A beautiful display of Lobster Claw flowers ~ Heliconia rostrata. In the garden, these beauties attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
I know nothing about this plant. My cousin posted it on Facebook and I copied it. Remember: lobster is a shellfish; thus, ancient Israelites would have been prohibited from eating it. I guess we can still enjoy the beauty of the blooms.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged God as a Gardener, Heliconia rostrata, Lobster claw flowers, Unique flower
Bible References: 2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles chapter 25.
The spotted golden thistle is part of a riddle that King Jehoash (Northern Kingdom, Israel, 798-782 BC) sent to King Amaziah (Southern Kingdom, Judah, 796-767 BC). The background to this Bible narrative has two distinct parts. First, when King Amaziah planned a military campaign against Edom, he recruited 100,000 mercenaries from Israel. Warned by a prophet to not allow Northern Kingdom mercenaries to march with him, King Amaziah dismissed them. Despite being paid, soldiers were furious. Northern Kingdom soldiers knew that they lost out on plunder of Edom. In response they plundered and murdered in Judah while King Amaziah battled in Edom. Second, when King Amaziah returned to Jerusalem after a successful campaign against Edom, he brought back Edomite idols. Instead of destroying these false gods as Mosaic law required, King Amaziah bowed down and worshiped them.
King Amaziah knew he had to respond to Northern Kingdom soldiers’ killing and plundering Judah while he battled Edom. King Amaziah sent a challenge to King Jehoash to meet him in battle. King Jehoash sent a riddle and a warning back to King Amaziah. The riddle was:
A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then, a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot (2 Chronicles 25.18 NIV).
Then, Jehoash warn Amaziah that because he defeated Edom, he was haughty and proud. King Amaziah was asking for trouble if he persisted in challenging King Jehoash.
The interpretation of Jehoash’s riddle was that he and the Northern Kingdom was a majestic cedar of Lebanon, while King Amaziah and Judah was an insignificant thistle. The demand, give to me your daughter in marriage, could have meant that Israelite soldiers return plunder taken from Judah’s lands. Alternatively, this part of King Jehoash’s riddle was a further insult. In Old Testament times, a king gave his daughter to another kingdom for marriage only if the two countries were equal in power. King Jehoash insulted King Amaziah by saying Israel was much more powerful than Judah, i.e., the Northern Kingdom was a cedar and the Southern Kingdom a thistle. King Jehoash would trample King Amaziah and Judah underfoot.
Despite King Jehoash’s warning, King Amaziah moved his army against Israel. A battle ensued where King Jehoash defeated King Amaziah. With King Amaziah of Judah a prisoner, King Jehoash proceeded to Jerusalem. There, Jehoash seized Temple gold, silver, and other valuables, the palace treasury, and hostages. King Jehoash had 600 feet of the Jerusalem wall destroyed. Despite King Jehoash’s victory, he allowed King Amaziah to live.
King Jehoash wasn’t a king who obeyed God; he did evil in God’s eyes. Jehoash continued the idol worship started by the first king of Israel, Jeroboam I. King Jehoash wouldn’t have won the battle over King Amaziah, but for Amaziah’s sin of rejecting God and worshiping Edomite idols.
In Jehoash’s riddle, the Hebrew word for thistle is choâch or hoah and is associated with the Scolymus genus of plants.7 When Jehoash named Amaziah a thistle, possibly he was thinking of the spotted golden thistle, Scolymus maculatus. The spotted golden thistle was a common plant throughout Israel, growing everywhere except along the extreme Mediterranean seashore. Although occasionally cultivated, more often the spotted golden thistle is found in uncultivated lands and along paths and trails. In very hot temperatures, these thistles grow rapidly. Leaves (or bract) have tooth shaped margins tipped with spines and a white vein all around their outline
In this incident, the spotted golden thistle can be associated with several
concepts, i.e., pride, insult, and insignificance; however, in this story reject or rejection are the best symbols. Examples of rejection include Amaziah’s rejection of the 100,000 Israelite Kingdom mercenaries; Amaziah rejecting God in favor of Edomite idols; Jehoash’s willingness to excuse (or reject) Amaziah’s challenge; and Jehoash’s rejecting the sanctity of God’s Temple.
