Teachings – After Eden Thorns and Thistles

AFTER EDEN – THORNS AND THISTLES

UNFOLDING SEVEN

WHERE WE ARE 

We have exited Eden. We are now east of Eden, but let us not forget what happened in that lovely garden – Satan’s presence there, the treason committed and how Adam’s transgression affects us. Is there any question that we too face death, but now we shall learn about the thorns and thistles of life at hard labor.

SCRIPTURE

Genesis 3: 17-19

“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; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

HOSEA 8: 11

“For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.”

AFTER EDEN – THORNS AND THISTLES
UNFOLDING SEVEN

First, and right off, let us notice the words of God’s curse. God cursed the ground. 

“Cursed is the ground for thy sake.”

Cursed for thy sake.  Why? How?

Pastor further wrote,

“This curse does not fall directly on him (Adam); it glances obliquely, and falls upon the ground whereon he stands.”

He continues,

“It is not from materialism that a curse comes upon the spirit of man; but it is from the erring spirit that the curse falls upon the material creation.” 

All creation was affected by Adam’s disobedience; not just the natural serpent that Satan entered into and used to beguile Eve. All of nature and creation was cursed. Thus, it is written that, 

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Romans 8:22

Okay, the curse did not fall directly on Adam. Death was not immediate. If God had cursed Adam directly, he would not be alive to till the ground! So, do not murmur when thorns and thistles spring up in life. You could be dead. As Pastor wrote,

“Thank God that you are not in hell; thank God that life is still prolonged to you.”

Not only would Adam live on, but he also had the ‘herb of the field. Oh, maybe not the luscious fruit of the garden, but he would live.  Why? To what end you ask? Pastor explains his hope:

“Oh, that you would learn from this not to set your affection upon things below, but to be looking for a better and a brighter land, where the thorn never grows, and the thistle never springs up!”

Moreover,

“Ever since that first sin of our first parents, this has been generally true of the whole human race, not only of the earth literally, but of everything else round about us, ‘Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth.”

With that, Pastor explains how those ‘thorns and thistles’ come forth in –

• The natural world (nature – events called the acts of God)
• The social world (Trade and business,) and
• The religious world (see Hosea 8: 11)

Thus, Pastor concludes this unfolding by saying,

“Not only to the first Adam, and to his seed, but to the second Adam and to his seed, this present state had this as one of its certain characteristics,  

“Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.”

THOUGHT GOING FORWARD

The deed was done. Adam sinned. By virtue of the ground being cursed, all creation was cursed because of Adam’s transgression. What in all creation does not depend upon the fruit of the ground for sustenance? Moreover, all men – those of the seed of the first Adam and the seed of the second Adam, Jesus, were and are affected and face the thorns and thistles.

With regard to those thorns and thistles, they metaphorically exist and affect all men as – 

• Thorns, which are likened unto those singular pains and pricks (pinpoint – small in nuisance or lethal, but present a threat, actual harm, and possibly death) and
• Thistles (brambles/nettles), which are likened unto seemingly impassable, difficult hedges that we confront (again, surrounding us in threat, actual harm, and possibly death.) 

Let us therefore continue on and learn how to face times of trials, thorns and thistles. 

IN TRIBUTE TO SPURGEON’S LOVE OF SHORT RHYMES

God cursed the ground for Adam’s sin
and from the hard ground sprang
a bevy of thorns and thistles to strike
as the bite of the serpent’s fang.