Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles  

7 Fruits of Israel: Pomegranates 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

 

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.” 

 

These seven fruits make up the Bikkurim, the first fruits offered in thanksgiving to the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem during the Appointed Times of the Lord: Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot) and Tabernacles (Sukkoth). 

 

Pomegranates ripen in Israel in time to be offered during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth. Pomegranates are a symbol of righteousness. Many Jews believe that the fruit contains 613 seeds representing the 613 commandments of the Torah. The number of seeds per pomegranate varies, but the thought remains that righteousness comes when we walk in the paths of the Lord in every area of our lives. God has given us, in His Word, instructions for walking out those paths. 

 

On Rosh Hashanah, Jews eat this fruit one seed at a time to emphasize that the pathway through life is one step, one day at a time.  

 

Pomegranates are first mentioned in the Bible when the 12 spies bring them back into the Israelite camp as evidence of the fruitfulness of the land. (Numbers 13:23) “Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.” 

 

Pomegranates, according to Exodus 28:31-35 were part of the design for the priestly garments. “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue , purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.” 

 

As with many traditions, a Hebrew blessing is spoken over the pomegranate: “May it be Your will, God and the God of our ancestors, that we be filled with blessings as the pomegranate is filled with seeds.”  

 

The blessing affirms that as the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness. Blessings come from living righteously.  

 

In the Song of Solomon, the bride's temples are compared to a piece of the pomegranate. Song of Solomon 4: 3. “Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like a piece of pomegranate.” 

 

In other words, the beauty of the bride is in her righteousness. 

 

The bride in the Song of Solomon is a picture of the Church. For Christians the pomegranate has become a symbol of resurrection and life everlasting. The pomegranate with its many seeds symbolizes the Church united in righteousness. 

 

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for His disciples, not just for the disciples in His earthly days but for all of us: John 17:14-23: "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  

And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”  

 

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” 

 

In the pomegranate, we see the many individuals operating as one in righteousness and truth. 

 

A Christian blessing over the pomegranate: Oh, Lord our God, through the power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, may Your people be united in the righteousness given to us by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ so the world will see You in our lives. 

In thanksgiving, we give all honor, praise and glory to You. Amen.