DailyCelestialChallenge: Saturday-Agriculture
Fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), common tree in Palestine. Dates are oval in shape, fleshy and sweet tasting, and only produce one seed.
It is known that the date palm already existed in the wild more than five thousand years ago in the regions belonging to present-day Iraq, probably being native to North Africa or the Arabian Peninsula. They put it under cultivation for the first time in Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
It has had great importance for different peoples, so much so that for Chaldeans and Arabs it was the tree of life. In ancient Egypt it meant fertility; for the Hebrews and Greeks it symbolized triumph, and for the Phoenicians it was the sacred palm tree.
Psalm 92: 12-14
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree; will grow like cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God they will flourish. Even in old age they will fructify.
The natural groups of palm trees developed near the springs, as in North Africa, and can be seen in the paintings of the stone age grottoes in the African Sahel.
The palm tree was known since antiquity in Spain. Alcudia is famous for the discovery of the bust of the Iberian lady, which shows us that, centuries before Christ, the Iberians used palm leaves in ritual complexes, as seen in the ceramics discovered in these geological deposits.
Also in Roman times they used the date palm in support of irrigated agriculture, as did the Visigoths, who took a step forward to harvest dates from the natural groups of palm trees.
This plant is the object of admiration where it is grown. It symbolizes the union between the earth and the sky and its presence next to the houses is a sign of hospitality. It is the tree that inspired the columns of temples, churches and mosques
Another fact is that the honey of the Torah and the Bible was not bee but dates. This honey of vegetable origin is used since ancient times to flavor meals.
Allusions to dates appear in the Qur'an. In the sura María: "And the childbirth came to him next to the trunk of a palm tree, and he exclaimed: I wish I had died before this and everything was forgotten, then a voice called from the foot of the palm tree, telling him not to grieve Your Lord has placed a stream at your feet, shakes the trunk of the palm tree towards you, and fresh and ripe dates will fall on you. Eat and drink and let your eyes rejoice "(19: 23-25).
Also in the sura the bees: "And of the fruit of the palms and of the vines they will obtain the healthy sustenance. Certainly, in this there is a sign for people who use reason "(16: 67)
Christians should compare ourselves with palm trees; be prosperous, be full of love and sweetness as the fruits of this, despite advancing in age, grow in line as the palm tree to heaven looking for the crown of justice that the Lord will give to all those who rejoice with his glorious return.
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