What is the significance of Lebanon in the Bible?

The western range is the Lebanon generally referred to in scripture and the one from whence Solomon obtained cedar and fir trees for the temple. 1 Kings 5:8-9; Ps. 29:5; Isa. 14:8. Of the cedars only a few remain. There are many villages situated on the small plains on the mountains, with patches of grain growing here and there; vines also are cultivated from which excellent wine is made. Hosea 14:7. Firs grow, clinging as it were to the bare rock, yet quite secure. Hosea 14:5. Olives, figs, and mulberries also abound, and a number of aromatic shrubs, which perfume the air, as alluded to in Cant. 4:11. Wild beasts still inhabit the glens and peaks as they did in O.T. times. 2 Kings 14:9; Cant. 4:8; Hab. 2:17. Its modern name is Jebel Libnan.

The beautiful tall tree that was extensively used by Solomon in building the temple and his palaces. It is called 'cedar' from the firmness of its roots; its wood is very durable and odoriferous. It was used for beams, pillars and masts, and for carved images. 1 Kings 6:9-10; Isa. 44:14; Ezek. 27:5. Special reference is made to it in scripture, as "the trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted." Ps. 104:16. It cannot be considered as one of the trees of Palestine proper, but is constantly connected in scripture with Lebanon, where it still grows in a group of some 300, a few being very old, and with no others near: the neighbouring people regard them with reverence.

In the cleansing of the leper, and in connection with burning the Red Heifer, cedar wood and hyssop were used, typical of the highest and the lowest (the judgement of death upon all men and the whole fashion of this world). Lev. 14:4-52; Num. 19:6. The cedar is used as a symbol of strength and stability: the righteous shall grow up as a cedar of Lebanon. Ps. 92:12. The Assyrian king in his strength was also compared to a cedar, which is thus described: "with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature," Ezek. 31:3; for his pride he was to be brought down.

If the lign aloes, lowly and fragrant, is the emblem of Israel, in whom God will delight and smell a sweet savour from all their offerings, the cedar proclaims their superiority in the world. In scripture its typical use is always to denote power or exaltation, if not pride. When the king of Israel would pour contempt upon the king of Judah, he compared himself to a cedar and Judah's king to a thistle (2 Kings 14:9). The Psalmist employs it to express the prosperity of the righteous, "He shall grow as the cedar in Lebanon" (Ps. 92:12). When judgment comes upon the great of the earth, the prophet Isaiah says it is the day of Jehovah upon the cedars of Lebanon (2:13). These mark the cedar as the symbol of dignity and power. There have been powers and empires in the world, which, as trees, have given shelter to the birds, and their branches covered the beasts of the field; but the trees died. Not so when Israel shall be first among the nations: their glory shall not fade, nor their leaf wither; they are as cedars beside the waters.

This is one of the most wonderful poetic descriptions we have in the Bible. The day of the Lord, when He will be manifested in wrath and in mercy, is described under an onrushing thunderstorm. The mighty tempest passes from north to south. Jehovah thundereth, great waters sweep along, His voice is heard with power. The mighty cedars of Lebanon are broken by the fury of the storm. The cedars of Lebanon are symbolical of the high and exalted things which will be broken to pieces in that day. (Read Isaiah 2:11-14.) Lebanon and Sirion, the lofty mountains, skip like a young unicorn. The mountains will be shaken by mighty earthquakes and all the governments, typified by mountains, will also be shaken. He is manifested with flames of fire, the lightning of His righteousness, which ushers in His glorious reign. Then the hind is made to calve--it means Israel 's new birth, while the forests (the nations) are stripped and laid low. And in His temple, that greater house, whose maker He is, earth and heaven, "all that is therein uttereth glory" (literal translation).