This Bible episode typifies the Northern Kingdom’s rejection of God. They rejected God’s decrees, the covenant he made with their fathers, and warnings he gave them through prophets. The Northern Kingdom rejected God by plundering his home, the Jerusalem Temple. Eventually, God rejected Northern Kingdom tribes as they first rejected him. God allowed Assyria to destroy the Northern Kingdom.
How do we, living in the twenty-first century, reject God? We do it by not setting aside time to spend with God every day, i.e., failing to have daily Bible study and prayer time. We make the decision to skip Sunday church services, identifying that we are just too tired after a busy work-week. We reject God when we reject other persons for whatever reason, i.e., they are just not our type, we have nothing in common with them, they are poor, they look disheveled.
Reflection: A couple of months ago I determined to start my day with God, reading the Bible and praying. I even identified which book of the Bible to read and contemplate one chapter a day. My good intention lasted about twenty-five days. Then, I defaulted to first making a cup of coffee and second checking what was new on my computer. I rejected God by not putting him first. How about you? Do you ever reject God? How do you start your day?
Copyright May, 6, 2019; Carolyn A. Roth
Bible Reference: Judges 8.1-21.
God called Gideon to lead Israelites when Midianites and allies invaded the Promised Land. The Midianites were marauders who swarmed across Israel stripping bare farm lands. Gideon was from the Israelite tribe of Manasseh and lived west of the Jordan River. Gideon and 300 men routed a massive force (over 100,000 swordsmen) of Midianites near Morah.
Midianites fled south along the Jordan River. Some crossed the Jordan River near the Jabbok River. Gideon and his 300 men pursued them and came to the town of Succoth, in the tribal lands of Gad. Gideon told Succoth elders he was pursuing two Midian kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. Gideon asked the town for food for his worn-out men. Gideon had every expectation of receiving help from this Israelite town. All twelve Israelite tribes had pledged to assist each other in the face of foreign threats.
Not only did the elders of Succoth refuse Gideon food, they were insolent in their refusal. Elders told Gideon that he assumed a victory over Midianite kings which may not occur. Succoth wasn’t about to assist Gideon and his small army. Apparently, Succoth elders feared reprisal from Midianites. Stop reading and think a minute. Would you have been angry with the Succoth officials? Would you have been able to restrain yourself from attacking them verbally or physically? Would you have wanted to strike out at these elders? I am offended on Gideon’s behalf.
Hearing Succoth elders’ refusal, Gideon promised that he would return and punish them. Gideon proceeded with his main goal. Gideon and men routed 15,000 Midianites at Karkor and later captured both kings. Returning from battle, Gideon learned names of the seventy-seven Succoth elders, who had refused bread to his army. Then, Gideon went to Succoth, captured town elders, and punished them with desert thorns and briers.
Historical writers claimed that when thorns and briers were used as punishment, men were stripped of clothes. Thorns and briers were placed on both sides of their bared bodies. Then, heavy sledges (sleighs) were pressed on thorns and pulled across bodies so the skin was severely torn. Considering that Succoth elders refused food to the pursuing Israelite soldiers, they vigorously applied punishment to Succoth elders. Every time I read this story, I want to say, “You go, Gideon.”
In the episode of Gideon and Succoth elders, most likely thistles were the Syrian thistle (Notobasis syriaca or Cirsium syriacum). The Syrian thistle is native to Middle Eastern countries. It is an annual plant that grows in semi-desert areas. In Israel, it grows throughout the entire country including the desert south. Often, Syrian thistles are found in disturbed lands, i.e., sides of roads and construction sites. Leaves are deeply lobed and gray-green in color with white veins. Leaves have sharp spines on both leaf margins and apices (apexes). At times, leaves look more like spines than leaf blades. Flowers are purple and attractive.
