Here in Israel, – a flourishing garden of Eden – we have just celebrated Tu b’Shvat, the new year for trees that falls on the 15^th of the Jewish calendar month of Shvat.

It is supposedly spring now, although we had snow flurries just a few days ago.

A Garden of Eden

I love it that the Bible is full of references to plants, starting with the third day of God’s creation:

Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit, according to its kind… And God saw that it was good. Gen.1:11-12

Nature features in the earliest descriptions of the Garden of Eden, lush and well-watered as it was

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:9

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. Gen 2:10

Israel’s Lilies of the Field

Many of the plants and flowers mentioned in the Bible grow wild here in the Holy Land today. Some spring wildflowers that only grow in the Jerusalem area, and nowhere else, have been imprinted onto the Turin Shroud.  

A huge favourite in Israel at this time of year is the kalanit (the poppy anemone or crown anemone). Along the Jordon Valley and mountain roadsides you will see these  first wildflowers, rising from the earth. People drive into the desert just to see them in bloom there. They put forth their riot of colour without having to ‘toil or spin’. Jesus said:

Yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:2

Shmittah in This Garden of Eden

The Bible specifically tells us to take care of our environment. One example that this is still happening was last year, when we saw signs in fields across Israel signs, that said:

כאן שומרים שמיטה!

(We are keeping ‘Shmittah’)

They were resting the land in accordance with the biblical command:

Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but he seventh year you shall let is rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. Exodus 23:10-11

This was an open invitation to anyone to forage for what they could find. My friend, Christine, who inspired me to write this piece, told me that she foraged as much as she could, everywhere she saw the sign.

If we, like the Children of Israel, who wandered in the desert, close our eyes and imagine the land God was promising to his people Israel, it will renew and strengthen our faith and our spirits, just as it did them.

A Fertile Land

And God brought them into a fertile land:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive and honey. Deut. 8:7-8

In Israel, it seems that we have only two seasons, rather than four. Although it is only late February, we can already say:

For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come and the voice of the turtle doves is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! Songs 2:11-13

(Incidentally, Butch declared this to me at our wedding!)

Scriptures Come to Life

And one of the most exciting parts of living in Israel is that, as we read the Scriptures, we get to experience first hand the wonders of nature here. As we follow in the footsteps of the prophets and Jesus, we see how the seasons and hidden nature provide a natural setting for their stories.

Israel is truly a Garden of Eden.

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