Lilies of the Field

 

Recently I had a dream that consisted only of a single image – a strikingly unique tropical plant. It grew as a tall, elegantly curved branch in vibrant tones of dark blue, majestic purple, and forest green, with sculpted leaf-like triangular structures springing from its surface. At its tip was a perfect lavender bloom, with a full array of lotus-like petals arranged in a Fibonacci spiral.

Over the next few days, I was reminded of the dream image by a photo of an exotic succulent on Facebook, and then by a fashion magazine spread in which a stunning model clad in a Grecian-style gown posed next to a similar plant, mirroring its graceful curve.

That night I had a second dream in which I was helping to prepare decorations for a wedding celebration.  There were many lily blooms to arrange, some in white streaked with fuschia and lavender; some cream-colored with pale gold spots, and some orange tiger lilies. I had to arrange them in a clear glass, tiered container, with a water reservoir on the bottom, but the stems were very short and difficult to keep in contact with the water. One of the blooms had already wilted, shriveled, and was turning brown.

As I thought about the symbolism of these dream images, I was reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:5; 11:15), the Rod from the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), the true Vine (John 15:5). God the Son came to earth in human form as the perfect, sinless Sacrifice Who died on the cross to pay for all our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), that all who trust Him would have eternal life (John 3:16). He alone is the priceless Rose of Sharon and Lily of the valleys (Song of Solomon 2:1).

The colors of the dream plant were fitting for the Righteous Branch, the blue reflecting the azure skies of Heaven and Christ’s heavenly throne resembling sapphire (Ezekiel 1:26); the purple His royalty, and also (with blue and scarlet) seen in the temple curtain (Exodus 27:16). The green called to mind the emerald-like rainbow lighting His throne (Revelation 4:3), and evergreen trees that never lose their foliage, symbolizing His gifts of peace, provision, and everlasting life (Genesis 9:3; Psalm 23:2; 52:8).

The three-sided appendages could denote the Trinity – the perfect union of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).

Crowning this magnificent creation was an exquisite lavender bloom, its color mystical and transcendent, and its petals in a spiral design based on the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci sequence in which each number is the sum of the preceding two numbers (1,1,2,3,5, etc.). Only the omniscient Designer could create such beauty using intricate laws of nature and mathematics, as He did in the aloe plant, the lotus blossom, the sunflower head, and the chambered nautilus.

Even the human body, His greatest creation, uses the Golden Ratio in determining ideal proportions, as Leonardo da Vinci portrayed in his Vitruvial Man drawing of the human body with limbs outstretched along a circle.

As suggested by the fashion image I saw a few days after the dream, in which the model’s form and stance resembled that of the plant, we are created in God’s image, also with a triune nature of body, soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). Our body communicates with the outside world, our soul with our innermost desires, and God designed our spirit to communicate with Him, once we are saved and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

I believe the second dream of arranging flowers for a wedding celebration referenced believers’ status as God’s children, symbolized by the lilies. Despite our differences in physical appearance and skin color, we are all made in His image, reflecting His beauty. While we await His return, we are to gather together in love (Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:25; Colossians 2:2), like flowers strung together in a lei; put on the holy and spotless garment of His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10); and prepare for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Just as He has brilliantly clothed the lilies of the field, He has promised to attire, feed, and nurture us (Matthew 6:28-33). Christ is the Living Water (John 4:10-14), the Source of all these physical, spiritual and eternal blessings. Once we trust in Him, we will never thirst again.

Yet to receive His abundant blessings, we must be connected to the refreshing spring of His grace, love and provision. In the dream, the short stems on the lily blooms represent the difficulty our flesh has in maintaining that connection, and the attempt we sometimes make to be nourished artificially, by a man-made reservoir that can satisfy our thirst no more than can a broken cistern (Jeremiah 2:13).

Unless we are immersed in the Living Water, we wither away spiritually, like the dried bloom that was fit only to be discarded.  We must keep hydrated by staying close to Him, for our flesh is weak and incapable of self-nourishment. But washing in the Water of His Word cleanses and sanctifies us (Ephesians 5:26).

Although the dreams were a confirmation of our abundant blessings, inner beauty through the Holy Spirit, and life-giving sustenance we experience as Christ-followers, I believe they were also a warning to stay connected to the renewing power of His Word and Spirit. May others be drawn to Jesus Christ and His beauty as they perceive us as blooms decorating the One True Vine!

© 2023 Laurie Collett

Seeing the Forest from the Trees

Photo by Anna Anichkova

We often hear the expression, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees!” It is true that we need to get the big picture and not get bogged down in the details. But I often think there is much to be learned from the specifics. In the case of Jesus, the Bible tells us much about Him from the names of trees that refer to Him directly or indirectly.

