Okay, color me “busted.” I glossed over this in The Owner’s Manual (Chapter 4, Mitzvot #137, #141). Still lazy after all these years. But I guess it’s not too late to go back and take a closer look. Thanks for keeping me accountable, shalom82.
The context is the Feast of Tabernacles, which as we know is a prophecy of the commencement (and completion---it’s seven days long, plus an extra Sabbath at the end) of King Yahshua’s Millennial reign. We need to look at the four trees in this light. The text says: “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God for seven days.” (Leviticus 23:40) So let’s take the trees in order.
(1) “Beautiful” is from the Hebrew verb hadar, meaning “to honor, to make glorious. Not surprisingly, it is used of the return of Yahweh (in the persona of Yahshua) to the earth as He takes care of business a couple of days before the Feast of Tabernacles: “Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?—‘I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’” (Isaiah 63:1) So the first “tree” is King Yahshua, returning in glory.
(2) “Palm trees” are the Hebrew noun tamar, the water-loving date palms that congregate in oasis settings. “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of Yahweh shall flourish in the courts of our God.” (Psalm 92:12-13) The second tree, then, is the righteous who will populate the Kingdom—we who will be “planted in the house of Yahweh.”
(3) “Leafy” trees. The adjective abot means thick with leaves, dense with foliage. The related verb abat means “to weave together, to conspire, to wrap up, to intertwine something.” Who are these who conspire together, who are weaved or intertwined into one in the context of the Millennium? Why, Israel and the ekklesia. I probably would have missed that one but for the study I’ve been doing lately on the structure of the wilderness Tabernacle. If you look at the details, this concept is everywhere you look: the ekklesia (a.k.a. the “church,” i.e., the called out assembly of Yahweh after the Day of Pentecost, 33 A.D.) and the nation of Israel are side by side, united but distinct, working shoulder to shoulder. The ekklesia has not absorbed (or replaced) Israel, nor have they become part of Israel. Rather, we are woven together, like the warp and woof of one magnificent tapestry, created by and for the glory of Yahweh. If you don’t believe me, read on…
(4) “Willows of the brook” are designated by the Hebrew noun ereb, meaning a willow or poplar tree. A virtually identical noun, however, denotes “a mixture, a mixed company, interwoven. The primary meaning is a grouping of people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It was use of the heterogeneous band associated with the nation of Israel as it departed from Egypt…” (Baker and Carpenter)
Together, then, the four trees listed in Leviticus 23:40 signify the populace of the Millennial Kingdom of our Messiah, beginning with the glorious King, Yahshua himself, and including the righteous who will flourish in His courts: those of Israel and every other nation who have “conspired” together to love and honor Yahweh in truth and trust.
Either that, or I’m just making this stuff up as I go along.
kp
