Oren, a tall, stately, and splendidly built man with many years of life behind him, loved his prestige in the community. He not only was handsome, but he was also revered above the rest of men because he had a purpose designed just for him. He fulfilled his mission with utmost confidence.
After many years Oren became prideful. Rather than to love his Creator, he became the center of his own love. God warned him several times to humble himself or he would be made humble. Oren did not pay attention.
The Creator took his stature away. No longer was he king of the tall, but Oren laughed at the Creator’s attempt to humble him. Yet, God was patient.
“Oren, humble yourself before Me, or I will humble you before all men,” God said. “Do not rebel against Me, for I am God, and there is no other.”
But Oren paid no attention. Yet his Creator loved him. He showed him grace and mercy, but to no avail for Oren was a stubborn man. He would not give up his pride in himself, in his strength, his resilience, his longevity.
Even after many warnings given by several godly men around him, he laughed, “You’re just jealous!” he mocked. But God is not a God to be mocked.
The creator stripped Oren’s beauty from him. For the first time in his life, Oren felt naked. All his flaws that he had guarded so religiously were exposed. He began to feel shame. He wanted to hide, but there was no place to run; no place to hide. Besides that, the other men in the community decided the best thing would be to get rid of Oren. So they plotted together how to destroy this prideful man.
But God in his mercy sent a man to rescue Oren. When Oren saw the man, he bowed his head and raised his arms in surrender. The Man spoke gently but firmly, “Submit yourself therefore to God and live.”
Oren kept his head bowed and his arms lowered when he spoke. “Lord, I have sinned against You. You are mightier than the mightiest man on earth. You are my Creator, my Lord, and my God. I am sorry for my sins and rebellion, my pride. I am a broken man. My all I surrender to You.” He began to weep.
The Man said, “If you believe that I am He who came from heaven for the salvation of man you will be saved.”
“I believe,” he said. Oren kept his head bowed, but this time he raised his arms in worship and praise to God Almighty. And all the godly men clapped their hands in praise for another soul was saved.
This is an allegory based on a real situation that happened in my backyard. Oren is a personification of a white pine tree and the tree represents all of mankind. The actual white pine tree was the tallest, the most resilient, and beautiful white pine tree in Lexington. That is, until it lost 20 feet from the top in a storm last year, and lost another 15 feet in a storm this year. We contemplated having the tree cut down, but then Mark, who works for a tree service, came to see if it could survive with all the damage done.
“We don’t have to cut it down,” Mark said. “It will survive.”
And so the tree stands with head bowed and its boughs uplifted to its Creator. It is still fulfilling its purpose – to give shade to plants, shelter to birds, an odd beauty for man to enjoy, and a silent witness of the Creator of everything seen and unseen.
Oren is a name of Hebrew origin that symbolizes strength, resilience, and longevity. He was one of five sons of Jerahmeel, who was a descendant of the tribe of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:25).