Isaiah 2:13 Oaks of Bashon
Isaiah 2:13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan…
Bashan is the modern day Golan Heights. This would be the area in the far north east corner of modern day Israel. This place is south of modern day Damascus, Syria. Geographical land marks would include a region east of the Jordan River and north of the Arnon River. This territory extended from Gilead in the south to Mount Hermon on the north.
The oak is long-lived and when it grows old or is cut down it has the ability to renew itself, putting out new shoots from the stump or roots that in time develop into a strong tree. The oak tree is a symbol of strength. Two species of oak growing in Israel are deciduous. On the hills of Lower Galilee there exist groves of the Tabor oak (Quercus ithaburensis). This tree is to be seen in the Hurshat Tal in the Huleh valley where there are about 200 giant trees. The trees are about 50 feet high with trunks of 16 ft. or more in circumference. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_14992.html
The people of Tyre made the oars for their ships from the oaks of Bashan (Ezek. 27:6). “Of oaks from Bashan they have made your oars; with ivory they have inlaid your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus. Tyre is a town on the Mediterranean coast of modern day Lebanon.
Isaiah 11 talks of a “shoot” from the lineage of Jesse. We know that shoot to be Jesus. Like an oak tree, He was cut down with His death on the cross. We know He is renewed in His resurrected body. We know He will return as a strong leader and rule the world. Isaiah 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
All of this said these trees, like proud men, are coming down.
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