Thorns and Arrested Growth

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Genesis 3:17-18

Adam was not cursed on account of the earth, which God had declared to be in itself very good; but the earth was cursed because of the sin of Adam, which again originated in the spirit of the Evil One. As a punishment for man's transgression the soil should be henceforth comparatively barren. It should no longer yield spontaneous abundance, but he should be compelled to force out of it, with heavy toil and in the sweat of his face, even the bare necessaries of life.

Nor would this be the end of the trouble. Earth should now be the parent of evil as well as good, and, teeming with thorns and thistles, should baffle and protract the labor of its tillers.

These noxious plants probably existed, though in very different condition, before the curse was pronounced; and then, owing to the sterility of the blighted earth, were no longer able to attain to their proper development and luxuriance, and so became what they are now found to be- abortions.

The following remarks of Professor Balfour will illustrate this.

In looking at the vegetable world in a scientific point of view, we see many evidences of the great plan upon which the all-wise Creator seems to have formed that portion of His works. At the same time there are many marks of what we may call, with reverence, incompleteness. Thus we see that there is in all plants a tendency to a spiral arrangement of leaves and branches, etc., but we rarely see this carried out fully, in consequence of numerous interruptions to growth and abnormalities in development. When branches are arrested in growth they often appear in the form of thorns or spines, and thus thorns may be taken as an indication of an imperfection in the branch.

[Donna:Regarding that last sentence, it is interesting that telestial-level people in the OT are also compared to thorns, briers, and noxious weeds.]

The curse which has been pronounced on the vegetable creation may thus be seen in the production of thorns in place of branches-thorns which, while they are leafless, are at the same time the cause of injury to man. That thorns are abortive branches is we'll seen in cases where, by cultivation, they disappear. In such cases they are transformed into branches. The wild apple is a thorny plant, but on cultivation it is not so. These changes are the result of a constant high state of cultivation, and may show us what might take place were the curse removed.

[When the curse is removed, plants (and humans!) will bring forth fruit instead of thorns.]

Again; thistles are troublesome and injurious in consequence of the pappus and hairs appended to their fruit, which waft it about in all directions, and injure the work of man so far as agricultural operations are concerned. Now it is interesting to remark that this pappus is shown to be an abortive state of the calyx, which is not developed as in ordinary instances, but becomes changed into hairs. Here, then, we see an alteration in the calyx which makes the thistle a source of labor and trouble to man. We could conceive the calyx otherwise developed, and thus preventing the injurious consequences which result to the fields from the presence of thistles.

I have thus very hurriedly stated to you what occurred to my mind as to the curse of thorns and thistles, and I have endeavored to show that the spines and hairs are abortive, and, so to speak, imperfect portions of plants. The parts are not developed in full perfection like what may have been the case in Eden, and like what will take place when the curse is removed.

Fit objects, then, are the thorn and the thistle to remind man of the curse. And keeping their origin in view we can see a deep significance in that awful scene when our Lord suffered Himself to be crowned with thorns, so that even His enemies set Him forth as the great Curse-bearer ; when He wore on His bleeding brow that which owed its very existence to, and was the sign of, the sin which He had come to expiate.

Lastly; man should no longer eat of the fruits of Paradise, but should henceforth find the staff of his fleeting life in the bread-producing herbs of the field, till he himself descended into that dust out of which he obtained his food: for dust he was, and unto dust he should return.

(http://www.creationdays.dk/G%20H%20Pember/6.html)

The Well of Seeing

And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. Genesis 25:11

G. Fitzpatrick observed:

"Isaac dwelt in the south country west of Kadesh, by the well Lahairoi. The word Kadesh means "a place of separation". The word Lahairoi means "the well of the living seeing one", or "the well of the vision of life".

A well in the desert country of Palestine was the sign of wealth. It was also the sign of independence. Wells were dug by hand, and it took much time and much hard labor. Today if someone has need of a well, they call out the well driller and they drill down through the earth until they hit water. The well is then cased with steel casing.

In Abraham's day the wells were dug by hand through solid limestone. Sometimes steps were carved in the limestone and the people went into the well with their containers and carried the water out. Other wells used ropes and buckets, or waterskins to draw out the water. Some had water wheels where pitchers were attached to a rope that went down into the water and came up full of water.

