Spiritual/Physical Connectivity and the Olive Tree

There is a certainty about uncertainty.  Most arise in the morning, prepare themselves for the day, and step out their door never considering that they might not return.  Military personnel regularly sent forth into uncertainty have considered it well, with the results being that many have made their peace with God.  Uncertainty is certain. 

I was speaking with an individual about a person who had just died in their sleep, and he thought that this was a preferable way to die.  Think with me for an instant. Suppose that this person had not made their peace with God.  Suppose that this person’s name was not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Revelation 20 verses 11-15 speak of the coming judgment of God where even Hell itself is cast into a place called “The Lake of Fire:”

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

The Lamb’s Book of Life is akin to a book of birth certificates; to have your name recorded there, you must be born into God’s family, this time of the Spirit of God.  Jesus Christ calls this experience “born again.”  Here, you repent and turn from your sings, believing upon the Saviour Jesus Christ and His precious blood that was shed for the redemption of your soul. 

Have you been born again?  Will today be the day you make your peace with God?  Will today be the day of your new beginning where all your sin and shame are washed away and where Satan’s bondages are broken?  The Kingdom of God is passing by you today.  Jump in and live!  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  If the person who died in their sleep had not made their peace with God, their eyes opened in the torments of hellfire—a very rude awakening.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 8:7-9:

7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

GOD SAID, Psalm 52:8:

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

GOD SAID, Romans 11:16-18:

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

MAN SAID: These Christians are uneducated and easily lead about by their Bibles—a book with no credibility, none!

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature article 880 that will, once again, prove the supernatural inerrancy of the Holy Bible.  All of these powerful features are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification, and as ammunition in the battle for the souls of men.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. 

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The Bible is foundational to all that is true, and none of the principles it has put forth have ever been proven wrong.  The Bible is the world’s most powerful book.  The Bible is not printer’s ink and paper but rather Spirit and Truth.  The name given for Jesus Christ in Revelation 19:13 is “The Word of God.”  Every knee, and that includes every book, will, by necessity, bow before the glorious Word—no exceptions!  

There is a huge emphasis in the Bible on food, specifically as it pertains to diet.  There appears to be a type of spiritual umbilical cord that connects man and spirit, and it extends all the way into eternity—even in the believer’s eternal body.  Many features on GodSaidManSaid address the dietary directives of God’s Word, beginning in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; clean and unclean creatures, the high emphasis on milk and honey, whole wheat, food preparation, and more.  We see the food connection play out in eternity.  Revelation 22:1-2:

1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

The olive tree is truly a prime example of spiritual/physical connectivity.  After the fall of Adam and Eve, the Tree of Life situated in the Garden of Eden was not removed from the earth, but protected by cherubims.  Imagine, had Adam and Eve eaten of this tree, they would have lived forever.  Genesis 3:22-24:

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

If ever there were a perfect candidate to be the standing remnant of the original Tree of Life, GodSaidManSaid casts its vote for the olive tree. 

Keep in mind the Biblical principle that inherent within each of God’s commandments and endorsements is a blessing or a curse.  Because all of God’s precepts are true and perfect, observing one of them yields the fruit of doing the right thing—the blessing.  Because all of God’s precepts are true and perfect, disobeying one of them yields the deadly fruit of doing the wrong thing—the curse.  Those who truly seek proof that God is, will find all they need in this simple, childlike principle. 

When God puts His imprimatur on anything, wise men and women, and boys and girls stand up and take notice.  The olive tree and its oil are excellent examples.  Several excerpts from the GodSaidManSaid feature “God’s Imprimatur and the Olive Tree” effectively drive home the interconnectivity of spiritual and physical:

While searching for the miraculous tree of life we find in scriptures, in history, and in science, one tree stands as a giant above all others, even while enduring the life-ending curse of sin.  This proverbial tree is the olive tree. 

In the Holy Word of God, there is no tree like the olive.  After the great flood, Noah knew the waters were drying up when the dove he released returned to the ark with an olive leaf in its mouth.  The olive leaf or branch today is the symbol of hope.  Ancient law forbids the destruction of any olive tree, even if it belongs to an enemy.  The olive tree and its oil are endorsed hundreds of times in the Word of God.   It was olive oil that fueled the holy flame that burned continually before the veil of God’s most holy place (Exodus 27:20).  Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies, beyond the veil.  The two doors at the entrance were made of the wood of the olive tree (I Kings 6:32).  Above the ark of the covenant, which was the spiritual center of the tabernacle of God, were the wings of two Cherubims, also made of the olive tree (I Kings 6:23-28).  Thus, the verse in Psalm 57:1 and many others:

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Hosea 14:6 reads:

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

Zechariah 14:11-14 reads:

11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

The sweet psalmist of Israel wrote in Psalm 52:8:

But I am ever like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

In James 5:14, the elders in the house of God are directed to anoint the sick with oil and pray the prayer of faith.

