Cedars of Lebanon
Featured Reflection
Cedars of Lebanon
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalm 92:12-13
The cedars of Lebanon have been an especially important tree in the Middle East for thousands of years. At one time, there were large forests of these trees from Lebanon to throughout Turkey and even on the island of Cyprus. This tree is a type of pine tree, species Cedrus libani. These trees can grow quite large up to 130 feet tall and over 8 feet in diameter at the base. As with most pine trees, they reproduce with cones. A mature tree will begin producing cones at about 40 years of age. The cones require about 18 months to mature and then release their winged seeds to the ground. These trees produce a very high quality wood that is resistant to insects and decay. Cedar wood has been used for thousands of years for building houses, ships, palaces and even the temple in Jerusalem. The British army even used these trees to build railroads after World War II. Most of the large cedar forests have been destroyed over the years by over harvesting. There are very few trees left today in Lebanon. However, there are major efforts to protect these trees and restore some of these forests. The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. If you examine these places where cedars are mentioned, you will find they are use in four different contexts.
1. Used as a part of sacrifices done to the Lord.
2. Used for the construction of the Temple and other buildings in and around Jerusalem.
3. Used symbolically to represent different peoples or kingdoms.
4. Used prophetically to describe events in the future.
Let us first examine the use of cedar in sacrificial ceremonies. Cedar was mostly used in ceremonies that had to do with cleansing.
The LORD said to Moses, "These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.
Leviticus 14:1-7
After a person had been healed from leprosy, they could not just return to town and resume a normal life. While they had this defiling skin disease, they had been outcasts and had to live outside of the town. Before they could resume their place in the community they had to be cleansed. The priest performed this rite where a live bird was sacrificed and dipped with cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop into the blood of the dead bird. After being sprinkled with the blood seven times, the live bird was released into the fields. The person was then considered cleansed and could return to the community. The other sacrificial ceremony involving cedar was done to cleanse someone who had touched a dead body. This became important when the Israelites won battles where many of their enemies were killed.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
Numbers 19:1-6
There are several things that these two cleansing ceremonies have in common. Both involved sacrificing something involving blood. The blood was sprinkled seven times. Cedar wood, scarlet wool and hyssop were involved. Cedar is not mentioned even once in the New Testament. But if you look carefully at these things, there is a great deal of symbolism to what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus was sacrificed and shed his blood for our sins. This was all part of God's perfect plan which could be symbolized by sprinkling seven times. The cedar wood could represent the cross itself. The scarlet cloth represented royalty and the perfect human kingly glory of Jesus. Remember the Roman soldiers put a scarlet robe on Jesus before the crucifixion. There is also scarlet found in the veil separating the holy of holies from the outer room in the temple. Finally, the hyssop could represent the fact that just before he died he said, "It is finished." Jesus finished what other sacrifices could not.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:28-30
Another way to look at these ceremonies is that they were intended to cleanse people so they could return to the community of God's chosen people. That is exactly what Jesus sacrifice on the cross did for all humanity. By dying on the cross, he created a way for people to be cleansed so they could again come into fellowship with God in communion with all other believers.
The next major use of the cedars of Lebanon was in construction. These stories have some very interesting twists to them. After David completed many of his victories, there were those in the region who were glad to see this. One of those was Hiram, the king of Tyre.
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
2 Samuel 5:11-12
Hiram was so happy that he took it upon himself to send David cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons so that a palace could be built for David. When this occurred David understood this as confirmation that God had established him as king over Israel. This does seem somewhat strange in that David did not ask for a palace but one ended up being built for him anyway. In fact, even David questioned this and asked the prophet Nathan about it.
After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."
2 Samuel 7:1-3
That night, the Lord spoke with Nathan and told him to tell David why this situation had occurred.
But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"' "Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. "'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Samuel 7:4-13
Sometime later, God spoke directly to David about why he could not build the temple.
David said to Solomon: "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God. But this word of the LORD came to me: 'You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.' "Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would.