At Succoth, the Syrian thistle symbolized retribution. Retribution is dispensing or receiving reward or punishment. Retribution is given or exacted in recompense for words or actions.3 Retribution is often confused with revenge, which means to avenge oneself usually by retaliating in kind.3 Although retribution and revenge are sometime confused, retribution includes justice.
In the United States, we have a judicial system where individuals stand trial for offenses against civil laws. The judicial system doesn’t exact revenge for persons who were harmed. Rather, the judicial system punishes individuals who break the law. Judicial punishment isn’t revenge, but, retribution because it includes justice.
I am fairly sure that if Gideon didn’t take retribution on Sukkoth elders, God would have repaid them for their fear and selfishness. Jeremiah wrote that God is a God of retribution and that God will repay in full.
The Old Testament stated that the Israelites weren’t to seek revenge or bear a grudge. They were to love their neighbors as they loved themselves. Neighbors included not only Israelites who lived near-by, but those who lived far distances, i.e., Succoth in the territory of Gad east of the Jordan River. Saint Paul directed New Testament Christians to not take revenge on those who persecuted them; rather, Christians are to leave room for God’s wrath. So much for my “You go, Gideon.”
Reflection: We don’t know what Gideon felt and thought when he punished the Succoth elders with thistles. Hopefully, he was exacting retribution, not revenge, from them. There is no record that God was displeased with Gideon’s actions. What do you think—retribution or revenge?
Copyright May 2019; Carolyn Adams Roth
Most of you know something about Jonah. Jonah’s ministry was almost 3000 years ago; but, the message is timeless. Jonah begins with God telling Jonah go to Nineveh, Assyria to warn the people to repent of their wickedness. If Ninevites didn’t repent, God was going to destroy them.
Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh! He boarded a ship sailing across the Mediterranean Sea in the opposite direction. Every Sunday School child knows what happened next. God cause a giant storm in the Sea, sailors threw Jonah overboard. A fish swallowed Jonah.
Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days. During that time, he rethought his disobedience to God’s command to go to Nineveh. I would have rethought my disobedience if I was in the belly of a fish, wouldn’t you?
Jonah repented. In response, God caused the fish to vomit Jonah onto land. Can you imagine your clothes and skin after being in a fish’s belly three days? Slime, mucus, digestive juices! All I can say is “Yuck, I need to bathe and a clean set of clothes. Where’s the shower?”
After this experience, Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed the message God give him: Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed unless you repent.
Ninevites, including their king, believed Jonah. They fasted and repented in sackcloth and ashes. When God saw that Ninevites turned from their evil ways, he had compassion. God did not destroy Nineveh.
Likely, Ninevites were ecstatic over God’s decision not to destroy them; however, Jonah was angry. Jonah went to a hill top, east of Nineveh, built a small shelter, and sat down under it. Jonah waited to see what would happen to Nineveh. Jonah had no confidence that Ninevites would continue their reformed ways. Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh and he wanted a front row seat.
As he watched Nineveh, God caused a vine to grow over Jonah to screen him from the sun. Jonah was glad for the vine’s protection. The next day, God caused a worm to chew the vine. It withered. Later in the day, God caused a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah and the sun to shine on his head. Jonah grew faint.
Jonah was angry with God for destroying the vine. God asked Jonah: “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” Jonah’s response was a resounding “I do and I am angry enough to die.”
God told Jonah that Jonah was concerned about a vine that he neither caused to grow nor tended. How much more should God be concerned about Nineveh, a city of 120,000 people who didn’t know right from wrong.
