“The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.” - Psalms 33:10-11

As we enter a new year we have the natural opportunity to connect with the counsel of the Lord and His plans for us.

“The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.” - Psalms 33:10-11 

This verse contrasts the counsel of the nations with the counsel of the Lord. The word picture for counsel is the image of a tree. The ancient Hebrew root for tree is etz and for counsel it is otz.  The root is 2 ancient Hebrew letters the ayin and the tzadde. The ayin is the symbol for eyes or perspective and the tzadde is a picture of a staircase implying a journey or a climb to ascend to a higher place. Combining them means obtaining the perspective that enables us to go higher. This is what the counsel of the Lord is for.

The Apostle Paul describes this process in Philippians 3:13-14

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php 3:13-14, NAS95)

The Hebrew word for counsel is derived from the image of a tree. A tree has a pattern of growth that moves toward the light. A tree “sees” the source of light and naturally grows to it. This is why it is so important to evaluate where we are, receiving “light” or inspiration for our lives. Yeshua told us:

"The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. "Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.” (Luk 11:34-36, NAS95)

Like the tree, we need light to grow. The Hebrew word for light “or” comes from the root “ar” which means order. The word for counsel being the image of the tree gives us an insight into the importance of what source of light we receive from, the order of the Lord or the chaos of darkness.

Let’s consider some aspects of this embodiment of the Hebrew concept of counsel. When we think of a tree, we first have to think of the seed that the tree comes from. The seed reproduces after its kind.

There are 2 kinds of seed: God-seed and world-seed. They produce 2 very different kinds of fruit from their respective trees.

The trees of righteousness bear good fruit, and the trees of the world bear evil fruit. Yeshua tells us in Matthew 7:15-20

“"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Mat 7:15-20, NKJV)

The connection of false prophets to a bad tree makes total sense when we look at the ancient Hebrew word root, which tells us that the tree is good or bad based on its perspective, leading to eternal life or leading to sin and death.

When we think of the most famous biblical trees, the tree of life, “etz hayyim” or the tree of death known as the tree that brings knowledge of good and evil, “etz ha-da'at tov v’raah”. I think it helpful to look at the tree that brings knowledge of good and evil. God is only good, so knowing Him would also be life. BUT knowing good and evil brings an unsteadiness of life, a double-mindedness that corrupts good with evil.

The word for “knowing” is the Hebrew word da’at, translated as knowledge, first appears in the Bible in reference to this tree. But the second place where it appears is in reference to Adam knowing his wife, Eve. I think this is really important connection because it tells us of a kind of interaction that forever changes reality from a condition of separateness into a new reality of oneness.

The Apostle Paul described the reality of sexual union:

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1Co 6:15-20, NAS95)

In this way, sexual union is an example of “knowing” good and evil, and it tells us why this tree was forbidden. We were never designed to “know” evil. Evil is the opposite of “good,” what God has planned for us. It was a tree that had its forbidden fruit eaten that brought shame, fear and sin into this world.

What does this have to do with counsel and our plans for the future?

I believe Yeshua was hung and killed on a tree to generate a spiritual antidote to the daily intake of good and evil from the world.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"—” (Gal 3:13, NAS95).

It was eating from a forbidden tree that brought the curse and it is eating from the fruit of another tree, the tree we call the cross that frees us back into eternal life, eating from the tree we were designed to eat from, the one that reconnects us to the counsel of God, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples and us: “So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.” (Jhn 6:53-57, NAS95)

Let’s look a little deeper into the source of the dark light so we can be clear about the importance of seeking God’s counsel at this pivotal time in our calendar.

Look with me at Genesis 3:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” (Gen 3:1-7, NAS95)

A couple of things that struck me. One is the reference to false prophets and the connection to fruit is so clear. Satan offers tangible fruit to tempt us away from trusting in God. What are some tangible “fruits” he offers? They are called works or deeds of the flesh: Galatians 5:19-21

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21, NAS95)

These deeds or works all come from a source of counsel, a tree that bends towards the false light of Satan.

“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2Co 11:14-15, NAS95)

Secondly, I noticed that the serpent, Satan, focused on the eyes being opened. We say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How we see things is a huge battleground. The eyes are the windows of the soul, the doorway of possibility, what we call hope. Depression is a state of hopelessness. 

Satan wanted and wants us to lose hope and enter into despair. To win all he has to do is to get us to focus on the circumstances of life, to become realistic. It isn’t that we should live in denial of reality, of the “truth” of our circumstances. That would be as Satanic and illusionary as focusing solely on the “truth” of our circumstances. They are both ditches on the side of the road.

Instead, biblical seeing is opening up our inner sight into the trust in the goodness of our King. It is no accident that as Satan corrupts us through our seeing, and that God restores us through the restoration of Kingdom vision.

“Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (Jhn 3:3, NAS95)

It is by a transformation of seeing, the light we turn to that we bring hope into our lives!

Paul prayed this:

“do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might” (Eph 1:16-19, NAS95)

Activation: As we think ahead it is time for a hope revolution. I encourage you to seek the Lord and His counsel for your lives in the year ahead. Take each area and first look at what is and then ask Him for what His hope or promise is for that area. Bless you as you return to the tree of life, the source of eternal life. Take communion and eat of the fruit of eternal life!