By Kathy L McFarland
7/20/2024
The Mysteries of Trees
Mark 8:22–26 (KJV 1900)
22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
TY200 – INTERPRETATION CONFIDENCE CHART
Typology Known Confidently(Those represented in Scripture with enough frequency, sufficiency, and accuracy to reveal their typological meanings with full Truth of God unchallenged and supported by the Holy Spirit’s teachings)
Almond Tree – The believer, as an almond tree, is a Christian leader, chosen by God, that watches over the works of Christians guided by the Lord, and the people he serves.
Algum/Almug Tree – The Spiritual Life works that honors the LORD God and guides Believers to come closer to Him toward the beauty of His Holiness through the Lord Jesus Christ. Musical worship and high praise are often expressed through these types of Christian works.
Apple Tree – A Spiritual Life that can comfort those that love God, regardless of their status of sin. These Spiritual works provide protection, sweetness of life; the Christians doing these works are often beloved amongst the worldly receivers.(Believers from the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodist Social Services, and other Missionary and denominational efforts to house the homeless, feed the hungry, and provide comfort in despair are excellent examples of this type of spiritual lives lived in duty toward their works for God.)
Ash Tree – A Spiritual Life with a deceived heart, that stands among places of Christians and worships different false gods created by other human beings or self.
Typology Known Probably (Knowledge of Scripture, God’s Way, Logic and common sense in the typological meaning can NOT be confirmed fully with the Word of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit)
Bay Tree–Native spiritual life that develops naturally.
Fake Bay Tree– Imitation spiritual life forced upon believers through powerful coercion, trickery, evil, or control.
Typology NOT Known (Can NOT make even simple assumptions of the typological meaning because there is NOT enough frequency, sufficiency, or accuracy recorded in Scripture, and the Holy Spirit is NOT teaching deeper meaning)
Psalm 37:35–36 (KJV 1900)
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he wasnot:
Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
1. Wicked people in great power try to pretend they are a bay tree
2. Wicked spread like the native tree spreads
3. The LORD God can stop the spread of the fake bay tree, even if it is fruitful.
Bay Tree – 275 אֶזְרָח (ʾěz∙rāḥ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 249; TWOT 580b—1. LN 11.55–11.89 native, nativeborn person, i.e., one who is not of the class of an alien or foreigner, and so a citizen with more social rights (Ex 12:19, 48, 49; Lev 16:29; 17:15; 18:26; 19:34; 23:42; 24:16, 22; Nu 9:14; 15:13, 29, 30; Jos 8:33; Eze 47:22+); 2. LN 2.14–2.28 native soil, i.e., what is a proper soil for a certain species of plant or tree (Ps 37:35)1[1]
Teachings by Kathy L McFarland
Please note that we have added the Bay Tree to “Typology Known Probably”.
This is the first time I have used that category. The Holy Spirit has made it known to me the meaning of Bay Tree, but the evidence to support that is lacking, and makes it difficult to confirm with Scripture.
So, I will proceed and share with you the moving of the Holy Spirit through me, and you must confirm that with the moving of the Holy Spirit within you. I have delayed publishing this study because I have been contemplating the things, I know in the spiritual world that I have witnessed with my own eyes and compared it with the idea of the Bay Tree.
I believe it is a “cultural thing” that makes it easiest to understand. Unfortunately, my culture is different than yours, and I am not certain I can fully teach it within your culture So, I will share mine first, and then hope you are able to explain your legitimate Bay Tree culture and the fake Bay Tree rapes of your culture through your experience. Then, when you study, and learn, you can share with me even better examples of the Bay Tree from where you originate.
This is my personal cultural references:
Native American Indianshad a spiritual religion that developed over centuries in early times before America became the United States. Their spiritual journeys connected the spiritual world to nature and relied upon the analysis of the different things in their world to show them their God.