Compassion
Jonah’s vine symbolized God’s compassion. Compassion is awareness of another person’s distress, together with a desire to alleviate the distress. Throughout Jonah, God leads Jonah to a new understanding of God himself and God’s compassion. God was never angry with the sulky Jonah. Instead, God gave patient explanations, using Jonah’s feelings for the vine to parallel God’s feelings for Ninevites.
Reflection: I wonder if our lack of compassion on individuals of other nationalities results from Americans believing that God and Christianity belongs to us. I hope not. Hopefully, we rejoice that God has compassion on all peoples.
Copyright April 23, 2019; All Rights Reserved.
Pleases visit my website for more insights on plants in the Bible: http://www.CarolynRothMinistry.com
Thorns and thistles were an original consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin. The Bible used thorns and thistles as symbols of desolation and a description of a wilderness environment. In almost every Bible instance when thistles were identified, the desolation and wilderness were the result of mankind’s continued sin. Frequently, mankind turned from God and worshiped foreign (man-made) idols.
Some thistle seeds have feathery growths. When blown by the wind, feathery seeds float over a wide region. For the most part seeds remain dormant; however, after rain, they germinate and grow rapidly. Although many thistles produce beautiful flowers, farmers and gardeners rarely want them in a field or a garden. Thistles are an invasive species.
Bible Reference: Genesis chapter 3
Which thistle grew first after God cursed the ground? It’s impossible to know. Today, Holy Lands are largely arid, with many thistle species. Sun and burning heat dominate landscapes. Once-cultivated areas are an ideal growth environment for thistles.
Assuming that the Garden of Eden was located east of Israel where the Tigris and Euphrates joined, the first thistle grew in that area where Adam and his offspring lived after being expelled from Eden. One thistle present in this region and in Israel for thousands of years is the Silybum marianum, also named the blessed milk thistle and St. Mary’s thistle. Once established, milk thistles form two-to-six feet dense clumps. On the milk thistle, flowers are red-purple and have spiny sharp leaves (bracts) directly under the flower base. Milk thistle leaves are attractive. They are large, with white veins. When leaves are cut or torn, a milky substance is released.7,10
For thousands of years, the milk thistle has been used in folk medicine to treat liver, cancerous, and psychiatric disorders; however, there’s no reliable science validating the efficacy of milk thistle to treat these conditions. Milk thistle plants displace desirable forage plants, such as grasses. Because milk thistle accumulates nitrogen, it can be lethal if eaten by livestock.
Fully mature milk thistle seeds are glossy, brown-to-black, with an umbrella-like appendage. When released, seeds blow over a wide region. A single flower head can produce 100–200 seeds. Seeds can lay dormant on/in soil up to nine years, then germinate after a rainfall. Milk thistle is an annual or biennial plant. When I planted seeds in the church Bible garden, milk thistle grew two years then died. In the subsequent years, milk thistle didn’t regrow.
Sometimes I create an environment for thistles, rather than for flowers, to grow in my life. In the past, I have taken on major projects at home, church, or job. Like Adam and Eve, I’ve sweated over these projects, expending tremendous energy and time. Despite my efforts, some projects failed completely or partially—thistles resulted rather than beautiful flowers.
Looking back on these projects, I know that, more often than not, thistles were a consequence of my disobedience. I let pride combined with my desire to “do it my way” block listening to God, whether he was instructing me through another individual, his word (Bible), or my conscience. I grope, sometimes even groan, trying to find my way toward God. I want to obey his word and submit fully to him.
Reflection: Think of times in your life that you tried to reach God, but you couldn’t get to him. You felt like your life was filled with thistles; everything growing in your life was wrong. What did you do? Did it work? If not, propose to yourself other options to try when you find yourself in similar circum- stances in the future.
Copyright April 4, 2019; All rights reserved.
This book is a Bible Study of plants in the parables. It costs $15.00 and can be purchased at http://www.carolynrothministry.com or on Amazon.
12 parables are from the Old Testament and 12 from the New Testament. New Testament parable mostly are not Jesus’s parables, but other ones.
