A Lesson From the Palm Tree

“A GRACEFUL silhouette of unique beauty.” That is how one Bible encyclopedia describes the date palm. In Bible times and today, date palms beautify Egypt’s Nile Valley, and they provide refreshing shade around oases of the Negeb Desert.

Like most species of palm tree, the date palm has a striking upright stance. Some reach a height of 100 feet [30 m] and continue to bear fruit for 150 years. Yes, the date palm is very pleasing to the eye and amazingly fruitful. Each year it bears several clusters of dates. Just one cluster may contain well over 1,000 dates. Of dates, one authority wrote: “Those who . . . only know the date from the dried specimens of that fruit shown beneath a label in shop-windows, can hardly imagine how delicious it is when eaten fresh.”

Fittingly, the Bible likens certain humans to palm trees. To be pleasing in God’s sight, like a fruitful palm tree, a person must be morally upright and must continue to produce good works. (Matthew 7:17-20) For this reason, engraved figures of palm trees were used as decoration in both Solomon’s temple and Ezekiel’s visionary temple. (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35; Ezekiel 40:14-16, 20, 22) Thus, for one’s worship to be acceptable to God, one must have the desirable characteristics of a date palm. God’s Word explains: “The righteous himself will blossom forth as a palm tree does.”​—Psalm 92:12.