Hebrew Highlights 13 – Fruit

Shalom, this is Yuval Shomron, coming to you from Jerusalem.

Chag Shavuot Sameach, or Happy Feast of Weeks, also known as the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of First Fruits. As I did the research for my previous 2 programs on the Feast of Weeks, I began to see how often fruit is mentioned in the Bible, both literally and figuratively; 167 times, to be exact.

Continuing in the Holiday spirit, I decided to look at just a few of those, particularly, some of the verses in the Book of Proverbs. I should mention first, that in Hebrew, just as in English, fruit is both something tasty to eat that grows on a tree, and something to enjoy that God grows in our character.

PRO 8:19 "My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield than choicest silver.” How sad it is that in our world today, so much emphasis is put on attaining status, a good career, and a comfortable life style. Yet the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit is so much more precious. It will certainly bring us greater riches than mammon, and probably allow us to live longer to enjoy them.

PRO 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” In God’s great plan, He gave us the first fruit trees, which produced the first seeds. Since that time, when He saw that it was good, Blueberries, apples, kiwi, and bananas have continued to flourish on the earth, with a little help from man. In the same way, God has given us the first fruits of the Spirit, and expects us to spread them naturally to future generations. If our fruit tastes good, another soul will enjoy it, and be planted in the garden of the Lord.

PRO 12:14 A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a man's hands will return to him.” PRO 13:2 is similar, “From the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good, But the desire of the treacherous is violence.” Often, we are not aware that we are sowing seeds for either good or bad fruit whenever we open our mouths, or in whatever deed we are participating. Every kind word and gesture falls on the fallow ground around us, and causes something to spring up. This is even more true in the fields of our family, or school, or work place, where we not only sow seeds, but are around to water them and till them. How often have we wished we would have planted sweet red grapes, instead of Crab apples.

PRO 27:18 says, “He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit; And he who cares for his master will be honored.” Sometimes we actually do plant good fruit, but then abandon it. We talk briefly to a friend or colleague about Yeshua, and His plan for salvation, planting a good seed. Then, for some reason, we don’t go back and see how our little plant is doing. If you have done any gardening, you know that the ground does not call out in the night for a glass of water. We have to be diligent to keep an eye on it and notice the signs of thirst ourselves.

After we have planted a seed, let’s go back and give a little water, pull out the surrounding weeds, add a little fertilizer, and trim the branches. Of course, we must always be aware of the Master’s instructions, and honor His harvest plan. After all, it is His field or vineyard we are privileged to work in.

Enjoy the fruits God has grown in your field.

Shalom, Shalom from Jerusalem.