1 Chronicles 22:7-11
Notice that God asked David if he had ever asked him to build a house of cedar for him. Clearly, God had not. At the point in time when David became King, it seems that God did not need a house built for him. Now let us look at a situation that happened much later in the history of Israel. This was after the Israelites had been conquered, the temple had been destroyed and the Israelites were taken to Babylon. Many years after this, Cyrus the king of Persia directed Zerubbabel, Joshua and others to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. They went and laid the foundation for the temple. However, they ran into multiple problems as the people who lived in the area, many of whom were Samaritans, opposed the building of the temple. So, construction on the temple stopped. Years later, the prophet Haggai came to Zerubbabel and to Joshua.
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house.'" Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD.
Haggai 1:1-8
In this situation, God questioned why these people were living in their paneled houses while the temple still laid in ruins. God then asked them to carefully think about their ways. He told them to immediately get some cedar and rebuild the temple. So what is the difference between David's situation where he was living in a cedar palace and was told not to build the temple and Zerubbabel’s situation where the people were told to build the temple immediately. The key is the phrase, "Give careful thought to your ways." David was a man after God's own heart. God knew from the day he selected David to be king that he would do everything God wanted.
After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'
Acts 13:22
David had been following God's direction for a long time. He had fought many battles and driven out the enemies of Israel. This meant that he could not build the temple. But the land was now under David's rule. God had blessed David through all of this. David could now rest. The people with Zerubbabel, on the other hand, had not been following through on what God had wanted. They built houses, planted fields, ate big feasts, drank wine, wore fine clothes and earned money. Yet they harvested little, were never full of food, never had enough to drink, and their money seemed to flow out of their pockets. God was not blessing them because of their ways. They probably should have noticed that they were not being blessed but that they were struggling. After ignoring their situation for so long, God told them to give careful thought to their ways. This is an important lesson. David followed God's will and God blessed him. Even when it came to building the temple, David was willing. The people with Zerubbabel were not doing God's will but going their own way. They were not being blessed and had to be specifically told to get back to building the temple. Now let us turn to the actual building of the first temple by king Solomon.
Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
1 Kings 4:30-33
Solomon was a wise king. His fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He seemed to know about everything from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop. He was wiser than all these people mentioned in this verse. He also knew that he was to build the temple in Jerusalem. King Hiram heard about this and sent envoys to see Solomon.
Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.' "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."
1 Kings 5:2-6
Hiram was happy to give Solomon all the cedar he needed to build the temple. In exchange, Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors or about 3500 metric tons of wheat and 20,000 baths or 120,000 gallons of olive oil each year. This seems like a pretty good deal for Solomon considering all the timber and labor he received from Hiram. In comparison, in 2018, Iran produced 14.5 million metric tons; Egypt 8.8 million metric tons; Iraq 3.2 million metric tons and Syria even produced 1.2 million metric tons with a war going on.
In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year.
1 Kings 5:10-11
Solomon obtained what he needed and went about building the temple. It took a great deal of cedar to build the beams for the roof and cedar planks to cover them. Also, the interior walls of the temple were completely lined with cedar boards. You could not see any stone inside the temple.
So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
1 Kings 6:9-10
He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen. He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
1 Kings 6:15-20
Solomon followed all of the directions that God had given his father David in building the temple. It was done exactly as God had instructed. After building the temple, Solomon decided to build his palace. It was actually a complex of several buildings.
It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other. He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.
