LOGOS TRADING POST - OLIVE WOOD CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Immanuel and the Providence of God

Isaiah the prophet writes in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” As You may already know, this name means, ‘God with us,’ and this prophecy refers to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, by Mary, a virgin from among the people of Israel. The nature of His birth was miraculous, and so too was it miraculous that it could be prophetically foretold some seven-hundred years before. The birth of Jesus is a wonderful event, and along with His death, resurrection, and ascension, is one of the most important events in all of history!

Let’s go back to that name of Immanuel, God with us. Before the birth of Jesus, God had already assured us many times that He was present with us. Joshua 1:8-9 sees God telling Joshua and the people of God, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Isaiah 41:10 & 13 sees the prophet speaking God’s words to His people, which are, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Still, the way in which God was with His people was spiritual. The people had a Promised Land all around them, a land with an abundance of resources - milk, honey, olive trees, wheat, grapes, and all that the people could need - but God was bound to His temple, with the people in Spirit and guiding them through priests, prophets, and kings. That’s why it still makes all the difference the way in which the Son of God, Jesus, came to be with us. John writes about it in John 1:9-14, which says, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Immanuel, God with us, was more than just a promise that God would be with His people in His temple. He would be born as one of us, and through His life and His sacrifices, He would be human in every way so that each and every one of us could approach Him as our high priest. After all, Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

An Enduring Symbol of God’s Providence for Israel

Even still, though Jesus has ascended, His Spirit is present with each and every one of us. The Holy Spirit of God enables us to look at the world He has created and understand it more deeply, as it is an echo of the one that created it. One symbol of God’s providence before Christ that endures after His time on the earth is the olive tree, often associated with His promise to be with us as a provider, time and time again. The olive tree and the resources it provides have been aspects of Christian thought for a long time, and the reason is because olive trees are found all throughout God’s Promised Land, the Holy Land of Israel.

The reason we see fit to mention this is because we have taken to combining two ways in which God is with us and two ways in which He has provided for us: olive wood and the newborn savior. Our Holy Land Olive Wood ornaments first and foremost are to celebrate the Savior’s birth, being the true meaning of Christmas and all, but we also feel they are a very artistic and tasteful way to do so. Olive wood is a strong wood, making the olive tree a great symbol of God’s providence, and what greater instance of providence is there than the sending of His own son? After all, doesn’t the classic verse John 3:16 say, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” As such, we are happy to connect both the traditional art of Holy Land olive wood carving and the providence of God, evident both in the trees from which the wood is harvested and in the newborn savior in which the carvings depict.