Salvation and entrance into the body of Christ—and thus eternal life—are compared to the olive tree in Romans 11:16-18:

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Multiple features on GodSaidManSaid list a host of marvelous life-extending medical benefits enjoyed by those who embrace God’s serious endorsement of His olive tree. The January 2018 issue of Life Extension magazine reports on some of the latest research on olive oil.  The front-page headline reads, “Olive Oil Can Extend Human Lifespans.”  According to the feature story by C. Faloon titled, “Surprising Discoveries about Olive Oil,” extra virgin olive oil increases lifespan and also decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke exponentially:

The high oleic acid (monounsaturated fat) content of olives was initially thought to be the main source of olive oil’s health benefits.  Today, more researchers contend that the health benefits stem from olive oil’s high polyphenol content which includes: oleuropein, tyrosol, and hydroxytyrosol.

Increasing evidence suggests that the polyphenol hydroxytyrosol should be given the most credit as it makes up approximately 50% of extra virgin olive oil’s total polyphenol content.

In 2017, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study that evaluated the effects of hydroxytyrosol on a cohort of 1,851 men and women. 

To measure hydroxytyrosol ingestion, urinary levels of its metabolite (homovanilly alcohol) were measured. 

Results showed that higher urinary levels of homovanilly alcohol resulted in sharply lower risks of cardiovascular events and mortality. 

Compared to those in the lowest quintile, individuals in the third or higher quintile levels of homovanilly alcohol had at least 56% reduced risk of a cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular cause).  In addition, subjects in the highest quintile of homovanilly alcohol had, on average, 9.5 years longer life after the age of 65. 

The highest urinary levels of homovanilly alcohol were obtained by subjects whose intervention included a traditional Mediterranean diet with the addition of extra virgin olive oil.

According to Faloon, extra virgin olive oil also reduces risk for Alzheimer’s:

Research on olive oil has been primarily focused on its cardiovascular support.  However, a growing amount of research in the last decade has shown that it also reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 

The researchers concluded that extra virgin olive oil extended a beneficial effect on all major characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease, including behavior and neuropathology. 

To test their neuropathology, all major biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (beta-amyloid, tau proteins, and synaptophysin) were recorded. 

Beta-amyloid and tau are deleterious proteins that, through many mechanisms, cause cellular dysfunction and death.  Synaptophysin is a protein marker of synaptic integrity. 

The research found that in the mice fed extra virgin olive oil, there was a significant decrease in these deleterious proteins and an increase in the beneficial synaptophysin. 

The researchers credited these beneficial effects to extra virgin olive oil’s ability to increase autophagy.

Autophagy is how cells rid themselves of debris that interferes with normal healthy cellular function. 

Bone is exceptionally important in the elderly, and according to the article, God’s olive oil can make a measurable difference:

A fracture in the hip has a higher mortality rate than all other fractures in the elderly.  The incidence of hip fractures is increasing yearly by 1%-3% in most regions of the world. 

A meta-analysis of three studies revealed that adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 21% reduced risk of hip fractures.

In an additional study, a key component of the Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil, was tested against a diet high in nuts, or a low-fat diet, on 870 subjects ages 55-80 with high risk of cardiovascular disease. The subjects were monitored over a media follow-up on 8.9 years, during which 114 cases of osteoporosis-related fractures occurred. 

Subjects who integrated the highest amounts of extra virgin olive oil into their diet had a 51% lower risk of fracture. 

Under the subhead, “Additional Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet and Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” are the following excerpts:

In a double-blind placebo-controlled study on 41 adult women, extra virgin olive oil was able to increase the weight loss effect of an energy restricted diet.  A control group of 20 women was selected to eat a daily high-fat breakfast with added soybean oil, and an intervention group of 21 women received a high-fat breakfast with the addition of extra virgin olive oil. 

After nine weeks, the average weight loss in the 21 women that received the breakfast with extra virgin olive oil was approximately 80% higher than the control group.  Diastolic blood pressure decreased by an average of 5.1 mmHg, and pro-inflammatory cytokines were also reduced in the group that received the extra virgin olive oil.

Faloon concludes:

A growing amount of research shows that extra virgin olive oil and adherence to a Mediterranean diet dramatically reduces stroke and heart attack risk. 

Those who ingest the highest amount of an olive polyphenol called hydroxytyrosol were shown to live 9.5 years longer (after age 65).  These findings were published in 2017.  [End of quotes]

The olive tree and all its fruits come highly endorsed by God.  Thousands of years after the Word of God was penned, medical science begins to understand why, and the spiritual/physical connectivity is glorious to the childlike. 

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 8:7-9:

7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

GOD SAID, Psalm 52:8:

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

GOD SAID, Romans 11:16-18:

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

MAN SAID: These Christians are uneducated and easily lead about by their Bibles—a book with no credibility, none!

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “God’s Imprimatur and the Olive Tree”

Faloon, C., “Surprising Discoveries about Olive Oil,” Life Extension, January 2018

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