"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." [Hos 14:4-6]
By inspiration of The Holy Spirit, Paul uttered one of the sweetest promises in The Bible, he being urged upon and moved by God’s heart, writing,
“We have known that all things are working together for the good, according to [His] predetermination, [for] them that are loving God, [for] those [who] are being called. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” [Rom 8:28-29]
We see here that all things, no matter their height or depth or length; yes, all things, no matter their supposed badness or supposed goodness, despite their hardness or ease – all things are unequivocally being orchestrated by God’s divine will unto the good. And what is that good? It is this: that as Christ’s brethren, as those “chosen in Him,” [Eph 1:4] we should be, no matter what, conformed by God into the image of Jesus Christ; even as it is also written,
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Rom 6:22-23]
And herein too we see that glorious and foundational truth, which was declared to us in Romans eight as well: mainly, that no matter the circumstance, the result of our lives always tends toward holiness, that is, toward a greater likeness to Christ, being set apart more and more unto Him and thus becoming less and less like the world. We have this great confidence in Christ, that despite our failings, God is well pleased and determined to complete us, as He promised, “He which hath begun a good work in you will accomplish it until the day of Jesus Christ.” [Phil 1:6] Yes, despite even those wayward times of sin, to those who walk in the light of Christ’s glory, practicing truth, [1 Jn 1:5-10, Jn 3:18-21] they are promised that all things in their life, will by God’s intentional design, work together for good – they will work together that we might become more like Christ, growing in holiness, growing in a likeness and application to Jesus’ life. This growth in our likeness to Jesus was told to us when The Spirit promised, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Rom 6:23] Because eternal life, besides being “[to] know…The Only True God, and Jesus Christ,” [Jn 17:3] is also to know and experience Jesus’ very life through our own. Though we often think of eternal life as life unending with God in heaven, it is described more accurately to us in the New Testament as intimate knowledge of Jesus: not just in word or thought, but also in application. John wrote, speaking of the latter, “the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with The Father, and was manifested unto us.” [1 Jn 1:2] Herein we see that “that eternal life,” was the very life of Jesus Christ being displayed to the apostles as they walked alongside Jesus on earth. And therefore, when we have such great promises, that we are being “conformed to the image of [God’s] son,” that “[we] have [our] fruit unto holiness,” and “the gift of God is eternal life,” then we can conclude, being assured with joy, that each circumstance of our lives – no matter what it be – is always working for our good, producing in us more holiness and likeness to our Lord.
Day by day, “The Faithful God,” “[The] Faithful Creator,” [Deut 7:9, 1 Pe 4:19] the One who “daily bears us up,” [Psa 68:19] is ensuring that we are growing and becoming more like Christ; for “great is [His] faithfulness.” [Lam 3:23]
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” [1 Th 5:23-24]
He who promised is faithful to complete us and fulfil those blessed and divine oaths. And if we have done as we are exhorted, “O taste and see that The LORD is good,” [Psa 34:8] and we have indeed “tasted that The Lord is gracious,” [1 Pe 2:3] then let us rejoice and be glad: for God’s character, which is so lovely, and whose “fruit [is so] sweet,” [Songs 2:3] is that very same image into which every situation brings us further towards, and the very fruit which He desires to perfect in us. May God’s faithfulness be praised, and may He be thanked for His great and miraculous work of transforming us into Jesus’ very image. And that this work is miraculous is truth indeed, for that we, lowly beggars from the dunghill of this world, who were enemies of God and of His Son, could be transformed into new creatures that display God is a miracle of miracles. Regarding this, Christ says through Isaiah, “behold, I and the children whom The LORD hath given me are for signs and miracles…” [Isa 8:18]
But, as we must, let us come to our passage for today, which shows us yet another angle of Jesus’ glory, noticing in particular what is promised of Israel and of us in Christ, “his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” Because God “will heal [Israel’s] backsliding,” (yea, and has already healed ours in Christ, redeeming us from death and destruction, separating us unto Himself and placing us into the way of peace), He says, “I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.” The clear indication to us here is that of salvation, for we see God say, “mine anger is turned away from him.” In the New Covenant, this subsiding of God’s wrath against sin is due to our salvation and justification, as Paul writes, “much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” [Rom 5:9] And as it shall be for Israel in that day, so it is already true for those in Jesus, in that God has healed us and turned His anger away from us. And being in such a state, God is determined to,
“Be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” [Hos 14:5-6]
May we come today to enjoy two truths among many in this passage. One, that the image God is forming us into is very pleasing to Him; and two, that we may acquire a deeper appreciation and awe at God’s power.
