Category Archives: Fruit and Nuts

Fruit and Nuts – Date Palms and Israel

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This post has grown from my repeat reading of Psalms and Isaiah. Dates and especially palm trees are mentioned with several important places and practices in Israel. Please, do not get your metaphorical hackles raised because of my choosing Israel as the ‘nuts’ in this post; it is not about all of the Children of Jacob.

Once again, I am telling on myself. I was comfortable with the level of study I had done on dates; can’t say Father God was. So, with the Small Voice in my heart, I dived into the subject like I should have done at first.

The Fruit – Dates and the Palm Trees

  • The Hebrew words connected with palms are Strong’s H8558 to H8561. H8558 is the main root word, more on that later.
  • Dates as consumable food is mentioned twice in the Bible and the references tell the same story. The occasion is when David brought the Ark of God to Jerusalem: 2 Samuel 6:19 and 1 Chronicles 16:3. He gave a date cake and a raisin cake to every man and woman who joined in the party. I would guess it was to make sure the people had food on the trip back to their houses. That act of concern reminds me of Jesus feeding the multitudes after teaching them in the wilderness. That had to be a lot of dates and raisins. Given the archeology and historical evidence, I find it unusual that there are not more references to them as food. Strong’s Hebrew: 829. אֶשְׁפָּר (eshpar) — Finger joint, knuckle date rolls or cakes. 2 Samuel 6:19 Hebrew Text Analysis men and women got a set.
  • In Song of Songs 7:7+8 it talks about palm trees and then it seems to switch to grape vines and clusters of grapes; actually, it is ‘clusters on the vine’. As I have looked at Hebrew words and their roots, the great imaginations that formed them are amazing.    Song of Solomon 7:8 Hebrew Text Analysis  Judean date palm – Wikipedia The fruit on the tree has a draping quality that could resemble a cluster of grapes hanging on a vine, the stem looks like a vine. You will need to find a picture of a date palm in fruit:) Many translations could be better because they just assumed it was grapes.
  • Tamar is the name of several women in the Bible. It comes from the palm tree’s quality of standing tall and erect. Find these women’s stories in the Bible, one is grandmother of Jesus.
  • There is an associated word that connects the upright quality of Palms to buildings. The art work in the Solomon’s Temple is rooted in this word. He put palm trees as decorations on the panels of the Temple, 1 King 7:36. Strong’s Hebrew: 8561. תִּמֹרִים (timorah) — Palm tree, column, pillar
  • Date and Palm Trees – Yes, there were other types of palms in the Levant, but the date palm was the most abundant, it seems okay to think of all references to palms as date palms. (Think H8558) Strong’s Hebrew: 8558. תָּמָר (tamar) — palm trees, palm, palm tree The first use of this word is the comforting oasis in Exodus 15:27 and Numbers 33:9; it was a green spot with flowing water in the middle of a sand-sea. The last use of this word is in Joel 1:12 where locusts are ravishing the land. That thought is a good segway into the ‘Nut’ portion of this post.
  • Jericho needs to added into the ‘first’ list for palms. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. The name places it as an oasis with palms trees. So, the Children met palms when they left Egypt and when they entered the Promise Land; a good place to compare and contrast for teaching purposes.
  • Branches from these trees are included in two customs in the Bible. With a connection to the oasis, the Festival of Booths (Day of Atonement) encourages the building of their booths using palm branches. The second custom is welcoming the king by laying down palm branches in his path, that would include David and Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. A practical aspect here is to cut down on dust.
  • Isaiah 9:14 uses palm branches as a metaphor for the elders and prominent men of Judah, the ‘head of society’; while the false prophets are portrayed as reeds or the tail of society for teaching lies.

BibleGateway – Keyword Search: palm

The Nuts – Israel

This “nut” was not picked lightly and has been hard for me to crack. To break this one open and see the meat inside has proven difficult. I will extend the metaphor a little further; part of any nut is not edible, but even the non-edible part can be useful. The Father has always reserved part of Abraham and Sarah’s children for Himself, even as most of them fell from the faith-tree that this couple planted and rolled after other gods. Spiritual Israel this might be a good time to check your stock in this family tree.

