Song of Solomon 2:1
I am a rose of Shanon,
A lily of the valleys.
This is the same verse we looked at for Rose of Sharon. Why would there be 2 flowers that point to Jesus? Remember the Rose of Sharon was perfect, the best and highest flower. We looked at Jesus being like the groom to the bride, his church. We looked at him being perfect and highest for us.
Let’s look at lily of the valley. Here are 5 things that a gardener says about Lilies and how they point us to the character of Christ and how these qualities are passed on to us by his death and resurrection as well.
1. Lilies are very strongly sweet smelling. What does the Bible talk about having a smell? Our prayers. In the Old Testament Temple, remember there is a place where incense are burned. Incense are similar to candles, you light them and the smoke and scent rises from it. Part of the duties of the priest were to light the incense on behalf of the people. This is actually what Zechariah was doing in the Temple when the angel appeared to him to tell him about his baby John…
Luke 1:9-11 Now while Zechariah was serving as a priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
See the relationship of the incense and prayer. But look at this phrase in Revelation…
Revelation 5:8 (I say a Lamb) and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
You see our prayers in golden bowls before Jesus in Heaven? In Revelation 8, it talks about our incense with the prayers of the saints rising before God.
Before Jesus made us right before God for the forgiveness of our sins, the people could not go directly before God because of their sin. They could not offer their own prayers without sacrifice. But when Jesus died, the curtain to that most holy place where the incense was burned was torn in 2 and now we can pray directly to God because of Jesus. And Revelation says our prayers are sweet before him. Jesus, the Lily of the Valley, because his life was so sweet, has made our lives and our prayers sweet before the father.
2. Lilies are the purest, prettiest white. In Revelation the word white is used 15 times. It describes the beard of Christ, the horse He will ride on and the robes that his conquerers will wear. The blood of Jesus has washed us and made us white as snow before God. When God looks at us, he does not see our sin when we have the covering of Christ over us.
Revelation 3:5
Jesus says, The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
3. Lilies are very fruitful, from one root- many, many branches grow. Same for Jesus, his love reaches so far and so many.
John 15:5
Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Think of yourself as branch off this beautiful lily vine, keeping in the character of Christ, your prayers are heard just like the sweet aroma is smelled, you are dressed in white just like the white lilies on the vine and you are growing and thriving because you are connected to the branch of Christ.
4. Lilies are among the tallest flower but their heads are hung low. Does that not look like the humility of Christ- he left heaven, he was so powerful, yet prayed to follow the will of God.
Matthew 26:39
And going a little farther Jesus fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus, fully God, still submitted to the will of the Father. He knew that his Father, creator of all, outside of time, knowing the end from the beginning, knew what was best. Jesus humbly bowed his head, full of strength and power, and chose to trust his suffering and death in the loving arms of the Father. And death could not hold him because of his humility.
5. The lily has many medicinal uses- healing properties- as does Jesus- not just our bodies, but our hearts as well.
Revelation 22:1 (the last chapter of the Bible)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life which its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servant will worship him.
We trust God that healing is coming. The sin and pain of this world are temporary.
Before we go, let’s consider one more thing. We looked at the lily very closely, from the perspective of a gardener. We looked at 5 qualities of a lily and see the character of Christ and how we are blessed to walk in that character and look forward to that character being made complete in Heaven. Let’s consider the phrase “of the valley.”
A valley is a low place. It is most commonly pictured as a low place between mountains. We don’t really like to be in low places. It can be dark, it can be hard to see; vision is limited because of the mountains around. On a mountain, you can see for miles and miles, you know what is coming next, you can see the direction you want to go for miles and miles. Yet here, we see this amazing flower, pointing to the character of Christ, in a valley. It is healthy, it is thriving.
Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Even in the dark places where we cannot fully understand where we are or where we are going, I pray we can trust the character of Christ and look to see where He is working in our lives. There is depth of riches and the kindness of comfort where Christ is.
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