Hos 14:6 | KingComments | STEP | The glory that Israel will then possess will not be for him alone. His shoots will sprout and go to others to be a blessing for them as well. After the lily as a picture of glory ( ) another beautiful picture now appears: the olive tree. This also means Israel ( ). The olive tree has to do with being a witness for God on earth ( ). The olive tree shows the value of Israel for the LORD: green, always fresh, with beautiful, good fruits. God desires that Christians now give the same testimony of Him in the world as Israel will give in the realm of peace. The scent that emanates from such a testimony is attractive. What the olive tree produces in fruit is the olive oil. When it is poured out, it spreads a pleasing fragrance ( ). The fragrance that Israel will spread will also be pleasant. Again, as in the previous verse, the Lebanon is mentioned, this time to emphasize the unchanging and enduring character of the fragrance that Israel will spread around it. All the time that the people will be under the blessed reign of Christ, they will remain fragrant. To us Christians already living under the reign of Christ, the question comes: What fragrance are we spreading? It is to be hoped that the fragrance we spread is similar to what is said of the believers in Rome ( ). Those believers really spread the fragrance of their faith around them. Do the people around us know us as people who live by faith? Then we spread a good fragrance. The same is said of the believers in Thessalonica ( ).

‏ Hosea 14:6

Israel the Olive Tree

The glory that Israel will then possess will not be for him alone. His shoots will sprout and go to others to be a blessing for them as well. After the lily as a picture of glory (Mt 6:28-29) another beautiful picture now appears: the olive tree. This also means Israel (Jer 11:16a). The olive tree has to do with being a witness for God on earth (Rom 11:17-24). The olive tree shows the value of Israel for the LORD: green, always fresh, with beautiful, good fruits.

God desires that Christians now give the same testimony of Him in the world as Israel will give in the realm of peace. The scent that emanates from such a testimony is attractive. What the olive tree produces in fruit is the olive oil. When it is poured out, it spreads a pleasing fragrance (Song 1:3). The fragrance that Israel will spread will also be pleasant.

Again, as in the previous verse, the Lebanon is mentioned, this time to emphasize the unchanging and enduring character of the fragrance that Israel will spread around it. All the time that the people will be under the blessed reign of Christ, they will remain fragrant.

To us Christians already living under the reign of Christ, the question comes: What fragrance are we spreading? It is to be hoped that the fragrance we spread is similar to what is said of the believers in Rome (Rom 1:8). Those believers really spread the fragrance of their faith around them. Do the people around us know us as people who live by faith? Then we spread a good fragrance. The same is said of the believers in Thessalonica (1Thes 1:8).