Stating the Obvious
“Where a tree falls, there it will lie.”
You might be thinking, “thanks for stating the obvious”, but what if I told you that this is a biblical truth? King Solomon is lauded throughout history for his wisdom, with dignitaries from kingdoms around the world traveling great distances to meet him and hear his proverbs. Yet in the middle of the book of Ecclesiastes there exists this seemingly out of place statement of the obvious:
“If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or
the north, In the place where the tree
falls, there it shall lie.” (Ecclesiastes 11:3)
So what exactly is the purpose of this rather odd statement of the obvious? After searching through dozens of alternative translations of this verse only to find very little variation between texts I was forced to come to one very simple conclusion. While many may try to imbue a much deeper meaning to this verse due to the fact that Solomon was known throughout history as the wisest man to ever live, the truth is often much simpler than we at first assume.
Let us start with first acknowledging that although Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes, the wisdom given to him came from God. In the New Testament, Timothy reminds us that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). So technically we can say that these are not Solomon’s words, but God’s. So why then did God state such an obvious fact? The most obvious reason can be summed up by Jesus Christ’s own statement in John 17:17, “Your word is truth.” Well, is it true that when clouds swell up with water that they dump out their rain upon the earth? Yes. Is it also true that if a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where it falls, there it shall lie? Also yes.
All too often we tend to glaze over the simple fact that God’s word is truth. Here Solomon gives us a truth that is so basic it is almost insulting, “hey, where a tree falls, there it lies”. It’s like saying, “wherever you go, there you are.” This is baby stuff. Any child could tell you this! So why does the wisest man in history allocate precious space in his works for such a basic statement? To remind us of this simple fact: “Thy word is truth”. God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2) , and this obvious statement is a testimony to that.
All too often we tend to glaze over the simple fact that God’s word is truth.
Knowing then that God cannot lie, and that He takes the time to state such obvious truths as “where a tree falls, there it will lie”, shouldn’t we also believe with unshakable certainty His word when He states through Paul in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”?
Sometimes we have to let God speak the obvious into our lives. Next time you are caught in a rainstorm or are out on a hike and see a downed tree, remember this and tell yourself, “just as surely as that tree lies where it fell, nothing can separate me from the love of my Savior”. Be blessed!