Israel started out as Jacob and the use of both names needs to be considered as part of any lesson where both appears. Many will break them apart as a function of history, but it is a good time to “be still and know God”. As northern Israel and southern Judah cracked apart, they still shared the rootstock of Jacob/Israel, so, look a little deeper.

I picked these talking points from the withered, dead nuts that choose to drop from the faith-tree. You may have others or even call them something different, I am okay with that. Were they the root problem or the bad fruit? I may think about that for a while.

  • Eye Candy – This problem showed up as Israel camped under the Cloud in front of Mt. Sinai and reappeared in Judges all the way through to the Assyrian/Babylonian exiles. The People wanted a god they could see and party around; the nations that surrounded them had idols, a physical thing they could touch, kiss, and make. Psalm 106 (a historical psalm) is a good reference, but they are mentioned in many Books of the Old Testament. Psalm 106:19,20 talks about the golden calf and verses 35 to 39 add references to continued unfaithfulness by making gods.
  • Prostitution – Along with the ‘eye candy’ came burning incense and sex. It may have been in the high places, sacred groves and gardens, or pagan temples, male and female prostitutes were part of demon worship; they even made it in to the Temple in Jerusalem under some of the bad kings. Judah, son of Jacob, worshipped with a shrine prostitute, or so he thought in Genesis 38:13; it was Tamar his daughter-in-law (you still need to find the others). Isaiah 2:6-8 and 65:1-12 also talk about this prostitution. Christians like to spiritualize this subject, and Father God also accuses Israel of spiritual prostitution. Unfortunately, some churches and denominations have placed worldly agends over Jesus’ Resurrection and the work of the Holy Spirit. Also see 2 Kings 17:9. John in the Book of Revelation quotes Jesus confronting this problem in His church at Thyatira with a woman who claims to be important, Jezebel. I see no reason to believe that this was just a “spiritual prostitution”. Please, note that not all in that church were led astray.
  • Greed – Another topic that may not get a lot of pulpit-time. Did ancient Israel have a problem with greed? Yes, and with the rest of humanity God gave us the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20; the last few cover the subject very well. Jesus in Matthew 19:16-22 covers the topic again for us with the rich young ruler. If you need a reference in between those check out Isaiah 3:14-15 and read Proverbs, Solomon does talk about things connected to being greedy.

The relationship between Israel and God has had its problems, just read Kings and Chronicles. But they are God’s chosen people through Abraham and some always look to the Father; Elijah thought he was alone but God had 7,000 that had not worshipped Baal, the servant girl who bragged on Him to Naaman, Nehemiah and Ezra, Esther, and the Prophets, the list is long. The seven Christian churches in Revelation tell a very similar story; some had problems, some did not. There is good inside that hard outer shell.

Jacob/Israel and his family are this study. I try to study this name change and how it is used many times in Scripture, when it shows up in another study. This time, I found connecting words and stories in Genesis 32:22-31 and Hosea 12:3. I found the words in these two passages very interesting.

Bear Fruit

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I recently viewed the movie Jesus & His Times by Questar Studios, released in 2009. There are many good ideals, scenes, and scenery in this movie, I watched it through Prime Video. One hour into the film they talk about grapevines and wine, with connections to various aspects of first century Jewish life. In this section they address John 15:2, my focus of this post. With all of that said I will state this is a STUDY not an ANSWER.

The earthly kingdom of God and our Lord Christ Jesus is built around being connected to the Vine and bearing fruit. The management of the branches and fruit are the core of this verse and the section that includes loving God and fellow members of the kingdom and mankind. The movie questions the phrase “cuts off”. They assert that the practice Jesus knew would have been to “lift up” the branch and place it on a rock to keep it from making its own roots and allowing it to produce fruit. Okay, that could be good for several sermons in itself. For me it was a challenge to think through how I view the Father and His dealings with us. To demystify that sentence, will God pick you up to help produce fruit or just cut you off? The movie writers assert that there is a misinterpretation of the word αἴρω (airō) Strong: G142. This is the study.

