The Shittim Wood
“And shittim wood” (Exod. 25.5). Shittim wood was everywhere in the Tabernacle. The Ark in the Most Holy Place, the altar of incense and the table of shewbread in the Holy Place, the boards and pillars of the Sanctuary, the pillars of the outer court, and the great brazen altar — all were of shittim wood. It has a special lesson to teach us.
The shittim wood comes from a tree of the acacia family. It is the most common wood to be found in any part of the world. Whether you go to North or South India, or to any other warm part of the world, you will find plenty of acacia trees and plenty of shittim wood. And yet it is very little used for anything except firewood.
The Lord Jesus, the Lord of Glory, took upon Himself the form of a common man. He was not born in a King's Palace. He was born in a stable, was laid in a manger, and was brought up as a very humble person. He did not come into the world with any earthly pomp or splendour. Just as an ordinary man He came and lived amongst the poorest people.
But when He spoke it was with authority (Mark 1.22; John 7.46). Looking at His dress, judging by His living, He was a poor man, but when He spoke, it was with divine authority, and not like the Scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees were proud of their long flowing robes and long jeebas. But the Lord Jesus Christ did not come with outward show. He came as shittim wood—the ordinary common shittim wood—so that a man of any country, or of any degree, could say: ‘He is my Lord, my Saviour, my Friend’. He did not come with outward splendour, but nevertheless He brought to us the power, the authority, and the glory of God. Shittim wood tells us how the mighty God, the living God, became man for us (Phil. 2.5-9). Our Lord knew what it meant to be poor. He knew what it meant to go without food. He knew what it meant to go and sleep in the open air, under trees or in the mountains. He knew what it meant to be hated by His own brethren. He knew what it meant to be cast out by His own friends. He knew what it meant to be reviled and falsely accused. He knew what it was to be called Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. He knew it, because “in all things it behoved Him to become like His brethren” (Heb. 2.17-18), that He might face for them every temptation, every trial. That is why we can tell Him all our troubles, for “in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted”.
My attention was drawn at a most difficult time in my life to this verse. Before my conversion I had had a very easy time, with plenty of friends and plenty of money; but after my conversion, my money went and all my friends went, and I had sometimes to do without food for many days, I had even to work as a cook for many months. I had decided that I would never go and ask any man for any help—that I would die of starvation, if necessary, but would never tell any man what I needed.
After some time, I got a job as a cook! A man said, ‘Are you prepared to work as a cook?’ and I said: ‘I do not know how to cook, but anyway I will try’. I had to cook Indian food in an American hotel, for about 500 people. Very early in the morning I had to leave my lodging and go to the hotel to prepare food for so many people. I had to cut up two buckets of onions to make the sauce, with the tears running down my face. Then, standing before a very hot fire, I had to prepare the food— vegetable curry, meat curry and rice—and, at the same time, I knew that if things went wrong I would lose my job and with it everything. In the biting cold I had to go to the hotel, and one day, I felt very sad that I had to face two buckets of onions and the fierce fire. But I had to go anyway, so feeling tired and miserable, I walked along the road and thought sadly: ‘Why has God allowed such a thing in my life? Before my conversion, I had plenty of money, but now I have to work as a cook for a few rupees’.
Suddenly, beside the road, I saw a wooden board and written on it this very verse: “In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb. 2.18). I did not know the verse, but as I stopped there, and read these words I felt comforted. I went on walking, saying to myself: “He is able to succour”. I walked to the hotel, brought the two buckets of onions, and started my work, and as the tears rolled from my eyes, a great joy came into my heart. From that day onwards, I never got discouraged. I thought: ‘My Lord has borne every trial for my sins. He knows what it means to be tempted, that is why He is able to succour me when I am tempted’. When you are being tempted, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ has been through that temptation, and that He is able to succour. That is why He became as shittim wood, that, for the poorest or lowest man, He might suffer with him.
Is it not wonderful? The Lord Jesus Christ knows every heart, and even yours more than you do yourself. Do not think you are suffering alone. You may be saying: ‘Oh! I do not think anybody suffers as much as I suffer. Nobody knows what kind of father or mother I have. Nobody knows what I suffer from my husband, or from my wife.’ But God knows. He knows everything. Please do not try to make excuses for yourself. The Lord Jesus became as shittim wood—perfect Man—that He might help you in any trial, at any time, anywhere.
But we must notice something else. The shittim wood is of the acacia family. If you look at acacia wood you will see that it is never straight. Nowhere will you find a straight branch. It is a very difficult job to make a straight board from shittim wood. Yet all the boards of the Tabernacle were straight boards — the crooked was made straight. How was this done?
The shittim wood that was used in the tabernacle was of the black acacia tree that grows only in the dry barren deserts of Arabia. This shittim wood is hard, tough, smooth, without knots, and extremely beautiful. It is so hard and solid as to be almost incorruptible, and so large that planks twelve cubits long can be cut from it.
What a wonderful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was no crookedness, no deviation, no corruption in Him. Yet He came as a Root out of a dry ground (Isa. 53.2). All of us are by nature very crooked. We may look very good and very righteous outside, but inside we are very crooked, and our Lord became as shittim wood to make us straight.
My mother thought I was a very good boy because I never got into any mischief. I started reading novels in school, and one day I came home with quite a number of them, and was reading until 2 o'clock in the morning. My mother said: ‘Why are you studying so hard?’ I replied, ‘Mother, I have to appear for my examinations, and my teacher told me to read all these books before I come to school. I have to study so hard.’ My mother said, ‘You poor boy’ and gave me extra milk, cream and butter. There I was reading filthy novels, and my mother thought I was studying. I felt so ashamed.
Even though you may be a clever boy or girl, God knows where you are crooked. All of us have got some crookedness in us, so our Lord became as shittim wood to make us straight, for we are crooked without Him, and only straight in Him. Can any man make you straight? It seems impossible, does it not? But, Praise God! “The crooked shall be made straight” (Isa. 40.3 and 4). Our Lord Jesus can make us like that in Him. That is what He desires to work in us. Thank God for the lesson of the shittim wood.