As Excellent As The Cedars Of Lebanon: Tree Series Part 4

Song Of Solomon 5

15″His legs are pillars of marble Set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, Excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, 16 Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!”

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Incredible as it may seem, King Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and more than 1,000 songs. 😮🤯 It says so here in 1 Kings 4:32 “He {Solomon} spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.” Wow!  Ok; one thousand and five. 😁

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This book is the most excellent of all the songs He wrote.  God singled out this one in particular and called it the “Song of Songs,” because it’s a beautiful story of the love between Jesus and His bride. That’s us, Church!

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In this portion of the song, the bride is missing her bridegroom.  Feeling distant from him and alone, she is diligently searching for her Beloved.  But somehow, she can’t seem to find him. This is quite ann accurate picture of many Christians today.  While Jesus never ever leaves us or forsakes any of us no matter what we do, we can sometimes lose the sense of His presence.  Because He is not physically here with us, more than anything in the world, we wish that He was here in person, just like the Shulamite.

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Shulamite is the feminine form of the name, “Solomon.”  Both names share the same root word, “Shalom,” which means, “Peace.”   In the course of her search for him, the Shulamite comes across the daughters of Jerusalem who ask her, in verse 9:  “What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, That you so charge us?”

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The “Others.”

The “Others” mentioned here by the daughters of Jerusalem, are all the “other prophets,” like Moses, Elijah, and so on, that came before her Beloved, meaning before Jesus.  The “Daughters of Jerusalem,” are Jewish people who don’t know this Beloved One, even though He is their Messiah. They know only the law and the prophets. They don’t understand that Jesus is the greatest of all the prophets, kings, and priests. He is the Author of everything Who fulfilled the Law.

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The Shulamite goes on to describe His appearance in great detail: “His countenance is like the Cedars of Lebanon, as “Excellent as the cedars…..”

This is how she pictures her beloved:  He is the King of Kings!  The more she talks about Him, about how wonderful and altogether lovely He is, her very description causes her to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him!  Her describing spills over into the next chapter where she suddenly remembers where He is:  He is feeding His flock, of course.  She finds him at last! ♥️

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How appropriate that she compares Him to the cedar.  It is the greatest and most stately of all the trees of Israel.  Because it is very beautiful, a picture of majesty and strength like our Lord Jesus, it could rightly be called, “The King of the trees.”

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The word in Hebrew for cedar is “Erev,” which means “Solid,” because its roots go deep into the soil.  It is well-known for its longevity, some living for many generations. Its leaves and branches spread out wide enough to provide welcome shade and shelter underneath. There are cedar trees in the Middle East that are actually more than a thousand years old!

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That’s just like our Jesus!  He’s as excellent as the cedars:  Beautiful in stature, dignified, full of majesty and glory, and eternally alilve!  There is shelter under His wings. The stately Cedar naturally repels insects, which typify evil spirits in the Bible. That is good news for all who are believers because, “As He is, so are we IN THIS WORLD.” (1 John 4:17)  Not in the life hereafter, but IN THIS WORLD.

The root system of the cedar is so strong, it is not felled by forces of nature that would topple other trees, like earthquakes or hurricanes.  That’s the real secret of it’s longevity.  It is a perfect portrayal of the verse in Hebrews 1:12 that says of Jesus “His years do not fail.” It’s a depiction of eternal life.

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Perfectly Balanced.

Jesus is not only as stately, as kingly, as powerful and imposing as the cedars but is also described as being as humble and lowly as “the hyssop that grows out of the walls.” (1 Kings 4:33.)  He is the perfect combination of strength and gentleness, majesty and humility.

That’s our Jesus.  Every which way you turn Him, He is absolutely perfect and altogether lovely…..and His countenance is as Excellent as the Cedars!

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You may follow the link below to Part 5 if you wish to continue this series.  We’ll be learning what the Cypress and the Myrtle trees unveil about Jesus:

The Cypress And The Myrtle: Tree Series Part 5