“Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground, trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. And God saw that it was good!…”
[The gold of that land is good; Aromatic resin and onyx are also there.] (Genesis 1 and 2)
Have you ever taken a walk into God’s creation, perhaps into a deep woods, or hiked up to a mountaintop, taken a great, deep breath of the fresh, crisp air laden with the scents of cedar, spruce, fir and pine, and just felt the Spirit of the Lord envelop you? Sometimes it is more than I can comprehend, and tears of joy and thankfulness flow freely. But, not everyone has a forest or mountain in their back yard, nor can afford the time for a long walk every day.
Let’s take a cue from the “wisest man who ever lived.”
“After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks. He built a complex of rooms on three sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar…The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen” ( I Kings 6: 5-18).
He (Solomon) built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar. He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling (I Kings 7: 1-8).
Now, there is a man who likes his cedar!!
The fragrance of cedarwood will last indefinitely. Therefore, a building made of or paneled in cedar would be permeated and emitting those compounds virtually forever.
But cedar paneling in the home went out of style decades ago, and we certainly can’t live in a cedar closet!
As early as 3500, BC Egyptians distilled the oils from cedarwood for temple worship, emotional clearing, and enhancing mental clarity, among other purposes. Why did the Egyptians and King Solomon so respect cedar wood and oil?
Besides for the fact that cedarwood oil is extremely rich in bio-available antioxidants, we also now know that cedarwood oil has the highest concentration of any
known substance of a compound called “sesquiterpenes,” at up to 98%. The sesquiterpenes of cedarwood can pass the blood-brain barrier to oxygenate the brain, stimulating clear thinking and balancing our hormones, and therefore our emotions. In fact, a Vienna University research team found that cedarwood oil increases oxygen by 28% around the pituitary gland, and stimulates the pineal gland to release melatonin, the neurotransmitter released at darkness to make us relaxed and prepared to sleep. Clinical tests conducted by Terry Friedmann, MD, a cardiologist and internist in Cherry Hill, North Carolina, in a study conducted from 1999 to 2001, found cedarwood oil successfully treated children with ADD and ADHD. Forty subjects at a time, children between the ages of 6 to 12, inhaled the oils when needed, about 3 times during the day when they began to feel “scattered” and diffused throughout the night for 30 days. The inhalation of the oils proved to settle the brainwaves back into normal patterns, as indicated by EEGs and The T.O.V.A. Scale. They also improved their scholastic performance and behavioral patterns by 83%- with no sedative or unfortunate side effects!!
Cedarwood oil is also being researched extensively to help prevent senility and Alzheimer’s disease.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom (I Kings 4: 33-34).
When you feel a little “scattered, depressed, agitated, stressed” need to boost your immunity system against infections, or perhaps when you are dealing with any of several other discomforts, please join me for a long walk in the woods or up to a mountaintop. Or, if that is not possible, sprinkle a few drops of cedarwood, spruce, fir, or pine oil on your hands, chest, all around you.
Take a great, deep breath of the fresh, crisp air laden with the scents and healing of God’s creation. Feel the Essence of the Lord envelop you. Walk together with Him in His garden in the cool of the day. And let the tears of joy and thankfulness flow freely.