Whether their God was the same as our LORD God is debated amongst scholars much smarter than me. But history has shown us that the Native Indians relied tremendously upon the Native Spiritual Life that surrounded them from birth to death, and most functioned fully in their worship of natural things created by their God. Their spiritual lives worshipping in their culture was as important to them as our spiritual lives are to us.
Then came the white man that forced their own culture upon the Native Indians. The Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches began forcing Native Indians to give up their natural, native belief, and turn to the Christian religion.
It was a hard struggle for the Native Indians. Not only were they forced from the homelands where they had lived free, and put into government refugee camps called “reservations,” they were also forced to accept a religion that was not naturally theirs. It was difficult on their spiritual and natural lives to assume a spiritual life that was not theirs to begin with.
Early Black Americanscame to America on boats from across the seas as imprisoned slaves. They were often separated from the family and friends and sold to the highest bidder in early American history. They suffered beatings, kidnappings, murders, rapes, and all the horrid evils that surrounded their existence by landowners and rich white people that oppressed and controlled them as possessions rather than people.
As they picked cotton for their master’s or cleared the land for more money to be made, they stood hunchbacked over the land in pain and sorrow. Their Christian religion, and their relationship to Christ, was often the only thing they had to get them through another day to survive the hardships. A unique spiritual life sprang up natively amongst the oppression as they sang to each other in the fields as they bled and sweat for the rich white man. They would create spiritual songs that cried out their pain and others that stirred hope for the Kingdom of God to come soon. Their Gospel songs were native to them, and their songs stirred them to stay in their spiritual lives rather than exist in their natural lives of pain and sorrow.
Here is the shocker! The white owners let them be for the most part. I think they realized that if the slaves were allowed to worship their Lord in the manner they choose, then the work got done faster and better. Or maybe the white owners realized that if the slaves were allowed to worship amongst other slaves, then the threats of violence against the owners were lessened.
Regardless of the reason, the slaves worshipped God in a native way that rose from their unique perspective and lasted to this current day. Black Christian native churches shout out their love for the Lord and sing the Gospels that are dear to them. In my opinion, they are some of the strongest Christians that I know. I believe that their embrace of their native spiritual life and their clinging to the Truth of God carried them through their native spiritual worship of Christ.
A Fake Bay Tree did not grow in their midst, for the most part. It was beneficial to someone, at some time, to just let their worship exist. Today, we are blessed to see its fruits in their rich spiritual lives!
Muslims, Christians, and Jewscame from the same origin, Father Abraham. The Jews and the Christians originated from Mother Sarah, and the Muslims originated from Mother Hagar.
All three spiritual religions natively grew up differently. (Take care that this example does not turn into a proselytizing event; just examine the three different spiritual life religions and understand that all three native spiritual lives differ greatly.)
Muslims, Christians, and Jews worship their God differently. They live their lives differently. Meaning is attached to each based upon the native spiritual life that they have lived with their fellow believers.
Though sometimes aggressive and violent adherents from one religion or another try to destroy the native religion beliefs and replace those beliefs by a fake Bay Tree, success has not often been fulfilled. The only way a Muslim, Christian, or Jew can change their native belief is to crossover to a new religion. No Muslim, Christian, or Jew can change their native belief by staying where they are in their native religion.
(Special note: I speak of generalizations here to get you to consider native spiritual lives vs. fake evil Bay Trees. This does not mean that individuals from one belief or the other cannot be called closer to the LORD God and cross that native divide. I speak only about the larger picture that Muslims, Christians, and Jews live spiritually within our times.)
Well, that is some of the contemplations I have made. I would really like to hear from
your culture, and the native growth, as well as the Bay Tree planting attempts, so I can understand. Contemplate your own culture and share with us your experiences that might help explain the Bay Tree to others.
There will be no questions for the Bay Tree. Instead, I hope that you participate in sharing your cultural understandings with us.
Bay Tree– Native spiritual life that develops naturally.
Fake Bay Tree– Imitation spiritual life forced upon believers through powerful coercion, trickery, evil, or control.
[1] 1 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament)(Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