It is important to see how God reveals His glory to Moses, Exodus 34:5-7.

Start with these:

Please look at the cultural context sections and the corresponding Hebrew words, Nasa and Massa.

An important fact about concordances, they list root words. So, many words we search for are a variation of the word you find in the concordance. The actual word in John 15:2 is Greek Concordance: αἴρει (airei) — 8 Occurrences. (God bless translators.) You should read through those eight verses putting them in context.

  • Matthew 9:16, Mark 2:21. The question to Jesus was about fasting and He answers with examples of a wedding ceremony, patches, and wineskins.
  • Mark 4:15, Luke 8:12. Jesus is explaining the Parable of the Sower to His disciples. This is where the seed hits the path, and Satan takes the Word right away.
  • Luke 11:22. Jesus was driving out a mute demon and was accused of doing it with power from the lord of the flies. Our word is in one of the four comments He made in response to their unbelief.
  • John 10:18. Jesus is talking about Himself and His mission after He healed the man who was born blind in John 9. He has found the man and the Pharisees are running mouth.
  • John 15:2. This part of Jesus’ last meal with His disciples before He goes to the first garden.
  • John 16:22. This also is part of the last fellowship Jesus had with His disciples; He is talking about their joy. Judas Iscariot has been gone from the dinner since Chapter 13.

Cuts off or lifts up, you may have to go back each time airei is used and reread inserting the phrases. I hope you can see why this is a study and not an answer. Another study to help this one is BibleGateway – Keyword Search: bear fruit.

Fruit and Nuts-Two Synagogues

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The two synagogues in question are in Thessalonica (nuts) and Berea (fruit). Paul traveled to these synagogues during his second missionary trip. It is interesting that Paul did not write a letter to the Berean church (that we know of). Maybe they just continued to produce good fruit.

A Little History

Synagogues are a product of the Pharisees. They came into being during the inter-testament period, and play a major role, in the life of Jews, after the Temple’s destruction in 70 A.D. Acts 17:2 states that it was Paul’s custom to go to the synagogues first when entering a city. I take the habit to stem from the thought of Jew first and then the Gentile. Preaching to Gentiles was not a problem, as this is part of the mystery of the Kingdom. Part of the offerings during Pentecost were two loaves of bread made with yeast-one representing Jacob (natural children of Abraham) and the other Israel (spiritual children of Abraham).

Thessalonica

The stop in Thessalonica was the second in Macedonia, Philippi was the first. Paul, Silas, and Timothy were here over twenty-one days before being chased out of town and moving to Berea.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul said he taught Jesus as Christ and Him crucified, and had demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit-healings, signs and wonders, and the giving of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. I believe he did this wherever he taught. His success in winning over converts made the Jews jealous.  

The “nut” part comes from the accusation the Jews made before the city officials. Jews walked a fine line in the kingdom of Rome. They had to acknowledge Caesar as king but could pass on his worship as a god. So, the attack came from success, unbelief, and the fear of losing their pass on the worship of Caesar. Nuts have a hard shell. Metaphorically, this accounts for the attack on the missionaries in Berea. The Good News could not enter them. They also did not get to crack them the first time, so they followed them to Berea. Acts 17:6 is a very telling statement- “they have caused trouble all over the world”. You must wonder just how powerful the Way really was in the first century?

Berea 

The Bereans may have been the ancient ancestors of the “Show Me State”. They received the message but studied every day to check on Paul’s teachings. Historical facts end, more or less, in verse 15. Silas and Timothy stayed on. Maybe they took oversight of that church. It would be possible that they picked elders, as Timothy did on another occasion. Everyone wants the “noble character” moniker, so many churches and movements adopted the name Berean in order to identify themselves.

The Two Churches

As we see in Scripture many times, God starts in the dark and takes us to the light. In a black moment, for Paul, Jesus took him to Berea. This dark moment started when the jealous ones started a riot in Thessalonica and had Paul’s followers beaten. 1 Thessalonians 2:1has Paul telling those believers the visit was “not a failure”. The church in Thessalonica was not a failure and produced and stayed productive for many years. Aristarchus and Secundus are part of that fruit (Acts 20:4 and 27:2).