1 Kings 7:1-8
This took a lot of cedar to build. The House of the Forest of Lebanon had many cedar pillars in it. It is believed to have been an armory. There was also the Hall of Pillars, the Hall of Judgement and the House of the Pharaoh’s daughter. There was a wall around the great court which was made of three rows of stone blocks completely covered with cedar beams. This was a very expensive endeavor and some historians believe that Solomon initially did not have enough gold to do this. Especially considering he had to pay Hiram for all the cedar he needed. It seems that Solomon may have borrowed 120 talents of gold from Hiram to do this. In exchange, Solomon gave Hiram 20 towns in Galilee. Hiram went to see the towns and was not pleased with what he had been given. Some scholars believe that Solomon eventually paid Hiram back and rebuilt the towns. (2 Chronicles 8:2)
At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the LORD and the royal palace—King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. "What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul, a name they have to this day. Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
1 Kings 9:10-14
After all this building happened, people came from everywhere to hear Solomon’s wisdom. They all brought gifts of silver and gold, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. Cedar became as plentiful as fig trees.
The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
1 Kings 10:24-29
As you can see, Solomon led an extravagant life. This eventually led him to trouble. One of the buildings he built using all that cedar was a house for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he married. It is believed that he also housed his harem in this building. His many wives and concubines came from other countries who worshipped other gods. In the end, they led Solomon astray and he began to allow worship of these other gods. This finally led to his downfall and the split of the land of Israel into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
The third use of cedar in the Bible is to represent certain peoples. Several kings after Solomon's death, Amaziah was king of Judah and Jehoash was king of Israel.
After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: "Come, let us face each other in battle." But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: "A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?" Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom. So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 25:17-24
In this story, Amaziah king of Judah had just defeated the Edomites. He forgot that his victory was given to him by God. He decided after consulting with his advisors rather than a prophet of God that he should now attack the northern kingdom. When Amaziah wrote the king of Israel and threatened him, Jehoash wrote back with this message about the thistle and the cedar. This is based on an old fable (Judges 9:8). The thistle in the message represented someone who is too proud of their accomplishments and brags of their own abilities. The cedar represents someone who is truly powerful and dominating. Amaziah went ahead and attacked the king of Israel with very bad results. Jehoash not only defeated Amaziah but also broke down a portion of the wall around Jerusalem and ransacked the temple of all of its gold and silver including articles used in worship. They also took all the treasures from the palace and hostages with them back to Samaria. The idea that Israelites would attack the people of Judah and ransack the temple in Jerusalem is not something you read about too often. But the result is just another picture of what can result from not following God's direction but going off on your own following your own pride.
The fourth use of the cedar in the Bible is as a part of prophecies concerning various peoples in the Old Testament. Remember in Old Testament times, there were huge forests of cedar trees throughout northern Lebanon, Syria and what is now Turkey. These tall, majestic trees were a symbol of strength, majesty, and permanence. They had been used for centuries for building the infrastructure of these and other countries in the region. Today, there is only a small remnant of these forests left. But it is still considered an important symbol. The cedar tree is still proudly displayed on the flag of Lebanon. There are several prophetic stories in the Bible that mention the cedar tree. Here is one that was sent to the king of Judah.
This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: 'Hear the word of the LORD to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David's throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the LORD, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.'" For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah: "Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited. I will send destroyers against you, each man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire. "People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?' And the answer will be: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.'" Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss; rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled, because he will never return nor see his native land again.
Jeremiah 22:1-10
Reading this story you can see that God made it very clear to the king of Judah what would happen if he obeyed the Lord and what would happen if he did not. The destruction of the fine cedar beams and them burning in a fire is a very vivid picture of what would eventually happen to the temple. Jesus often used parables to describe various things to the people he ministered to in Israel. Here is a parable that the prophet Ezekiel gave to the Israelites many years before.
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders. "'He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs. "'But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.' "Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?'"
Ezekiel 17:1-10
Just as Jesus often did, the Lord explained to Ezekiel exactly what the parable meant. If you read this and compare it with the actual history we now know of that period, you can see how accurate this was.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: "Say to this rebellious people, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Say to them: 'The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape? "'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape. "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken.
Ezekiel 17:11-21
The cedar tree in this story represents the Israelites and what would happen to them towards the end of the kingdom of Judah. Their king went against Babylon and tried to make a treaty with Egypt to get their help against the much stronger Babylon. In the end, not only the king suffered but the kingdom of Judah fell along with Egypt. There are also prophecies about other kingdoms in the region or symbolically other cedar trees. Here is the end of one concerning Tyre. This was a kingdom of merchants that made riches by trading with nations all over the world in ancient days.
Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection. They made all your timbers of juniper from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Ezekiel 27:4-5
Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, sailors and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck. The shorelands will quake when your sailors cry out. All who handle the oars will abandon their ships; the mariners and all the sailors will stand on the shore. They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes. They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning. As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: "Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?"
Ezekiel 27:27-32
Here are a couple of prophecies concerning Assyria another kingdom that had defeated Israel in the past but would later fall.
Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
Ezekiel 31:3
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor could the junipers equal its boughs, nor could the plane trees compare with its branches— no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty. I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God. "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches. Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.
Ezekiel 31:8-14
He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert. Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind. The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns. Their hooting will echo through the windows, rubble will fill the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed. This is the city of revelry that lived in safety. She said to herself, "I am the one! And there is none besides me." What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists.
Zephaniah 2:13-15
Then there is this prophecy against Lebanon itself.
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
Zechariah 11:1-3
But the great thing about Biblical prophecies is that after all of these about the negative events that were going to happen, God always provides hope and an opportunity to return to him. Here is a prophecy from Hosea.
Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like the vine— Israel's fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me." Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
Hosea 14:1-9
These words from Hosea to the people of Israel were telling them to ask God for forgiveness and return to the Lord. God would then heal them and restore them so that they again would be like a cedar of Lebanon. Their roots would grow deep and they again would have the fragrance of a cedar of Lebanon. This prophecy was given by Hosea at a time when the northern kingdom of Israel was prospering. Hosea recognized that the people had gone astray and were worshipping idols. Unfortunately, the people did not listen or turn from their evil ways. Sometime later, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and exiled its inhabitants. After that, Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah, destroyed the temple, and exiled its residents to Babylon. The temple was later rebuilt only to be destroyed much later by the Romans. A similar fate happened to many of the kingdoms in the Middle East in ancient history. You can look at the history of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and even Rome. All of these lands flourished for a time and then fell. Nevertheless, God always sees the bigger picture. He sees a future when there again will by a tall cedar of Lebanon or a people that will grow and flourish.
"'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. "'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'"
Ezekiel 17:22-24
What then are we as Christians today to make of the cedar of Lebanon. First, we need to recognize that it was used as part of the sacrifice that God directed the Israelites to do for cleansing or purifying themselves before they could come before God. For us, this symbolizes the sacrifice that Jesus gave on the cross which washed away our sins and cleansed us so that we can come back to God. It also symbolizes the sacrifice that we are asked to make which is our true and proper worship.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1
Second, we know the cedar was used in building the temple in Jerusalem. In fact, it covered the entire interior of the temple so no stone could be seen. This represents the fact that Jesus, the perfect sinless man has completely paid for our sins. When God looks at those who believe he does not see our sin but he only sees us through Jesus. The cedar also made up the actual structure of the temple which held the actual glory of God in the Holy of Holies. As Christians, we are being built into a holy temple for God.
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:21-22
Third, the cedar tree has been used in the Bible to represent the rise and fall of nations through many prophecies. In fact, if you saw down a cedar tree, you can look at the rings in the trunk and learn a lot about what has happened while that tree lived. The same is true about the Bible itself. God has given us his word and all the examples it contains concerning the history of Israel and other peoples so we can learn from it. We can read story after story of peoples who followed God and were blessed or about those who chose not to follow God and were not. This should remind us again of the importance of knowing God's word and learning to follow him.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Finally, the cedar tree is a symbol of hope for the future. The Bible contains several prophecies that describe a future where God will plant the cedars of Lebanon and that they will again grow and flourish even in places where they did not grow before. God has said in his word that a time will come when all his children will flourish and be like the tall cedars of Lebanon.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Isaiah 41:18-20