Fruit is Like Treasure

Although we mostly get our produce from the grocery store and do no think much about if the item is easy or hard to grow, for the Israelites, who were highly dependent on the land for its food, knew what fruit was highly prized.

Jesus uses the idea of fruit to demonstrate what lies inside each person.

43For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:43-45)

Good Fruit
Grapes are a highly prized item. They can be eaten as is. They can be dried and be turned into raisins. They can be crushed and made into wine. The wine could be used at a regular dinner, it could be saved for a special occasion, and wine was also used at the temple.

Figs are sweet treats. Unlike today where we have refine sugar in abundance, in Israel during Jesus’ time, figs were used to made fig cakes, sweet breads and you could press them to produce honey. The fig honey could be used just like we use bees’ honey.

The main thing to note, Jesus is talking about highly prized fruits in this teaching.

Bad Fruit
Thorns and a briar bush are terrible nuisances to Israel. They are invasive species and could easily wipe out a person’s field if they are allowed to invade and multiply. People tried to get rid of these invasive species. In the summer, they dry up. They are a fire hazard and can wipe out a farmer’s field. Also briar bushes and thorn bushes have prickers on them. If you get close or touch one, you may tear your clothes or get jabbed. You want to stay as far away from these plants as possible.

The moral of Jesus’ story is this: if you are an unwanted invasive species, you cannot cloak yourself to look like a fig tree or vine. When it is time to produce fruit, you will have nothing useful. So to is this with man. A wicked man will speak evil. A good person will speak kindness. Whatever is in a person’s heart (i.e., whatever type of plant a person is), his words will reflect his inner self (i.e., he will bear the type of fruit which corresponds to what type of plant he is).


The Wheat and Tares
Jesus speaks another parable in which people are compared to as wheat and tares. (Matthew 13:24-30)

24Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 

28And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” (Matthew 13:24-30)


Things to note:
The word translated as “tare” may be translated as weeds in some Bible. It is actually the word “zizania” which is darnel. Darnel is a type of ryegrass. During its early growing stages, ryegrass and wheat look identical. Even experienced farmers cannot discern between ryegrass and wheat. The only way to distinguish between the two is to let them grow.

Wheat can grow up to four feet tall. In maturity, it is a golden color with brown seeds. Wheat is used to make flour for human consumption. Wheat flour an be made into an endless number of goods.

Ryegrass grows to about 3 feet tall. At maturity, it is purple in color. It has black seeds. Ryegrass is used for pastures and for lawns. Its seeds contain soporific poison. That is, the seeds of the ryegrass induces sleep and dulls awareness and alertness.

Moral of the story, there is a reason the slaves are concerned there has been ryegrass sown among the wheat. If the ryegrass is harvested together with the wheat, the ryegrass seed will contaminated the wheat. The wheat flour will be ruined. If it is eaten, it can cause the person to fall asleep or to lose alertness. If this poison would be allowed to be in the kingdom, everyone would be in a sleep state unable to serve God.


God’s word equals being nourished by water
When trees are mentioned in scripture to represent people, water is also almost always mentioned. Psalm 1 states a righteous person who mediates on God’s word will be as a tree planted by the rivers of water. The wicked will be like chaff (weeds) which are blown away.

1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1)

In verse 1, we are told a man will be blessed if he does not associated with the wicked. The blessed man will take pleasure in the law (torah) of the LORD and he will mediate day and night in the law (torah).

Torah: What does it mean?
The word Torah in our Bibles is translated as law. This translation comes from when the Hebrew Bible was translated from Hebrew into Greek about two hundred years before Jesus was born. There is no word for Torah in Greek. The scholars settled on the Greek word nomos. Nomos means standard, norm or doctrine. Over the centuries, nomos eventually became associated with the English word law.

To translate the word torah to mean law is very erroneous. Torah translated directly into English means teaching, instruction or guide. Torah is derived from the root word yora. Yora means to flow as water. Yora can refer to any flowing body of water such as a stream, river or rain. Yora also means to teach. Yora is the root for the word moreh. Moreh is a teacher.

Although as first glance, a teacher and rain seem to be completely different ideas. However, if you think about what the job of a teacher is, it is to provide nourishment, to provide the right conditions, to foster growth and allow students to grow. The job of water is the same thing. Water provides essential nourishment to plants. Without water, a seed can never germinate and take root.

Now keeping in mind the root word for torah is yora which means flowing water, verse 3 states a blessed man will be like a tree. The tree will be planted by flowing waters. You can see the association between the torah (which means to teach) and its root word yora (which means flowing waters). Translating this verse another way, if a man keeps to God’s instructions, he will be nourished. This nourishment will allow the man (tree) to bear fruit.

The wicked shall perish
In verse 4-6, this is eerily similar to Jesus’ teaching about the wheat and tares. Remember, the tares are burned up, but the wheat are spared and placed into the storehouse.

Lastly, the chaff being compared to the wicked and being burned up are some of the last words recorded in the Old Testament. The prophet Malachi says the following:

1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:1-3)

We need to prepare ourselves to take root by rivers of water. We need to be nourished by God’s word and develop a deep root system. Then we trials come or famine or draught, we will be able to endure by having a strong foundation. Jesus says a similar message in Matthew 7.

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)