Around the mouth of the well was built a low wall. This kept animals and people from falling into the well. Those who owned wells sold their water, or bartered with those who used the well. Wells were most important to the herdsmen in Palestine. Without wells the herds could not exist. Because of this, those who owned the wells generally became very important, wealthy men in the land.

Those who owned wells could maintain larger flocks of sheep. Sheep were also a sign of wealth. Abraham was very wealthy and he passed his wealth to Isaac. Wells are always signs of life. Oasis are planted around wells in the desert. These areas of green are always a contrast to the desolate desert around them.

Isaac dwelt by the Well Lohairoi, or the Well of the Vision of Life in the place of separation. As we view the typology of the Well Lohairoi, it is easy to relate it to the Word of God. The scriptures contain the vision of life and those who have separated themselves [from the world] and apply the Word to their lives become like the Word as Jesus became the Word.

Where there is no vision the people perish. Even those who are called by His name sometimes have no vision. If they are not drinking of the Well Lohairoi, the vision and words of life, they are perishing because they are not being nourished from the water of the well of life."

And as we freely partake of the waters of this well, we are like " a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Dove's Dung

And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab (1 cup) of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 2 Kings 6:25

Second Kings describes the siege of Samaria and its famine. While some believe the dove's dung in 2 Kings 6:25 is literally the waste of the bird, many others take it to be the bulb of the star of Bethlehem plant. Sadly, though, pigeons excrement has been eaten in times of desperate food shortage.

Easton tells us the Arabs apply the name "doves dung" to various vegetable substances like the seeds of millet, an inferior kind of vegetable pulse, and the root of "bird-milk." The bird-milk or star of Bethlehem plant grows on a stalk of about six inches and has long thin leaves. Its bulb is dried, roasted and eaten or made into a flour. Italians sometimes eat them like chestnuts. “For centuries Syrians used it for food. The historian Dioscorides writes that in his time this bulb was added to flour made into thin cakes”. 1 Cab (Hebrew - kab) is equal to 1.16 Quart. It was worth about 20 pieces of silver.

(We have the Star of Bethlehem growing in our yard and because of this verse, it always makes me think about food storage.)

Wrestling Against Darkness Part 2

Yesterday's warning continues for this post.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Renner continues:

Wrestlers, too, often wrestled to the death. In fact, a favorite tactic in those days was to grab hold of an opponent around the waist from behind, throw him up in the air, and quickly break his backbone in half from behind. In order to make an opponent surrender, it was quite normal to strangle him into submission. Choking was another acceptable practice. So wrestling was another extremely violent sport.

They were tolerant of every imaginable tactic: breaking fingers, breaking ribs by a waistlock, gouging the face, knocking the eyes out, and so forth. Although less injurious than the other combat sports, wrestling was still a bitter struggle to the end. . .Wrestling was a bloody, bloody sport.

Then there were Pankratists. Pankratists were a combination of all of the above. The word “pankratist” is from two Greek roots, the words pan and kratos. Pan means “all,” and kratos is a word for “exhibited power.” The two words together describe “someone with massive amounts of power; power over all; more power than anyone else.”

This, indeed, was the purpose of Pankration. Its competitors were out to prove they could not be beaten and were tougher than anyone else!

In order to prove this, they were permitted to kick, punch, bite, gouge, strike, break fingers, break legs, and do any other horrible thing you could imagine. . . .There was no part of the body that was off-limits. They could do anything to any part of their competitor’s body, for there were basically no rules.

An early inscription says this about Pankration: “If you should hear that your son has died, believe it, but if you hear he has been defeated and retired, do not believe it.” Why? Because more died in this sport than surrendered or were defeated. Like the other combat sports, it was extremely violent.

Wrestling Against Darkness Part 1

Warning: This post and the one tomorrow are not for the faint of heart. They contain disturbing historical references.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Especially notice how Paul begins this verse. He says, “For we wrestle...” From the very outset of this verse, Paul makes a very strong, pointed and dramatic statement!

The word “wrestle” is taken from the old word pale (pa-le), and it refers to struggling, wrestling, or hand-to-hand fighting. However, the word pale is also the Greek word from which the Greek derived their name for the Palastra (pa-la-stra), a house of combat sports.
The Palastra was a huge building that outwardly looked like a palace; it was a palace of combat sports, dedicated to the cultivation of athletic skills. Every morning, afternoon and night you could find the most committed, determined and daring athletes of the day working out and training in this fabulous building.

