In the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), I found a strange menorah. And just accidentally, I found out the meaning behind this… the theme is the Seven Species in the land of milk and honey!
The Seven Species
According to God, He introduced this land as the following to the children of Israel in the wilderness:
A land of wheat and barley, vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey (Deu 8:8-9)
Only these species of fruits can be offered as first fruit offerings to God. So why did God specifically place these species of fruits? According to Jewish Kabbalah, these fruits show the characteristics of God.
- Wheat: Chesed—Kindness
- Barley: Gevurah—Severity
- Grapes: Tiferet—Harmony
- Figs: Netzach—Perseverance
- Pomegranates: Hod—Humility
- Olives: Yesod—Foundation
- Dates: Malchut—Royalty
Well, so can I have my interpretation from Paul’s letter to Galatian church? The 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit!
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Israel issued stamps in 1958 with the theme of ….. 7 species of fruit!
It’s interesting that this statement is placed in Knesset- Yes, God gave this land of Canaan to Israel! God has never been “politically correct”, and He has His own “spiritual principles”. He chose Abraham and his descendants till today for His glory! And I stand by Israel because God has never rejected the foreigners who joined Israel, and prophet Isaiah prophesied:
Do not let a son of a foreigner who has joined himself to Adonai say, ‘Adonai will surely exclude me from His people.”
Nor let the eunuch say,
‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’” (Isaiah 56:3)
The logic is so simple, God intends to let Israel be the light of gentiles and bless the world! In that case, when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the land is the land of Israel! I raised my case!
