two trees

Last night at the end of the teaching on Genesis 3 we talked about how the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a shadow of the cross. I shared a poem that I had written as I was preparing the study, and I am posting it now for those of you who have asked. People tend to either love poetry or loathe it. If you are the latter, feel free to skip this post!

I love words and seem to have been born with the Dr. Seuss gene (curse?), so when a truth hits me hard it sometimes comes out in verse. It is hard to share poetry - I think it is the most intensely personal form of writing someone can do. It makes me feel about as exposed as Adam and Eve with their flimsy figleaf ensembles. But I have found that sometimes the hardest things to share are the very things we should offer up for consideration, so here we go...

Two Trees

There is a tree set broad and high,
Partake of it, if you would die.
There, on its branches, plain to see
A feast for thee.

“Take and eat”, O hear the Lie
I live still, and yet I die
Good and evil now I see
O cursed me.

But, see –

There is a tree set broad and high,
Partake of it, if you would die.
There, on its branches, plain to see
A feast for thee.

“Take and eat - my flesh I give”
Die I do, and yet, I live
Shattered curse by Thy decree,
O blessed Tree.

j. wilkin 8.18.10