How do you write about the use of the “olive” in the Bible? Where do you even begin to dive deep? There are so many facets to the Olive Tree. There is the tree, the branch, the shoot, the oil, and the Mount Of Olives and I’m pretty sure there are more areas to dive into with the Bible! I mean the Olive tree/branch is referenced from Genesis as a sign of peace when the dove brought back an Olive Branch during Noah’s Flood all the way to Revelations with the vision of the two Olive Trees. Leviticus uses “olive” 38x in the NIV for rams, bulls and for grain offerings. In Numbers, and other parts of the Bible, the Israelites are instructed to use only the finest olive oil for setting apart and for ceremonial rituals. Later we read in Deuteronomy about how olive oil or the olive crop will be blessed among other things if the Israelites pay careful attention to the law and follow God’s ways and if not destruction will come up the olive crop.
Throughout the Old Testament it references olive oil being used to anoint various kings. Samuel anointing Saul is one of the most notable and Elisha’s instructions for anointing Jehu in 2 Kings 9. We also read parables with olive oil and olive trees to teach the people. Example, Judges 9, Jothem is warning the people of Shechem of their choice of King. The good and passed on Kings are compared to the worthy and desirable Olive tree. In 2 Kings 4, Elisha provides a miracle to a widow with jars of oil. It’s a beautiful and true story of faith and provision from God.
And there’s more. In 1 Kings we read about olive wood being used for the building of the temple and pure olive oil to light the sacred lampstands. These materials were also used in the rebuilding of the temple in Nehemiah. Olive oil was used in ancient times for medicine and healing balm as we read about in Isaiah 16 and Luke 10. We read about the stature of the olive tree and the flowering beauty in Psalms 32 and Hosea 14. God uses the imagery of an Olive tree in Jeremiah 11 to remind his people of the covenant relationship he has with them.
And the references keep going! Paul even used the olive tree in Romans 11 to speak to how the Gentiles were grafted to the Jews “the olive root” and the Gentiles were the wild olive trees incapable of bearing fruit. But now grafted to the Jews, they were now able to share in the blessing. But it is not the branches that sustain the graft but the root and the root is Christ.
We read about the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. The Olive Trees were a desert tree and thrived in the hardship of the heat. It’s here the olives were harvested. Beaten from the tree and processed through a series of extreme crushing to create a pulp and then pressing to extract the oil. We read about various people of the Bible retreating to the Mount of Olives like King David in 2 Samuel 15 when he went to the Mount of Olives weeping and in Zechariah 14 when he foreshadows that the persecuted will flee to the Mount of Olives when Jesus returns. Jesus often went and escaped during his life on earth to the Mount of Olives to pray. What a beautiful place that represents peace (pointing back to the flood) in the midst of hardship.
A beautiful representation though of what the Olive truly symbolizes and means is when we look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. The Garden of Gethsemane was in the Mount of Olives. Here Jesus was praying and pleading before God to take away the hardship of the world. Our anointed King was taking on the sin of the world. Here in the Garden among the Olive trees Jesus is pressed knowing he will be crushed and beaten. Yet here he finds peace with God only to leave with a peace that passes all understanding… “Thy Will Be Done” as he’s arrested.
While we might not have olive trees surrounding us or a place like the Mount of Olives to retreat to, we can still find the peace that our Savior provides when we feel crushed and when life continues to beat down on us. Life is not easy. In fact, Jesus said it wouldn’t be. Sometimes it is just down right hard and crushing. Yet every hardship we walk through we can know that He is there walking with us. Refining us. Purifying us. Bringing us to completion as is stated in Philippians 1:6.
And if you are at a point when the crushing just feels too much. Remember the process of the beating, crushing and pressing of the olive produced an oil that was so valuable that it was used to anoint Kings.
The beautiful news is… you are already anointed, royalty in His heavenly family BEFORE the refining.
pin this study for later
