“And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises [lilies], and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, yet I tell you that not
Consider the lily….
even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these.”~ Yeshua Jesus , in Mattiyahu/ Matthew 6:28
Think about, consider, and ponder the lily?
“The capitals on the columns in the hall had shapes like lilies and were 7 feet tall.” ~ [description of King Shlomo’s Temple, 1Kings 7:19]
Lily, in Hebrew, is Susanna or Shoshana (Hebrew: שׁוֹשַׁנָּה, Modern Šošana Tiberian Šôšannâ: “lily”); also, whiteness; also a [silver] trumpet with a shape like a lily. As we read, lilies used on the columns could be symbolic of a call to assemble the people to worship. Susanna answered His call and became a disciple of Yeshua,[ Luke 8:3].
Consider the lily:
“On the tops of the [ 2, named Yakhin , “Yah will erect/ establish” and Bo’az ], columns [in the hall of the Temple] were shapes like lilies; thus the work of the columns was finished.” ~ [v. 22]
Consider this also: lily, in Hebrew, can be : shuwshan, showshan, shoshan or showshannah, for its whiteness! This derives from suws [soos] or siys [sece], a primitive root to be bright, cheerful, be glad, joy, make mirth, rejoice!
- The ‘ lily connection’ connects some dots! Lily used as a symbol in Shlomo’s Temple is a reminder for us to rejoice and be pure and established or firm in Yah ; for then we shall be as glad, erect, strong & tall as the column Yakhin, and pure!
More to consider:
“He made the cast metal “Sea” circular, 17.5 feet from rim to rim, 8.75 feet high & 52.5 feet in circumference. Under its rim, 300 gourds encircled it in 2 rows…rested on 12 oxen…the Sea was set on top of them…its rim was made like the flower of a lily; and its capacity was 11,000 gallons.” ~ [v.23-26]
This “Sea” was to cleanse the cohenim [priests] and was placed on the right [covenant] side of the Temple, toward the southeast. Arranged near the Sea were 5 of the 10 bronze basins ,with their own 220 gallon capacity within 7 foot diameters. All were made of burnished bronze, cast in the Jordan plain in clay ground between Sukkot [~tabernacle] and Tzartan [ ~ to pierce, puncture] [v.46] !
- The Sea would have been located near the Eastern gate which was bronze. This Sea to cleanse began in the clay between the tabernacle and the piercing: we are only cleansed by the blood of Yeshua who traveled in circuit in the Jordan valley. His Name is Emmanuel, El with us. He who came to tabernacle with us, has been pierced for us, and is said to return during Sukkot.
- The Sea symbolizes the cleansing of the Ruach HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit] which produces fruit & seed [as seen in the gourds], Isra’el’s strength [as in the 12 oxen], and purity [ or whiteness as in the lily].
2: 1 {She} I am but a rose from the Sharon, just a lily in the valleys,2 {He} Like a lily among thorns, is my darling among the other women.16 {She} My darling is mine, and I am His, as He pastures His flock among the lilies.
4:5 {He} Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
5:13 {She} His cheeks are like beds of spices, like banks of fragrant herbs. His lips are like lilies dripping with sweet myrrh.
- The spices are sap of thorny bushes, bled from cuts in bark, gathered & ground into powder or heated to extract the oil. The spices symbolize the nature of the death and crucifixion of the Messiah [ Isaiah 53]. For example, myrrh is from a thorny and bitter bush but when burnt its fragrance is sweet; same as with frankincense, which is bitter but has ‘white’ fragrant smoke.
- His Word is fragrant with sweet aroma, purifying the soul, and denying self, carrying the cross at the same time.
6:2 & 3 {She} 2 My darling went down to His garden, to the bed of spices, to pasture His flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.3 I belong to the Man I love, and He belongs to me; He pastures His flock among the lilies.7:2 {He} Your navel is like a round goblet that never lacks spiced wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat encircled by lilies.
- Yeshua taught that out of our bellies would come “rivers of living waters”. Wheat is symbolic of the Bread , Yeshua. In Him is life abundant, a life of joy, purity, and steadfastness, in His Way, the Truth & the Life. He is the Life & the Resurrection! In Him we never lack “spiced wine” nor bread!
“I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them freely; for My anger has turned from him.I will be like dew to Isra’el; he will blossom like a lily…” [v.4-5].
Susa is also mentioned by the name Shushan, mainly in Esther, but also once each in Nehemiah and Daniel. Both Daniel and Nehemiah lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BCE. Esther became queen there, and saved the Jews from genocide. A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel. The tomb is marked by an unusual white stone cone, which is neither regular nor symmetric. Many scholars believe it was at one point a Star of David. Susa is further mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (8:21 & 9:2) as one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam; and in 8:1, “Susan” is also named as the son (or daughter, in some translations) of Elam.
The Book of Susanna [from Wikipedia]
Both abiding and refuting God’s law are at the core of Susanna. From the beginning, we are told that Susanna had been trained ‘according to the law of Moses’ and this is clearly visible throughout the text. When forced to choose between adultery or accusations of adultery (leading to certain death), Susanna is aware of God’s law as it is written in Leviticus 20:10, ‘If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death’ and Deuteronomy 22:22, ‘If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.’
When facing possible rape , Susanna knows that the law instructs that a woman must cry for help, for if she doesn’t, she will not be seen as having been violated (Deuteronomy 22:24). When placed on trial before the accusing elders, Susanna shouts to the Lord that ‘these men have given false evidence,’ indicating her understanding of law in accordance with Deuteronomy 19:16-21. Later, it is Daniel who refers to the same law when asking ‘Are you such fools, O Israelites, as to condemn a daughter of Israel without examination and without learning the facts?’ .
The ‘two elders from [whom] the people… appointed judges’ , are clearly aware of the law of Moses, handed down from God, but choose to disobey them. The elders ‘began to lust’ after Susanna, despite the law in Exodus 20:17: ‘you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.’ Before they give false testimony against Susanna, they ‘laid their hands on her head,’ as written in Leviticus 24:14, ‘Take the blasphemer outside the camp; and let all who were within hearing lay their hands on his head, and let the whole congregation stone him.’ The elders are clearly aware that two witnesses are required when trying a Jew that has been charged with a crime, as attested in Numbers 35:30, ‘no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness’ and Deuteronomy 17:6, ‘On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.’ In an ironic twist, when the elders are found to be liars and have mocked God’s law, those same laws deal them their fate in accordance with Deuteronomy 19:16-21.
Sword of Triumph 