Posted in Uncategorized
Bible Reference: Isaiah chapter 7.
Isaiah (740-681 BC) began his ministry the year that King Uzziah died. Isaiah ministered during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and early in Manasseh’s reign. The Bible identified Jotham and Hezekiah as kings who walked with God. In contrast, Kings Ahaz and Manasseh were two wicked kings.
From the beginning of his sixteen-year reign, King Ahaz rejected God and worshiped foreign gods. Ahaz sacrificed his son to a false god. When Arameans and Israelites (ten northern tribes) banded together to attack Jerusalem, Ahaz was shaken “as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (Isaiah 7.2 NIV). Instead of turning to God for rescue, Ahaz turned to the king of Assyria.
When Arameans and the Northern Kingdom joined and attacked Jerusalem, God sent Isaiah to reassure King Ahaz that Jerusalem wouldn’t be overrun by this coalition. At the meeting, God directed Ahaz to ask for a sign of God’s intention to protect Jerusalem. Ahaz refused saying that he wouldn’t put God to the test. The first time I read Ahaz’s response, I thought it was a good answer; however, Isaiah had a different opinion.
Isaiah told King Ahaz that the king was trying God’s patience. Then, Isaiah prophesied that in the next twelve-to-thirteen years both Aram and Israel would be laid waste. The Lord would bring Judah devastation from Egypt and Assyria. Where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, the land would be covered with briers and thorns. Men would carry bows and arrows for protection when they went among briers and thorns. Where there was once cultivated land, cattle and sheep would run loose in a brier- and thorn-infested land.
Most likely the shrub in Isaiah’s prophecy to King Ahaz was the Rhamnus lycioides (R. palaestinus), commonly known as the Palestine buckthorn. In Israel, the buckthorn is a slow-growing shrub that reaches a height of three-to-six feet; however, in the United States they grow to twenty-feet tall. The Palestine buckthorn is an evergreen shrub in Israel and grows with a many-branched, tangled form, and velvety thin thorns. Young stems and thorns are green. As bark matures it become gray.
Most gardeners don’t plant buckthorn. It’s an unattractive shrub that normally doesn’t grow in cultivated gardens or fields. Buckthorn grows well in poor soil that is gritty and highly eroded. Along with the thistle, the buckthorn is the last species to disappear when livestock over-graze an area. Overall the Mediterranean buckthorn has no value for mankind or livestock. An ancient strategy to eradicate buckthorn is to burn the land.
Isaiah used buckthorn to describe once-fertile agricultural lands in Judah that would be destroyed as a result of God’s judgment. This particular judgement was an assault from Assyria. Instead of vines and grains, the land would produce thorns and briers. Shayith is a Hebrew word for the thorn.6 A translation of shayith is “trash.” Trash is debris from plant materials, something worth little or nothing, and something thrown away.3 Trashed is an excellent symbol for what was going to happen in Judah as a result of King Ahaz leading Judahites to reject God.
King Ahaz treated God’s Temple like trash. When the Arameans and Israelites attacked Judah, Ahaz plundered the Temple for its gold and silver and sent it to the Assyrian king to purchase the king’s military assistance. Later, Ahaz barred doors to God’s Temple so no one could enter and worship God. King Ahaz set up worthless idols at street corners in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah, Ahaz built high places to burn sacrifices to man-created gods.
People that treat God and his laws as trash weren’t confined to the Old Testament. Paul identified that some people in New Testament times were senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1.32 NIV). We need only spend an hour watching television to know that many people today act similar to people in first-century Palestine; and, similar to first century Palestinian onlookers, we applaud these degenerate behaviors.
Reflection: Name aspects of God’s laws you treat as trash? Do you ever watch television or read books that God would name degenerate and say, “right on?” When you treat God’s laws as trash, are you helping your country?
Copyright April 4, 2019; All rights reserved.
