Journal

Thorns in Scripture

Posted on August 23rd, 2005, in the evening

I've been studying thorns as a theme through scripture. The motif - starting with the Fall, ending with Judgement - can be read as a picture of the rotten fruit of unfaithful human life; the product of rebellion against God who is life:

Creation

After the fall, the earth is cursed and the ground produces thorns (Gen 3).

The Covenant with Israel

The nations will become like thorns to the Israelites if Israel is unfaithful (Num 33, Jos 2, Jud 8).

The Wisdom Literature

Thorns are the unattractive fruit of a lazy and ungodly life (Pro 15, Pro 24, Ecc 7). Solomon's lily is contrasted with the thorns around her (SoS 2).

The Prophets

Only thorns will grow in Israel because of her unfaithfulness and will overrun her cities (Isa 5, Isa 7, Isa 32, Isa 34 among many references in Isaiah).

Jesus teaching

Thorns are the fruit of the lives of false prophets (Luke 6, Matt 7). Thorns choke the seed of the gospel (Mark 4, Matt 13, Luke 8).

Jesus death

The crown of thorns symbolises Jesus having taken on humanity's rebellion against God, the king of all the world's unfaithful, lazy, cursed, fallen fruit. The crucifixion is the wizened nadir of that barrenness (Mark 15, Matt 27, John 19).

Judgement

Thorns are only fit for the fire (Heb 6).

(One thorn is conspicuously missing from the overview above - probably the most famous thorn in history - the thorn Paul talks about as being in his side. It wouldn't take too much imagination to fit Paul's thorn in to the picture painted above, but it doesn't seems integral to the motif.)