Jesus, the True Vine, sustains us like the vine nourishes the branches. If the branches are cut off, they wither and die. But those branches connected to the vine grow grapes, symbolizing the spiritual fruit we will bear if we remain connected to Him (John 15:1-5). The grapevine is a symbol of peace and prosperity and a national emblem of Israel.

In the Millennial Kingdom, Christ the King and Judge will rule over the nation of Israel in righteousness as the Righteous Branch (Jerremiah 23:5). Jesus, the Messiah, King of Israel is anointed with His own royal perfume, described as the oil of gladness (Psalm 45:7), made of the myrrh shrub, aloe, and the cassia tree resembling a cinnamon tree (Psalm 45:7-8; Exodus 30:23-24).

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowd broke off palm tree branches to worship Him (John 12:13). But the branches were not connected to the tree, and those who thought He would be King right away were not connected spiritually to Christ. Those branches withered, and the excitement of worshipping Him turned five days later to hatred and the demand that He be crucified (Mark 15:13-14), because they were not grounded in faith.

But the saints will eternally worship Christ with living palm branches (Revelation 7:9). To have eternal life, we need to have a heart relationship with Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9), and not just go through the motions of worshipping Him (Matthew 23:5).

Through that heart relationship we can inherit the kingdom of heaven, for we are saved by His grace through faith (Ephesians 2:6-9) in Christ, Who is the firstfruits. He was the first to rise from the dead to a glorified body that will never age, die, feel pain or sorrow. All who place their faith in His death, burial and resurrection as the only way to Heaven will also have eternal life with Him (1 Corinthians, 15:1-4; 20,23,42-57; John 3:16; 14:6).

The almond tree reminds me of Jesus as the firstfruits, because it is the first fruit tree to blossom in Israel, sometimes as early as January, with white or pale pink blossoms. The holy furniture for Old Testament worship, designed and ordained by God, was decorated lavishly with almond branches and flowers (Exodus 25:33,34; 37:19,20)

God used almond blossoms and almonds as a sign that Aaron, from the tribe of Levi, should be the first high priest. Each father of the twelve tribes had a rod or walking stick, but it was Aaron’s rod that bloomed with almond blossoms and produced fruit overnight. (Numbers 17:1-8).  God used the rod of the almond tree as a symbol to Jeremiah for how He would deal with Israel (Jeremiah 1:11).

The olive tree is of great Biblical significance, from its first appearance as an olive leaf confirming to Noah that the flood waters had receded from the earth (Genesis 8:11). Olive oil is a precious commodity representing God’s provision (Nehemiah 5:11), anointing, and Holy Spirit. It lit the lamps in the tabernacle (Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:2) and was part of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:24) and of the bountiful supply found in the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 8:8)

God’s temple built by King Solomon used olive wood for the doors, cherubim, and temple posts, and carved palm trees overlaid with gold embellished the doors (1 Kings 6:23,31-33). To commemorate the Feast of Tabernacles, representing God dwelling among His people on their wilderness journey, the Israelites used olive and palm branches to build booths, or temporary dwellings (Nehemiah 8:15).

David described himself as “like a green olive tree in the house of God,” trusting in His mercy (Psalm 52:8), and the blessing of children as “like olive plants round about thy table” (Psalm 128:3). The olive tree also symbolizes the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:6)

It was on the Mount of Olives that Jesus told of the signs of the End Times (Matthew 24:3), where He began His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:37), and where He went with the disciples after the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:30). Through God’s grace, Gentiles are grafted into the family tree of God, much as wild olive branches are grafted into good olive stock (Romans 11:17,24).

God’s two witnesses during the Tribulation are described as two olive trees (Revelation 11:4). Zechariah prophesied that when Christ comes again, He will split the Mount of Olives in two, with one of His feet on each side (Zechariah 14:4).

For us to get maximum benefit from the grape, almond, or olive, they must first be crushed to yield new wine, almond oil or milk, and olive oil. To make perfume, all the flowers we have studied must also be crushed. Jesus Christ was the most precious human flower ever to walk the earth, because He alone had no sin and was holy, and He gave Himself as a sweet-smelling sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2).

It pleased God the Father to bruise God the Son, on the cross, because only His suffering and death could pay the punishment owed for all our sins, past, present and future (Isaiah 53:10). Jesus faced the cross with joy because of our salvation to come (Hebrews 12:2). Only when the True Vine was crushed, shedding His blood like wine is pressed from grapes, could our sins be washed away in that blood, which alone can make peace between sinners and Holy God (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2;4:10).

Gethsemane, the garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed for us the night before He was crucified, means “olive press.” How fitting that the Son of God was pressed even that night, in such agony that He sweat blood (Mark 15:13), as a foretaste of How His body would be bruised on the cross. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22).  In our Christian walk, may we accept the bruising of trials and suffering as a way to become more like Him (Philippians 3:10).

© 2014 Laurie Collett

Photo by Chez Loulou