If you found a 1,000-year-old seed, do you think it would grow? Well, archaeologists working in the Judean Desert found a seed believed to be about that old in a cave and eventually decided to plant it—and now 14 years later they have a ten-foot-tall tree growing in a greenhouse. Why is this tree significant?
Well, not only is it incredible that a seed could sit around for 1,000 years and then grow, but the seed is believed to be a remnant from a now-extinct population of trees mentioned in the Bible. You may know the phrase "balm of Gilead" from your Bible and from the song "There Is a Balm in Gilead." For example, Jeremiah 8:22 says,
This medicinal balm is believed to have been made from a resinous extract from the species this newly grown tree belongs to (in the frankincense and myrrh kind). It's believed to be from a tree that grew in the area described in the Bible, and chemical analysis revealed it does indeed have medicinal properties.
Read more at Answers in Genesis.