Many scholars put 1 Thessalonians as the first Letter Paul wrote. 1 Thessalonians 3:1 makes you think they wrote it several months after the first visit while Paul was in Athens (Acts 17:16). So, 1 Thessalonians may be the best look at what Paul taught and preached to new believers when he entered a city. It contains elements of “faith, hope, and love” (1Cornithians), the beginning of the teaching on the “armor of God” (Ephesians), and what we call end-times teaching. 2 Thessalonians really does not have a timestamp in it, but it was probably at or after his stay in Ephesus.

Acts 17-20 may only span 4 chapters, but it covers several years. Acts 20 mentions a return visit to Macedonia, which would include Berea and Thessalonica, before he traveled to Jerusalem and his imprisonment.

How much Paul traveled is open for debate because, in Titus, he talks about wintering in Nicopolis. Why would you “winter” somewhere you have never been? Nicopolis is an area on the west side of Macedonia.

Thessalonica was still active at the writing of 2 Timothy because Demas deserted Paul and fled there.

Berea also produced the fruit of Sopater son of Pyrrhus, one of Paul’s students and traveling companions (Acts 20:4).

Two cities with two synagogues produced the fruit of two churches we still study today; unfortunately, some nuts were required to get things cracking.  

Fruit and Nuts – Olives and Pistachios

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Olives, wow what an iconic plant that represents not only the Church but also God the Holy Spirit.

The tree was very important to the daily life of people throughout the Bible. But unlike some of the other fruits I have looked at it was the oil made from the olive berries that held the most importance to daily life. In my studies I found that the olive berries were eaten, usually preserved in saltwater, but that the oil was used for many things – light, medicine and anointing. There were other oils (sesame and walnut) in use during Bible times but at least in the Bible it seems that when you see oil it was olive oil. I had to check but I could not find one reference to olive berries being eaten in the Bible.

The first mention of olives, in Genesis, is the leaves found in the dove’s mouth that Noah sent out after the flood. The last mention of olive trees is found in Revelation and they represent the two prophets in chapter 11. Either olives or oil is mentioned in most, but not all, of the books of the Bible.

Paul in Romans 11:17 – 24 represents spiritual Israel as a olive tree that we were grafted on to in the place of unbelieving Israel. That scripture tells me two things: first, heed Paul’s warning about arrogance toward Israel and that they knew how to graft fruit trees two thousand years ago!

The olive oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit’s anointing and gifts. Getting the oil required that the olives be crushed in an olive press the same technique is used today and the grades of oil come from the milling and collection process. It paints an interesting picture for us Christians who want God’s anointing. Are you ready to be crushed in order to be useful to the Church?

Another interesting fact I learned in my study was that olive trees have no growth rings so you cannot accurately tell the age of the tree.  Just like the Church, it is an “ageless” growing organism that is to be producing fruit.

Mount of Olives http://www.bibleplaces.com/mtolives.htm

a good article http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/janick-papers/fruits-bible.pdf

Picture of olive tree http://www.freepik.com/index.phpgoto=2&k=olive&isCat=1&isKeyword=1&order=2&vars=2

olive press 

http://handsonjewishholidays.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/11/chorazinolivepress.jpg

Pistachio Nuts

There is only one reference to pistachio nuts in the Bible (they did make it) and that is in Genesis 43:11.  They are part of the “gift” the brothers are to take back with them when they return to Egypt. I got the feeling Jacob was not only trying to bribe the “Man” but maybe open up a trading business. If you look at this story in Genesis chapters 42 and 43 the big thing I find interesting is the name shift, in chapter 42 it is Jacob in 43 it is Israel. (see What Was His Name) Maybe the shift here is because in chapter 42 Jacob is focused on himself while in 43 he is focused on the “family.”

