that’s the wrong metaphor. These are oaks of righteousness. Yes, they stand tall, but they also stand out, and they stand out by being good. More importantly they stand out by being righteous and doing good. Next the verse tells us why they will be this way. “the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” The Lord planted them here to bring glory to His name. Folks, this is who we, as followers of the Messiah, are supposed to be. Actual oaks are rooted in the earth and stand tall. Similarly, we who are in Christ are supposed to stand tall in righteousness, and be rooted in Christ. Further, we are supposed to do this to bring glory to God.

Stand Tall

How will we do this? The verse tells us. We will build up the ancient ruins; raise up the former devastations; and repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. In other words, these “righteous oaks” aren’t here to grab up all the light. Rather we are here to make things better. This is what many of us are trying to do in big and small ways. So why is the instinct of many to get out their hatchets, axes and saws to cut us down? I think it has to do with the light of glory. They want a glory of their own, apart from God.

Don’t Cut Down the Oaks

Many people can’t see this far. Perhaps they can’t see the metaphorical forest for the trees. They think cutting down the oaks is the answer, but that is a very humanistic view. This is the problem with the song. All people can see is the oaks get too much light, but what if you cut down all the oaks. With the oaks out of the way, it makes the maples the tallest. The question is how long will it be before the pines will want to cut down the maples. If this continues, the forest will be clear cut and then no one wins.

We’re Not Really Trees

The trouble with the oaks in the song is they are stuck in one place, and as the tallest everything else is stuck in their shade. The thing is they can’t move. They’re trees. We’re not really trees, that’s a metaphor. While we are rooted, that’s a metaphor too. If we are rooted in Christ we have a call to go and make disciples. It’s a calling to go out and share what we have found, which lifts people up. We help them find the Messiah Isaiah spoke of, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will help them to become oaks of righteousness too. As such they become a planting of the Lord, too. God will make them able to move about and continue the building up, and the raising up and the repairing. Together we will make the world a better place, to the glory of God, rooted in Christ.

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About Dave Weiss

Dave Weiss is a pastor and a traveling speaker. He has written and/or illustrated many self-published books and has his MDIV and DMIN, both with a concentration in Creative Arts Ministry. He is married to his wife Dawn and has two adult sons and a grandson named David. You can read more about the author here.

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