Biblical Art
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Olive Tree Gallery
The Olive Tree Gallery is an extension of the Encaustic Gallery, in which each artistic piece in this series is created employing the ancient Greek encaustic wax process and materials.
The olive tree and its characteristics and attributes has been the inspiration for this “Olive Tree Reflections” series. Note that the olive tree has been used as a symbol of God, Israel, and its people, reflected throughout the Scriptures. Additionally as a member of the Nazareth Model Village research team, my focus of historical research was olive oil production in antiquity.
The average olive tree at maturity can grow to a height of 20 feet or more. The tree thrives in the Mediterranean climate throughout the Galilee, Samaria and Judah. The olive tree grows slowly and can live to a thousand or more years. The flowers, which appear in May, are bell shaped and yellowish, exude a sweet fragerance. The rocky soil of the region and cultivated terraces are an ideal habitat for the olive tree to prosper.
The olive fruit is green until September, when it ripens and turns black. Not until the tree is thirty years old can a full yield be expected. (Hos 14:6) Olive oil was crucial to Israel’s economy. It provided the basics to daily living for cooking, lighting, and medicinal purposes, among multiple other uses. The first pressing, virgin oil, was essential for use in Temple services.
The olive tree is enduring because of the shoots that sprout from its base. An old root surrounded by young shoots was an illustration to the psalmist of a family of children at the table in a Jewish home, referred to in Psalm 128:3.
‘Zayith’, the olive, is referred to in the Old Testament over twenty times. The Hebrew word for olive oil, ‘shemen’, is used over a 150 times. The olive leaf was significant symbol in Genesis 8:11 when the dove returns to Noah with the olive branch in its beak. The Garden of Gethsemane in the Gospels refers to the place of an olive press. In the Book of Romans 11:17 Paul expounds on being grafted into the olive tree, the people of Israel, so as to share in their blessing.
The olive tree and its precious oil is an encouragement with its many lessons throughout the Scriptures. Even to old age, when the gnarled trunk becomes hollow, the tree continues to bear fruit and foster new life.
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