Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - LULAV

                                                         LULAV*

It is interesting just how much of Jewish tradition, and therefore our tradition, is based on the story of the Exodus and the journey through the wilderness. In the book of Leviticus we read:

…on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, 

…you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days…

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… 

(Leviticus 23:39-40)

There seemed to be specific instructions in this passage regarding the types of trees to be represented during the feast in question; the query then is to why? According to Wikipedia, a lulav is a closed frond of the date palm tree. When bound together with branches of the myrtle, and branches of the willow along with the etrog, a fruit of the citron, the whole was known as the lulav and was symbolic of the travel of the Jewish people through the wilderness.

The palm tree, which tends to grow in the valley areas, symbolized the sojourns through the valleys of life and that God never left them. As it says in Psalm 23:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil; 

For you are with me…

(Psalm 23:4)

The myrtle tree, which grew more on the hillsides, tended to remind the people of the mountains they had to climb during their travels and again that God never left them and remained with them no matter how difficult the road became.

And the willow which grew near water or in more moist areas symbolized the life-giving waters that God provided for them in the wilderness. As the psalm also says:

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters. 

(Psalm 23:2)

The other mentioned, of course, was the fruit of beautiful trees; the fruit being a reminder of the bounty and provision that awaited them in the Promised Land. As it says in Isaiah:

…thus says the Lord…

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by your name; 

You are Mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned…”

(Isaiah 43:1-2)

The Lord was saying to the Jewish people that He would be with them in the valleys of life as well as when they were going through whatever mountain lay before them and that provision would always be there for them. And if they remained faithful, the fruit and promises of the Promised Land would eventually await them. Referenced again in Psalm 96 and in Isaiah 55:

 

Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. 

(Psalm 96:12)

…And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

(Isaiah 55:12)

The same promise is echoed in the New Testament when Jesus says:

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

(Hebrews 13:5)

What has been stated in the Old Testament is just said again in the New, just in different ways and format. The meaning, however, remains unchanged. And that is: God is always with us.

And that is something we should always be thinking about.

*Adapted from The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Chan, p.g. 165