Numbers 24:6 (a) A word which is used to describe the fragrant and fruitful nation of Israel as seen by the Lord through the eyes of Balaam from the mountain top. GOD looked down through the smoke of the sacrifice. He did not see the iniquities and evils of Israel, but rather describes them in this beautiful way.
Job 8:16 (a) By this term Bildad describes the beautiful life filled with radiance and fragrance of that one who walks with GOD, and lives for His glory.
Song of Solomon 4:12 (c) We may take the expression as a picture of the Church in which GOD's people are the flowers, and their worship is the fragrance. (See also Song of Solomon 5:1; Song of Solomon 6:2; Song of Solomon 6:11).
Isaiah 1:8 (a) Here is a type which describes the woeful conditions of the nation of Israel which should have been filled with useful and beautiful fruit, but instead produced only a strange, worthless useless fruit of the cucumber vine. The cucumber was one of the articles of food that Israel had to eat in Egypt when they were slaves. It is not a stable fruit as apples, but soon decays, and even while it is in good form it is of little use for sustaining life. This is like the pleasures which the world offers. Sports exhilarate for a few moments, but leave no permanent value in the lives of those who see them. The pleasures which GOD offers are for evermore. (See also verses 29,30).
Isaiah 51:3 (a) Here we find that the Lord gives His definite promise that the nation of Israel which now is of so little use to GOD will one day be a fruitful nation blessing the earth, and bringing joy to the heart of GOD.
Isaiah 58:11 (a) Here we see a beautiful type of the happy condition of the soul of that one who walks with the Lord, learns from His Word, and rejoices in the presence and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 66:17 (b) Probably this type refers to the lives of those who live in wealth with plenty for their bodies to enjoy, while their souls are in rebellion against GOD.
Jeremiah 31:12 (a) By this type the Lord is describing to us the blessing that will rest upon the nation of Israel in the millennium when they have turned back to GOD, and He has removed all cause for the grief and sorrow.
Lamentations 2:6 (b) In this way the Lord is referring to the transient character of Israel. He is telling us that He will remove the nation as the small shelterhouse in a garden is easily removed and destroyed.
Luke 13:19 (b) Here is a picture of the fair earth in which foul religions develop. It is also a picture of the nation of Israel in which false beliefs and practices arose and flourished.
John 19:41 (c) Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, had a garden in which Calvary was located. It was not a bare hill as we often sing. No garden is a bare, rocky, lonely hill. It was a beautiful place in which the Cross was erected. Men sometimes build gardens for themselves with a mansion, flowers, and all the peculiar treasures of the wealthy, but arrange no place for CHRIST.
He is crucified afresh. He is not permitted to rule and reign.