Seeds Sprouting Up

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