In a recent job interview, I was asked this question: ‘If you were a tree, what type of tree would you be?’.

To be honest, this question threw me a little. My first thought was ‘I’m not a tree and what do trees have to do with it?!’ However, I understand the reason for the question…to find out more about me, and how I perceive myself, in a lighthearted, fun way. I came up with a vague answer and we moved on, but the question has stuck with me since. In particular, because I subsequently thought about what trees represent in scripture and, therefore, in dreams.

In Daniel, chapter 4, we read King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a tree. He saw “a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed.’ He saw an angel come and say ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field. “ ‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him.’

The dream made him very concerned and only Daniel could interpret it for him. Daniel explained that the tree was the king himself, that God had ‘issued a decree against the king: he would be driven away from people and live with the wild animals; eating grass like the ox and drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.’ The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots meant that the kingdom would be restored to Nebuchadnezzar, when he acknowledged that ‘Heaven rules’. In the king’s dream, he was acknowledged to be great and strong; his kingdom extending far and wide. However he was being warned that, for his prosperity to continue, he would have to renounce his pride and be kind towards the oppressed. He chose to ignore the warning and, only 12 months later, what is shown in the dream is exactly what happened to him.

So trees in dreams often represent leaders, though not exclusively so. They can also represent fruitfulness (productivity, prosperity) or lack of it, and have other meanings; depending on the context of the dream.

Trees are used as symbols in many places in the Bible, to express, represent and describe truth in a way we can understand. This use of symbols applies to dreams too. For example, in Jeremiah, the Lord describes someone who trusts in Him as a ‘tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’ In Psalms 1, someone who delights in God’s law is described as being ‘like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.’ The tree imagery conveys the sense of security, deep rootedness, and lack of anxiety someone experiences when they continually trust in God.

At the interview, when I described what kind of tree I would be, I answered ‘Well, I would be a big, strong tree, not a spindly one!’ That may not have seemed an inspiring answer to those present at the time (I wasn’t offered the job!) but I was on the right track – according to scripture…