The links below are interesting; check them out if you have the time.

pistachio nuts blog http://nutgourmet.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/nuts-in-the-bible/#comments

fun facts http://www.foodreference.com/html/f-pistachios.html

pictures of pistachio tree and nuts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistachio

nice website about Israel, its food and land http://judaism.about.com/od/conservativejudaismfaq/a/dov_tubshvat_3.htm

Fruit and Nuts – Grapes + Recabites

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Grapes, raisins, vines/branches, and wine

When it comes to symbolism what better icon is there than the grape plant for representing the Church of Jesus?  Jesus used it in parables, it is part of our communion and it is referred to throughout Scriptures. Now as with most symbols you can attach several meanings to grapes and its vines; I am going to look at a few and let God reveal others to you.

  1. Part of Communion – The wine is to represent the Blood of Jesus. * Sorry, I did not say grape juice! I do go to a church that uses grape juice but ancient Israel would have had to ferment it in order to keep it. Several churches I know use grape juice so as to not have weaker Christians stumble and I am good with that!* But wine is a “living drink” having come from many individual grapes all put together and joined by yeast (it does not have to symbolize sin) to become something new. Yeast in Luke 13:21 is used as a picture of the Kingdom of God.
  2. Jesus refers to Himself, as the Vine and we, the Church, are the branches. John 15:5
  3. Nazirites – People separated to God for a season could not eat or drink any part of the grape plant while under the vow. (Look in Numbers 6 and remember that Samson was a Nazirite and so was John the Baptist, probably.) Interesting type and shadow, that people in the Old Testament who choose to get close to God had to give up grapes, a symbol for the church.
  4. Medicine – In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul urges Timothy to use a little wine because of his stomach; the alcohol can kill germs.
  5. The vine in Judges 9: 12+13 – refuses to rule over other plants so that it can do its job. I did not find any reference to a “vine” that was not grape.
  6. Misuse of wine – I guess the one that stands out is Noah getting drunk after the Flood. Proverbs 20: 1- “Wine is a mocker” (NIV) speaks for its self or Proverbs 23:29-35, “When will I awake so I can get another drink.”
  7. Raisins – They are grapes with most of the water (Holy Spirit) taken out of them but they still can revive a weak individual. Ex. 1 Samuel 30:12

However, you view wine drinking is between you and Jesus but the grape plant and its fruit are and always will be part of Church symbolism.

The picture of the grapevine is from http://free-extras.com/images/growing_grapes-5434.htm

Recabites (NIV) or Rechabites (KJV)

First, my apology to anyone who is not familiar with American slang; the word “nut” can carry several meanings and for this blog, it is someone who is crazy (at least according to worldly standards).

The main story of the Recab family is found in Jeremiah 35. Here the prophet Jeremiah is instructed by God to have all of the men of the family come to the Temple and serve them wine. No pressure right, THE MAN of God invites you to church and expects you to join in “the boys night out” he is throwing. They refuse and state that they don’t drink because of a long-standing family tradition. (Drinking alcohol is not the point but it could be; I know it is a very volatile topic. I don’t drink because it is one thing that God delivered me from when I got saved. I have found out through the years that it is not me who is uncomfortable with not drinking but the drinkers around me.) They also state another family tradition of not owning houses or planting fields. Now all of this combined for some people would qualify them as “NUTS”, no “American Dream” of your own house; then to top all of that off they tell the man of God, NO.

So who were these Recabites who would say no when put into such a pressure situation? According to 1 Chronicles 2:55 they are one of the family groups that came from Caleb, the faithful spy in the Exodus story. Now there are several “Recabs” in the Bible and not all of them are from Caleb and when you read verse 55 you may recognize Kenites and again there are several groups with this name that do not seem to be related. But more specifically they may have come from the Jehonadab who sided with Jehu in 2 Kings 10 (it makes you wonder if they are part of the 7000 in 1 Kings 19) to get rid of Ahab and the prophets of Baal. So taking a stand and following God was a long time family tradition for the Recabites.  And in Jeremiah 35:19 God honors them because they honored the instructions of their ancestors. With a promise to always have a family member who serves God!

The picture of the Recabites is from http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/StandardBibleStoryReadersBook5/images/scan0017.jpg