Now Jehovah's voice is heard approaching, the sound of an impending storm, but no mere storm. Jehovah's voice is heard above the watery canopy of the expanse, controlling and directing the judgment in its path. It is the God of glory who thundereth; and the waters gathering are indeed "great waters." We see it rise and spread: we hear the voice of "power" increasing to awful "majesty." Then the crash comes, and the cedars of Lebanon, the type of loftiness of creature stature, receive the force of the blow, and are shivered and broken down before it. So the prophet announces the on-coming "day of the Lord" (Isa. 2:11-14): "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up." This last the psalm goes on to now: "He maketh them also to skip like a calf: Lebanon and Sirion like a young aurochs." It is no hyperbolism, nor untruth to nature, nor are we to think of an earthquake, which would introduce another element from that with which we are occupied. The storm is not a common storm; and the hills themselves tremble and start like a frightened beast, before Jehovah. The governments of the earth seem to be represented here, as the trees represent the individual potentates: all that is most stable quakes. Amid all this comes the terrible forked flame, — the light, and God is light, but God manifest in judgment, — pure wrath upon the evil. The next verse shows the limit of the storm. Coming from the north of the land of Israel, from Lebanon and Hermon (Sirion), it sweeps to beyond the territory of Judah in the south, disappearing in the wilderness of Kadesh-barnea, the place in which the people had wandered so long after the exodus. Thus it covers the land in its breadth and length, while, of course, it does not follow that it is spent with this. This is, however, the limit of the prophet's observation; — for true prophet he is, — and the course of the storm is that of the invasion of Israel's foes in the last days, — an invasion with which the day of the Lord is identified in its early part (comp. Joel 2). God uses the foe as His rod in a chastisement which works repentance; coming Himself then for their deliverance. It is the "great and terrible day of the Lord", but it ends in refreshment, revival, and eternal salvation.

“Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars” (v. 1). Lebanon has been a constant victim of invasion from the north and has for years suffered through various foreign nations maintaining a standing army within its borders. But Lebanon has not yet seen the worst. Unwilling though it may be, it will have to open its doors to allow the northern army, the King of the North and his satellites, to pass through to attack Israel at the time when Israel has set up “the abomination of desolation” in the holy place. This will be at the middle of Daniel's 70th week (Dan. 9:27), the beginning of the 3 1/2 years of “great tribulation.” While Israel is the object of attack, yet Lebanon will have great trouble too. The fire devouring her cedars may be literal, but its figurative significance is more serious, for the cedars speak of men of high dignity. The fir tree (v. 2) implies the prosperous, the oaks of Bashan, the strong. All of this will be brought low, including “the forest of the vintage.” The mass of common people (the forest) will no longer provide a “vintage” or valuable proceeds for the strong and mighty.

(vv. 12-14) As the result of the exaltation of Christ, not only will the wicked be judged, but the righteous will be blessed. They shall flourish, not like the grass, that flourishes only for a day, as in the case of the wicked (v. 7), but, as a palm tree that brings forth fruit in abundance, and as a cedar in Lebanon, whose enduring age is measured by centuries. The godly will have their roots in the house of the Lord, and they will adorn the courts of our God. Age will not diminish their fruitfulness, nor lessen their vitality.

But "the righteous shall flourish as the palm tree" (v. 12). It is understood that everything about the palm tree is useful in some way, a beautiful picture of the born again believer. The cedar of Lebanon, while in some cases it pictures the glory and pride of man, would in this case picture the beauty and glory with which God invests the believer. Man in the flesh may pretend to have such greatness, but it does not belong to him, though in new birth the believer may rightly be clothed in such dignity, without the danger of being puffed up by his own importance. Being planted in the house of God (v. 13), a proper and wonderful dwelling for the child of God, he will flourish with lasting fruit.

"The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon." The cedar is a majestic tree, and speaks of the elite of mankind in their proud exaltation; but the Lord by His voice breaks them down, as indeed He will humble all the pride of man. Verse 6 shows that the Lord has not been speaking of the literal cedars in verse 5, for he makes them "skip like a calf," showing that man's pride will be exchanged for a willing response to the sovereign work of God. Lebanon and Sirion also will be the subjects of God's gracious and powerful dealings, responding as a young wild ox, though they are outside the bounds of Israel, therefore spoken of as "wild".

"His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars." The spouse having already portrayed her Beloved from head to foot, she now refers, we doubt not, to His general appearance - to all His glorious features together - His full stature. And His stature "is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars." This figure, evidently, illustrates His glorious Majesty as the Messiah. The lofty cedars "on that goodly mountain Lebanon," are the standing type in scripture of exaltation, glory, and majesty. Resplendent as the "most fine gold" from head to foot - adorned with every grace - fragrant with all sweetness - glorious and majestic like the cedars of Lebanon, is the Person of her well-beloved.