Lilies of the Field in Israel

by David Padfield

 

In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord told His disciples to "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Matt. 6:28-29). The "lilies of the field" are not the flower we call a "lily" in this country, for they are not found in Palestine. The "lilies of the field" are the scarlet poppies which bloom from a bulb after the spring rains.

Lilies bloom for only one day and carpet the plains and hills of Palestine with colorful blossoms. In their brief life they are clothed with a beauty which surpasses the beauty of the robes of kings. Yet, with all the glory of the lily, when they died they were used for nothing better than for burning in order to raise the temperature of a clay oven (Matt. 6:30).

If God gives such beauty to a short-lived flower, how much more will He care for man, the crown of His creation?