The luxuriance of the flowers, and the abundance of the fruits of an Eastern garden, are so very different from the beauty and the crops of those of England that we sometimes miss the force of the Bible illustrations on the subject. The favorite orange is termed the apple-tree in our Bibles. The apple is essentially an English fruit, but in the gardens of the land of Palestine we should find the lovely orange. There is a great charm about this tree, for it is ever green, and it bears flowers and fruit at the same time: pleasant shade, reviving perfume, and refreshing and sustaining food, are its gifts to its owner.
The orange when gathered fresh from the tree has a very different taste from the fruit as brought to us in this country. Its real charm, however agreeable we may consider the taste of what we obtain, is lost by its being gathered unripe, and by lengthy transit from its native soil.
There is a very beautiful text in the Song of Songs about the orange: “As the orange tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.” (ch. 2:3.) The favored speaker, in answer to the words of Solomon, had spoken of herself as a humble wildflower of Sharon, a little common wayside blossom, expressing her nothingness, as it were. And what are we but poor, common things? Yet the Lord in glory loves us, and has set is love upon us. He, speaking through Solomon, the king in glory, says of His people, “As the lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.” He does not reckon the feeblest of His as common and insignificant―no, but fair and beautiful as a flower painted by the hand of God amongst the thorns of this sorrow-stricken, sinful world. Such gracious words call forth the language of the text we have quoted about the orange! And, indeed, it is the Lord’s own love toward us, believed and rejoiced in, that calls forth our admiring love of Himself.
The trees of the wood, not the trees of the garden even, for the contrast is drawn between forest trees, are in the lips of the speaker as nothing compared with the fruitful orange. Under this tree is a favorite place for seats in Eastern gardens. Our artist has portrayed the owner of one of these seated by his well-filled cistern, reading a roll of the law of God, and pleasantly shaded from the fiery sun by the thick and leafy orange boughs. Now, what a happy lesson lies herein for us! Our place of rest and of refreshing shade is nearness to Christ Himself. When the sun of affliction beats down fiercely, if we have come to Him, we can say, “I sat under His shadow with great delight,” for He gives real joy and pleasure of soul. And at such a time how sweet to the parched spirit is the taste of His fruit! His fruit―my taste―are exquisitely brought together in this lovely figure; and may they be so in the experiences of all of us who know His Name.
How delightful it is to see a christian bearing fruit and flowers at one time! There are too many who bear flowers, but bring little fruit to perfection. Young life is full of the perfume of promise. We should seek to be not only always promising, but also always ripening. On the other hand, too many Christians settle down into a very autumnal state as years advance. Their early love is like the memory of the perfume of spring in autumn. Ripening and producing, producing and ripening, should characterize us all, and surely would do so if we were like Christ, and the only way to be like Christ is to be in spirit near Christ.
Evergreen is another happy characteristic of a christian walking with God. He does not wear out and become sere and dry. There is no more charming sight than that of a believer who is continually full of his or her youthful freshness of love to Christ, and what He loves, and who in old age is flourishing, living over again the early joys of christian life in the spring-time joys of others. People always like to sit down under the shadow of an evergreen christian, while the poor dry tree is little comfort to anyone! Here we must not omit to mention that the orange likes―as the gardeners say—plenty of water at its roots. Now it is the unseen water that really keeps us fresh―the Holy Spirit’s gracious work of bringing Christ continually before us. Herein lies the secret of an evergreen life.
The grand old age of the orange is another of its noble characteristics. We like to think of our old oak trees, but the orange attains to an age of centuries, all the while evergreen, blooming, and fruit bearing! What a tree of life it is! It portrays our gracious Lord to us, and expresses graces in His people who resemble Him. It should ever be our grand aim to be Christ-like in our walk and ways. We are in Christ, and accepted in Him by grace, but resemblance to Him in our life on earth should be our earnest longing. Let us close these remarks with the beautiful verse of the first Psalm about the godly man: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”