Olive Trees

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of Elohim, I will trust in the mercy of YHWH forever”

(Ps 52:8)

What on earth could that mean to be like an Olive Tree ? To understand we would have to know a bit about olive trees. Olives make for a main staple (Like potatoes) of the Israeli diet. Olive trees produced oil for religious rites, food, light cooking, soap, and medicine. King Solomon exported 380,000 gallons of Olive Oil to the king of Tyre.

Olive trees are ever green, can live and produce fruit in any circumstance, heat , cold, wet dry, it does not matter for an olive tree. It is difficult to kill an Olive Tree, cut it down to its roots, and it will simply send 9ut new shoots. Ever notice that after the flood, when Noah released the dove, it returned with an olive tree branch in its mouth !?? Not even the flood could kill an olive tree.

In biblical times there were four pressings made from the olives, each produced a different quality of oil for different purposes. Heavy stones were used to extract the oil, The purest oil came from the first pressing. This was reserved for Temple worship (Which is why I ask for extra virgin to make anointing oil) produced in the second pressing (2 stones) was used for cooking and eating. The oil from the third stone was used for lamp oil and the fourth produced oil for soaps and medicine.

To be like an Olive tree let us not look to the temple court yard, rather just reflect on the tree it self. We need to be faithful (Ever Green) always bear fruit (Gal 5:22) Our lives should be a pure offering to Adonai, (like the first pressing) We need to understand that just like the fruit the most used part of our lives is released through the crushing of pressure. (James 1:1-4)

I encourage students where ever I speak to have several translations handy, (of the scri[pture) also a bible encylopedia, a dictionary,lotsd of paper and pens handy. Look up words, names and get the meanings and see how much more things one can learn ! I believe fully once you catch some of the hidden stuff, that the learning curve shoots upwards ( like the Olive tree hacked to itds roots) do not let lifes challenges stop your growth! See things from the time , people and culture of the day not through modern American eyes

Shalom

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