Land that drinks rain from heaven – Heb 6
Heb 6:7-8
For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. ESV
Isaiah 55
8“For my thoughts about mercy[n] are not like your thoughts,
and my ways are different from yours.
9 As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours.
10 “As the snow and rain that fall from heaven[o]
do not return until they have accomplished their purpose,
soaking the earth and causing it to sprout with new life,
providing seed to sow and bread to eat.
11 So also will be the word[p] that I speak;
it does not return to me unfulfilled.[q]
My word performs my purpose
and fulfills the mission I sent it out to accomplish.”[r]
[o] – footnote: In the language of biblical metaphor, snow is a picture of mercy blanketing the earth. Rain is a frequent symbol of revelation-teaching that soaks the heart (soil) and makes us fruitful. Note the seven terms for God’s Word in vv. 8–10: thoughts, ways, snow, rain, water, seed, bread. These same terms can be used to describe the Lord Jesus. He is the seed of the woman, living bread, the way and the life that sprouts in us. He is the Word that was sent (as our Apostle, Heb. 3:1), and he will not return to heaven without accomplishing all God’s pleasure.
12 For you will leave your exile with joy[s]
and be led[t] home wrapped in peace.
The mountains and hills in front of you will burst into singing
and the trees of the field will applaud![u]
13 Cypress trees will flourish where there were only thorns[v] thorns are a symbol of the curse of sin.
and myrtle trees instead of nettles.[w]
These will stand as a testimony to Yahweh’s renown,
everlasting signs[x] that will not be cut off.
[v] – footnote: Isaiah 55:13 Thorns are a symbol of the curse of sin.
See Gen. 3:18 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall [f]bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
; Matt. 27:29 (crown of thorns);
Gal. 3:13-14. 13 Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed the curse completely as he became a curse in our place. For it is written:
“Everyone who is hung upon a tree is cursed.”[a]
[w] – footnote: Isaiah 55:13 There is a hint of the Lord Jesus in these trees. Jesus is the blessed man who is like a tree (Ps. 1); he replaces the briars and thorns of our flesh with the flourishing tree of life in us.
[x] – footnote: Isaiah 55:13 Or “memorial (as a reminder).”
Psalms of man and creation
[a] The Tree of Life - The Genesis Psalms – Psalms 1
1 What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways![b]
He won’t walk in step with the wicked,
nor share the sinner’s way,
nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.
2 His passion is to remain true to the Word of “I AM,”
meditating day and night[c] on the true revelation of light.[d]
3 He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree
planted[e] by God’s design,
deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss,
bearing fruit in every season of life.
He is never dry, never fainting,
ever blessed, ever prosperous.[f]
4 But how different are the wicked.
They are like chaff[g] blown away by the wind.
5 The wicked will not endure the day of judgment,
for God will not defend them.
Nothing they do will succeed or endure for long,
for they have no part with those who walk in truth.
6 But how different it is for the righteous!
The Lord embraces their paths as they move forward
while the way of the wicked leads only to doom.
Footnotes
- 1 Although we cannot be sure, it is possible that Ezra compiled the Psalms and wrote Ps. 1 as an “introduction” to the Psalter. Others believe Ps. 1 was written by David or Jeremiah.
- 1:1 Psalm 1 is the contrast of those who follow God’s ways with those who choose their own path. Read through this psalm with the purpose of learning how to live with God in the first place.
- 1:2 To meditate on the revelation of light day and night means to meditate 24/7 on what is good and delightful. However, day signifies a period of enlightenment (Eph. 1:18) and night signifies a period of obscurity. Both when we have the light of insight and when we seem to be in the dark, meditation is the key to unlock the revelation of God.
- 1:2 Or “Torah.” From Ps. 1 we learn that the righteous and the wicked are distinguished by what they delight in.
- 1:3 Or “transplanted.” That is, God planted our lives from where we were into a place of blessing. See Ps. 92:13–14.
- 1:3 The metaphors found in this verse can be paraphrased as “No matter what he sets out to do, he brings it to a successful conclusion.”
- 1:4 Chaff is lifeless, only a shell without the kernel. Chaff depicts a life without the truth of Christ. See Ps. 35:5–6.
Our Resurrection Body
Our Resurrection Body - 1 Corinthians 15: 35 - 45
35 I can almost hear someone saying, “How can the dead come back to life? And what kind of body will they have when they are resurrected?” 36 Foolish man! Don’t you know that what you sow in the ground doesn’t germinate unless it dies? 37 And what you sow is not the body that will come into being, but the bare seed. And it’s hard to tell whether it’s wheat or some other seed. 38 But when it dies, God gives it a new form, a body to fulfill his purpose, and he sees to it that each seed gets a new body of its own and becomes the plant he designed it to be.[ad]
39 All flesh is not identical. Animals have one flesh and human beings another. Birds have their distinct flesh and fish another. 40 In the same way there are earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. There is a splendor of the celestial body and a different one for the earthly. 41 There is the radiance of the sun and differing radiance for the moon and for the stars. Even the stars differ in their shining. 42 And that’s how it will be with the resurrection of the dead.
43 The body is “sown” in decay, but will be raised in immortality. It is “sown” in humiliation, but will be raised in glorification.[ae] 44 It is “sown” in weakness but will be raised in power. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 For it is written:
The first man, Adam, became a living soul.[af]
The last Adam[ag] became the life-giving Spirit. 46 However, the spiritual didn’t come first. The natural precedes the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the dust of the earth; the second Man is Yahweh,[ah] from the realm of heaven.[ai] 48 The first one, made from dust, has a race of people just like him, who are also made from dust. The One sent from heaven has a race of heavenly people who are just like him. 49 Once we carried the likeness of the man of dust, but now let us[aj] carry the likeness of the man of heaven.[ak
Footnotes:
[ad] 15:38 Paul is teaching us of the resurrected body every believer will one day possess. Our bodies will then be perfect, renewed, transformed, indestructible, and not limited to the laws of nature. We will never get sick and never experience death again. We will still have our personalities as individuals but without any hint of sin. See Phil. 3:21. –
Philippians 3:21
21 who will transform our humble bodies[a] and transfigure us into the identical likeness of his glorified body.[b] And using his matchless power, he continually subdues everything to himself.[c] Footnotes 3:21 Or “the body of our humility.”3:21 Or “the body of his glory.”3:21 The Aramaic can be translated “everyone is in submission to him.”
[ae] 15:43 The Aramaic can be translated “They are buried in agony, but raised in glory.”
[ag] 15:45 The last Adam is Jesus Christ. As the last Adam, he ended Adam’s race and began a new species of humans who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and carry the life of Christ within them.
[ah] 15:47 As translated from the Aramaic.
[ai] 15:47 In God’s eyes there are only two men, Adam and Christ. Every human being is a copy of one or the other. To be in Adam is to be lost and merely human, but to be in Christ is to be wrapped into the Anointed One as one who carries the life of Christ within.
[aj] 15:49 The Aramaic word can be translated either “let us” or “we shall.” This may explain the variation among Greek manuscripts.
[ak] 15:49 That is, just as Jesus now has an earthly body transformed into a spiritual body, so we will have our bodies transformed into heavenly bodies.
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