Primarily three kinds of athletes worked out at the Palastra: boxers, wrestlers and pankratists. These were exceedingly dangerous and barbaric sports.

First, their boxers were not like ours today. Theirs were extremely violent — so violent that they were not permitted to box without wearing helmets. Without the protection of helmets, their heads would have been crushed.

Few boxers in the ancient world ever lived to retire from their profession. Most of them died in the ring. Of all the sports, the ancients viewed boxing as the most hazardous and deadly. In face, these boxers were so brutal and barbaric, they word gloves that were ribbed with steel and spiked with nails! At times the steel wrapped around their gloves was serrated, like a hunting knife, in order to make deep gashes in the skin of an opponent.

In addition to this, boxers began using gloves that were heavier and much more damaging. It is quite usual, when viewing the artwork from the time of the early Greeks, to see boxers whose faces, ears, and noses were totally deformed because of these dangerous gloves.

In studying the art of the Greeks, it is quite usual to see painting of boxers with blood pouring from their noses and with deep lacerations on their faces as a result of the serrated metal and spiked nails on the gloves. And it was not unusual for a boxer to hit the face so hard, with his thumb extended toward the eyes, that it knocked an eye right out of its socket.

Believe it or not, even though this sport was so combative and violent, there were no rules — except you could not clench your opponent’s fist. That was the only rule to the game! There were no “rounds” like there are in boxing today. The fight just went on and on and on until one of the two surrendered or died in the ring.

An inscription from that first century said of boxing: “A boxer’s victory is obtained through blood.” This was a thoroughly violent sport! Continued....

Servants of God

Everyone is a servant of someone or something. The greats of the Bible were servants to God. Many were not identified as such in so many words, but that some were is shown in the following list. To be a servant is not generally considered a desirable position, but this sure looks like a list where we'd want our names to be included.

Abraham . . . . “his servant” ...................................(Psalm 105:6)
Moses . . . . . . “my servant” ....................................(Numbers 12:7)
Caleb . . . . . . . “my servant”.....................................(Numbers 14:24)
Daniel . . . . . . .“servant of the living God”...............(Daniel 6:20)
David . . . . . . . “my servant”.....................................(1 Kings 11:34)
Nehemiah . . . .“thy servant” ...................................(Nehemiah 1:11)
Isaiah . . . . . . . “my servant”.....................................(Isaiah 20:3)
Job . . . . . . . . . “my servant”.....................................(Job 1:8)
Peter . . . . . . . .“a servant...of Jesus Christ”..............(2 Peter 1:1)
Phoebe . . . . . .“a servant of the church”...................(Romans 16:1)
Jude . . . . . . . . “servant of Jesus Christ"...................(Jude 1)
James . . . . . . . “a servant of God”.............................(James 1:1)
Anna . . . . . . . .“served God”......................................(Luke 2:37)
Paul . . . . . . . . .“a servant of Jesus Christ”................(Romans 1:1)

A Cultural Perspective on Intercession

This is an interesting perspective written for young people regarding the process of intercession in Greek and Roman culture.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

M. McWhorter gives some background information about a possible aspect of the verse above:

“In New Testament times people were given a trial just like they are now. The court might not be set up just like it is now but the person who was accused had the right to trial.

The judge of the court sat on a slightly elevated platform. He listened to all the evidence. Then he would take time to consider all the evidence. He would think about what the law said regarding the situation. He would then make his decision about the guilt or innocence of the accused person.

The judge had two individuals who sat next to him. These people were like secretaries. They wrote down much of what was said during the trial. This is so that the judge could be sure he knew what had been said when he was trying to make his decision.

They also had another important role. One of them sat on the judge's right side. The other sat on his left side. If the judge found the accused person guilty, the secretary on his left side wrote the person's name on a certificate of guilt. If the judge found the person innocent, the secretary on his right side would write the person's name on a certificate of innocence.

The wording in this verse is very much like how the secretary was pictured by the Greeks and Romans. “To make intercession” is the wording which makes reference to this practice. And in Ephesians 1:20 we find that Jesus is indeed sitting on the right hand of God, the Father.”