Inconvenience of Thorns (Numbers 33:50-56)

Thorns, in the Bible represent snares, sorrows, grieving, and vexation. Sometimes, thorns just spring up in our day to day life, sometimes we jump into a bush of thorns, but thank God we have someone to trim the thorns in our life!

Inconvenience in LIFE

Genesis 3:18 “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;”

Don’t blame God for things that go on in life that are aggravating, blame Adam!

Mark 4:7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.”

Mark 4:18–19 “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

When caring so much about the world and wordly lusts, we choke the Word of God in our hearts!

Inconvenience in the LAND

Canaan is pictured as the land of victorious Christian living.

In order for us to live a life pleasing unto God, we need to get the world out of our land!

When we let the world remain in our lives and our land, they will be pricks in our eyes, thorns in our sides, and vex our righteous soul! (Just ask Lot)

Psalm 106:34–40 “They did not destroy the nations, Concerning whom the Lord commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, And learned their works. And they served their idols: Which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons And their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: And the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, And went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, Insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.”

Inconvenience for the LAZY

Proverbs 15:19 “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: But the way of the righteous is made plain.”

If we’re just hearers of the word and not doers, we can count on thorns coming up in our life.

If you don’t pull weeds out of your garden, they will overtake your plants.

Weeds grow a lot faster than your crop. If we want a good harvest, we’ll have to make sure that we’re working to get all the bad out of our lives.

Inconvenience for the LUNY

Proverbs 24:30–32 “I went by the field of the slothful, And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, And nettles had covered the face thereof, And the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.”

Those who don’t have understanding (wisdom) of the word of God can be sure to have thorns in their field.

Look at those who lack knowledge of who God is and how they are grieved and vexed with thorns in their life.

We can learn from these people and realize that without God, there’s no telling where our lives would be.

We can also learn from these people that when we have a hunger for the Scriptures and a desire to know more about them, we have a repellent for thorns.

Inconvenience for the LORD

Mark 15:16–20 “And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.”

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

- Not only did Christ die for our trespasses, He died for our thorns!

When thorns come up in your life, take them to Christ!

When something bothers you, take it to Christ!

Eradication by the LORD

In the Present

Song of Solomon 2:1–2 “I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.”

The Rose of Sharon is known in the far east as the “immortal flower.”

This rose also contains no thorns.

In the midst of the valley, there is a lily.

In the midst of thorns, there is a lily.

Lilies are perennial plants, meaning they can survive without much human intervention.

Lilies are the most popular flowers on earth.

Lilies are non toxic to humans.

The bulbs of the lily have soothing properties when ate.

When you need a remedy for thorns, go to the lily of the valley in the midst of the thorns!

In the Future

Ezekiel 28:24–26 “And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

Revelation 22:1–3 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”

“Our inconvenience will soon be eradicated.” The aggravation of thorns will soon be gone.