Cedars of Lebanon are a symbol of power and durability
Assyria is likened to be a cedar of Lebanon by God in Ezekiel 31. Assyria had a tremendous amount of power and wealth. During its height, it was the ruling empire of the world. The rulers of the empire believed they could not be toppled. Like the cedar of Lebanon, they would stand tall and would last many centuries. God, on the other hand, speaks about what he will do to the Assyrian empire using the cedar of Lebanon as an analogy.
3Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And very high,
And its top was among the clouds.
4The waters made it grow, the deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of many waters as it spread them out.
6All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,
And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
7So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended to many waters.
8The cedars in God’s garden could not match it;
The cypresses could not compare with its boughs,
And the plane trees could not match its branches.
No tree in God’s garden could compare with it in its beauty.
9I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.
10‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away. 12Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it.
13On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.” (Ezekiel 31:3-14)
In the last days, God will destroy everything which is lifted up and highly exalted. This includes nations which view themselves as the cedars of Lebanon.
12For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against everyone who is proud and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be abased.
13And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,
14Against all the lofty mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
15Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
16Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.
17The pride of man will be humbled
And the loftiness of men will be abased;
And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18But the idols will completely vanish.
19 Men will go into caves of the rocks
And into holes of the ground
Before the terror of the Lord
And the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.
20In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves to worship,
21In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs
Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.
22Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
For why should he be esteemed? (Isaiah 2:12-22)
Lastly, God compares a righteous person to be like a cedar of Lebanon in Psalm 92.
12The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
14They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green, (Psalm 92:12-14)
Using Psalm 92 as a springboard, let’s look at what it means to yield fruit or to put it another way, to bear fruit.
To bear fruit
A tree needs the proper environment to produce fruit. One of the biggest factors in determining if a tree will produce fruit is the supply of water available. Fruit contains a high percentage of water. Oranges are 87% water. Peaches are 88% water. Grapefruit are 91% water. For a tree to yield fruit, a water source must be in an abundant supply. The importance of the man being told he will bear fruit in season is that a water source (i.e., God’s instruction) will be abundant. If a man keeps to God’s word, he will bear fruit.
This idea of bearing fruit should be extremely familiar to us. The very first command God gives Adam and Eve is to be fruitful and multiple (Genesis 1:28). Many believe when God said to be fruitful, He meant to have lots of offspring. One could translate this as bearing the fruit of one’s loins, but if this was so, God would not have needed to say “and multiple”. Words are precious. An alternative translation is the fruit God is speaking about is having deeds in your life which bear witness to Him.
To bear fruit means to have things in your life which bear witness to your study of God’s word.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Where do we get fruit?
In the Book of Hosea, God is chastening Israel for being disobedient. God compares Israel to being an adulteress. After many chapters of sharp rebukes, chapter 14 gives hope to Israel that if he returns to God, he will be fruitful and have prosperity.
1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our lips.
3Assyria will not save us,
We will not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’
To the work of our hands;
For in You the orphan finds mercy.”
4I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
From Me comes your fruit.
9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them. (Hosea 14)
Things to note:
Verse 5, God says He will be like dew. Again, dew is essential water needed by plants. In Israel, the climate is very dry. The plants rely heavily on dew for their water source.
As air heats up, its ability to hold water increases. Air which is 80 degrees can hold far more water than air which is 50 degrees. During the day, as the sun heats up the air, the air sucks up moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, etc. The upper atmospheric winds distribute the air throughout Israel. At night, when the sun sets, the air temperature decreases. The ability for the air to hold water decreases. When air comes in contact with an object warmer than the air temperature, condensation forms on the warmer object. This is referred to as dew. Since Israel is a dry climate, dew is an essential water source for plants and animals.
When God says he will be like dew to Israel, it means He will be their main source of water. He will keep them alive in the dry summer months when rain in scarce.
Verse 5-7 speaks about Israel being a cedar, olive tree, vine, etc. These are all main plants in Israel and are highly valuable. (There is uncertainty about the word translated as “lily” here, what that actually referred to. So I will not speculate what the significance is for the plant species.)
Verse 8 tells us it is God who gives the fruit. This is incredibly important. If we are not seeing fruit in our lives—love, joy, peace, kindness, etc.—it may be that we are not following God’s word or are not applying the word. When we walk in God’s ways, our lives should produce fruit. If we do not produce fruit or are producing bad fruit, we need to re-examine our lives.
In Galatians 5, Paul writes about what the fruits of the Spirit are versus what the fruits of the flesh are.
14For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, 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.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:14-24)
In short, if you want to bear fruit, you need to follow God’s word which Paul sums up as being Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
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