Of the first, let us focus on the phrase, “his smell [shall be] as Lebanon.” In Songs, we read of the groom’s love for the bride, and therein we see Christ’s love and affection for His bride too, who is the church. He says, “thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.” [Songs 4:11] No doubt the fresh smell of Lebanon’s cedars is that smell to which the groom refers, and which no doubt gives him pleasure; for he says too in the same context, “thou art all beautiful my love; there is no blemish in thee;” and, “thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.” [Songs 4:7, 9] The groom, and thus Jesus, affectionately pours over the good qualities of His bride, and the smell of Lebanon is among them. Let us take comfort from this, for that smell is the very smell God desires to make us into; he desires to make us as a cedar of Lebanon, strong, righteous, and fragrant; for it is also written, “the righteous…shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon,” [Psa 92:12] and this, as we have seen, emits a pleasing fragrance to our Groom, for again, we read, “we are unto God a sweet fragrance of Christ.” [2 Cor 2:15] Herein we find our first truth: the person into which we are being formed by God is pleasing to Christ. Jesus enjoys us; yes, He even likes us. We have all been in the company of one who smells unfavorably. It is rather discomforting, and in fact, often repels close company. And, in the same token, we have also no doubt been in the presence of one who smells very nice. Think upon the stark contrast between the two, and take encouragement, that Christ loves the way you smell.
Of the second, we see that God’s power to transform us is very great. For the reason we “shall grow as the lily, and cast forth [our] roots as Lebanon,” and that “[our] branches shall spread, and [our] beauty shall be as the olive tree, and [our] smell as Lebanon,” is because God shall be, Christ shall be, “as the dew unto [us].” God shall rest upon us like dew! His blessed Spirit resting on us, shall afford us such growth and splendor as to make us grow, make us beautiful, make us fruitful, and make us a fragrant and righteous people unto Himself. The effects are no doubt miraculous, a transformation indeed; for whereas we once were beggars, dead dogs, slaves to sin cast upon the dunghill, God has pulled us out and made us new, giving us fresh life and fresh fruit, changing our very nature from that of sick and dastardly into healthy and beautiful, pleasing to Himself in Christ His Son. But let us notice again the phrase, “as the dew.” My good Christian, have you in your mind what dew is? Let us remember that there is probably not a cedar of Lebanon, nor a mighty oak, nor any fruit bearing tree, nor any substantial plant, which ever did grow from only dew! Ah, but our God is so powerful, so absolutely mighty, so lush with abundance, that His very dew is enough to raise up a behemoth oak, a fragrant cedar, yea, and a thousand other fruit-bearing plants to boot. As it says of The LORD, “thy paths drop abundance,” [Psa 65:11] so we see here: the man who is in Christ, who walks on the way of peace and way of holiness, who has taken heed to Christ’s command, “deny [yourself], and take up [your] cross, and follow me,” [Mt 16:24] shall have that rich dew of Jesus’ head fall upon Him and make Him fruitful. [Songs 5:2]
Let us rest easy on Jesus’ breast and enjoy what fruitfulness comes for the man content to abide there. For Jesus Christ has dew enough for all of us. If we abide in His presence, continuing to behold His glory, we shall be changed into His very image. If we have seen Jesus as beautiful and to be desired, let us stay upon Him, let us allow His dew to fall fresh on us today, and let us bear fruit for our Mighty King and Husbandman.
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