WOOD

I

Gopher wood had the capacity

To sustain life’s

Capacity for differentness.

“A vine was before me”

Purple with fruit for

Another.

Acacia wood could bear,

Could form unity

And could be borne.

Cypress gave its tone

To the instruments

Made from it.

Fruitfulness was the apple tree

Distinguished among

The trees of the wood.

Excellent as the cedars!

Dignity and stateliness

Amongst the twisted thorns.

What a grand entrance

Was through

The doors of olive-wood.

Was that too inferential for you?

Perhaps various qualities of wood

- Grains, textures, fragrances, strengths -

Interest or enlighten. History too,

Ancient sources and customs, might provoke

Emotions or thoughts. But that is below

My purpose here: as the cup-bearer

Had a vine before him I have a

Man: His qualities, mien, customs.

The grain always straight, the textures

Beyond man’s apprehension, the fragrance

What delighted God, the strength to break

Death’s power, to bear us through. Name

Once again - Man according to God.

II

Amid man’s constant grappling,

His insolence and fraud

Christ was a tender sapling

Before the eye of God.

He did not take resources

From man’s domain of dearth -

But drew from heavenly sources

Untrammelled by this earth.

And God’s heart was observant

Of that exotic Shoot,

The One who was His Servant,

Who rendered God His fruit.

Here he was the Succeeder

In God’s eternal plan -

His bearing as the cedar,

Our Bridegroom and God’s Man.

Nations will find Him tender

As He returns to stanch

Their wounds when come in splendour -

“The Man whose name is Branch”.

In power He will have finished

Man’s wilfulness and strife;

Men will taste undiminished

Fruit from the Tree of Life.

Jehovah showed Moses wood

Because

Without God showing us

We would not discern

The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood

Not distinguishing the variety

Because

No species can encompass

The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood

Because

Our bitterness

Would only be dispelled by

The distinctiveness of His Man.

Jehovah showed Moses wood

Because

It has always been His delight

To see, and to bring to our sight,

The distinctiveness of His Man.

III

Benaiah, the soldier,

Could use his staff as a weapon

To wrest the Egyptian’s spear.

David, the psalmist,

Knowing God’s staff and rod

Bore his own staff to the conflict.

Jonathan, gatherer,

Used his staff at the time of his triumph

To harvest honey.

The princes, princely,

Dug with their staves

The well in the plains.

Aaron, the priest,

Was possessor of the rod which

Budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds.

Moses, shepherd,

Had the staff of God

For authority and supply.

And Jacob, wanderer,

Home at last,

Worshipped on the top of his staff.

You may know the interpretation

Of each passage. But for a moment

Think of it like this - each one

Clung to something of Jesus; whether

In peace or war, whatever they confronted

They clung to Him. Oh! let me follow their

Example, cling to Christ if in conflict,

Lean on Him in worship. And if we

Can speak of one who will keep us

Without stumbling, how are we sustained:

Depending on our Lord Jesus Christ.

IV

To make the Ark required acacia wood:

A supple wood, well able to endure

And thus to bear the testimony through.

The copper altar required acacia too

To bear the fire and all the heat produced

That God’s delight should daily be ensured.

But this wood also standing as it was hewn

Formed boards by which the tabernacle stood

Since only this in all its strength conduced

To form the tent which God Himself would choose.

One kind of Man could be before God’s heart:

Suited to God within His inner Man.

Only the Christ could be the perfect Ark,

One kind of Man in sufferings and charm

Clears the approach by which we may advance

To God’s abode where we may boldly stand.

One kind of manhood alone is consonant

With Christ Himself and God can rest in that.

Men after Christ now have their heavenly part

Which will remain when death and sin are past.

V

Go up to the mountain and bring wood

That the house of God may be built;

Long since should your sloth have been eschewed,

With your selfishness and your guilt.

Go bearing your axe to hew down trees

That the house’s beams may be strong.

Your vigour will not regret your ease

As you quit the place of your wrong.

How long will you sow but will not reap,

Have your gains in bags full of holes?

The house of your God lies waste, a heap -

Rise, for benefit of your souls.

Go, find there is wood to bear each weight,

There is wood whose scent is refined,

And wood to be carved to decorate

Till God’s house accords to His mind.

How soon will your blessing have accrued!

God will give your singing a lilt:

Go up to the mountain and bring wood

That the house of God may be built.

Help me, Lord Jesus, to provide

The wood offering - to maintain

What is for thy service, without

Pretension, to dependably

Supply unmemorable and

Unsung effort. As others have

Laboured, their names now known only

To God, make me expendable,

Reduced to ash. As Urijah

Would not act for his own comfort

If the Ark and God’s people were

In the fields, even if it meant

His death. As Naboth of Jizreel

Would not abandon his father’s land

Whatever the cost - even if

It meant his death. As Christ’s bondman

Paul spent and was spent, night and day,

That God’s service should continue,

That God’s testimony remain,

Even to the point of his death.

Feb - Jul 1998