36 TREES IN NATURE, MYTH & ART 



came up to her for judgment ". It was '' under 

 an oak which was in Ophrah" that the angel 

 of the Lord came and sat, and spoke to Gideon, 

 telling him that it was he who was to save 

 Israel from the hand of the Midianites. 



Those who are familiar with the beliefs of 

 many countries will readily see in some of 

 these biblical narratives a belief in the tree 

 as oracle, or medium of communication be- 

 tween gods and men. The voice of God 

 came to Moses from the burning bush ; and 

 David, when he inquired of the Lord, how 

 and when he should attack the Philistines, 

 was told "thou shalt not go up; but fetch a 

 compass behind them, and come upon them 

 over against the mulberry-trees. And let it 

 be, when thou hearest the sound of a going 

 in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then 

 thou shalt bestir thyself; for then shall the 

 Lord go out before thee, to smite the host 

 of the Philistines." 



What a vivid picture Isaiah draws of the 

 worship of image and tree, or, at least, of the 

 image made from the tree ! '' Who hath formed 

 a god, or molten a graven image, that is profit- 

 able for nothing ? . . . The smith with the tongs 



