Isaiah 55 is a wonderful encouragement. You may want to take half an
hour or so to meditate on it verse by verse some time. My focus in this
note rests with the last verse of the chapter, verse 13:
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
Instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
All
seeds produce after their own kind, right? Genesis 1:11-12 gives us the
pattern that all seeds bear according to their own kind. In matters of
the heart Jesus said, “The good person out of his good treasure brings
forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth
evil.” (Matt. 12:35) In both the natural and spiritual realms we see
reproduction after its own kind without exception.
Yet
when it comes to the glory of our Lord, we witness the miracle of God
overturning this law through his word. When would you ever expect to
plant a thorn bush and get a pine tree? Can you imagine transplanting a
brier into your yard and beholding a myrtle tree in its place? Of
course not, but this is precisely what God proclaims in this verse.
Think
about the change. Thorns and briers are not lovely. They hurt.
Falling into a brier patch has caused more than a little swearing and
hours of discomfort. Thorns cruelly pierced our Savior as he paid the
price for our sin, sealing their association with what is wrong with the
world (Jer. 17:5, 6). In contrast we have the cypress, or pine tree.
It is strong, fragrant, and useful for building homes and beautiful
furniture. The myrtle sports thousands of delicate flowers in white,
pink, or lavender bringing beauty to any setting.
Instead
of an ugly shrub we get trees. Now there are several places in
Scripture that use trees as an analogy for the righteous:
And
he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of
water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall
not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. – Psalm 1:3 TAB
But
blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by
the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always
green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit. – Jer. 17:7, 8 NIV
And the best one, found in the same book of the Bible:
To
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit
of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. – Isaiah 61:3 KJV
The
ESV, NIV, and TAB use the phrase ‘oaks of righteousness’ but all
versions are clear as to who planted and who is to be glorified for the
transformation!
That brings us back to the latter part of Isaiah 55:13. The word ‘name’ is shêm in Hebrew and means an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character, [in] fame [-ous], or renown. The word ‘sign’ is ōth and it means a signal (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence,
etc.:--mark, miracle, (en-) sign, or token. How exciting to think of a
miraculous, wonder inspiring switch in our lives and hearts that would
be a mark of God’s character, to make him famous or infamous—depending
on the crowd!
So do you, like me, see thorns and briers
in your heart—sin that’s unlovely and painful to you and others?
Perhaps there’s a passage of Scripture that you want to obey, but find
the challenge overwhelming. This verse gives great hope to the one who
cannot see an end to struggling for freedom and change. Instead of
despairing, pray for God to change the seeds, to bring forth useful,
fragrant, and beautiful trees where only prickly stuff has been in the
past. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and
may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely
do it.” (1 Thes. 5:23, 24)
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All
Scripture references came from the ESV unless otherwise stated. Hebrew
definitions are taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Originally posted on Facebook on Sept. 10, 2011
