Seeds and Signs

Editor

 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not hither, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

“So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah  55:10 & 11).

The above passage of Scripture is a parable of seed sowing. As rain or snow comes down and does not vanish again into the sky without doing its work, so the “seed” of God’s Word comes to stay and bless.

The restoration of the Land of Israel is a modern portend of the Word of the Lord reaching out from Zion to all parts of the earth.

Verse 12 of the passage is interestingly up-lifting, “For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Partial view from balcony.

From my apartment in Jerusalem, I have a lovely view of those “singing hills” and it seems to me they are still singing the love song of El Shaddai. And the theme of the song is “come back.” I improvised some lyrics to the melody of an old love song:

Those singing hills, are singing today,

Across the Land of Israel – and sing

The song of One who loves you so.

His Name is YAH, the same as long ago.

The wind in the valley join in the sweet refrain;

 Each day and night, El Shaddai cries

“Come back again.”

Though you were gone, His love lingered on

And echoes still among those singing hills.

Verse 13 of Isaiah 55 carries on with, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an ­everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

That was puzzling. What is the sign? It seems to me it refers to what was said before in verses 10 an 11; that the seed is not lost, and it will not return unto the Lord void of the purpose for which He sent it. That is the everlasting (consistent) sign which shall not be cut off – shall not lose its life and vitality.

Built into a seed is the natural reproducing of its kind.  That is to say, the nature of seed is that it always produces and reproduces its own likeness. (Read Genesis chapter one.) The seed of God’s Love-of-Life instructions through Abraham and his seed has reached the nations, and spiritually hungry hearts are attached – and being attached right now – to the original seed, i.e., Abraham and his seed. Such seed is producing, and reproducing a likeness to that seed.

At the initial sowing, it is not full strength, and sometimes not even evident. It has fallen into the soil and its life is not visible. But the seed germ draws strength from the humus that surrounds it and bursts through the soil – but looks only like a blade of grass. After going through several stages and processes, it reproduces wheat grain that becomes “bread to the eater.”  So God’s Word, sown and nourished in hearts, brings healthy results – spiritually and physically, mentally and emotionally.

We are talking about the seed of God’s Word which came to Abraham and his seed in the unconditional love-promises of the Everlasting Abrahamic Covenant. The Bible teaches that the field of sowing is the whole world.

“And He said, [speaking to the Messiah] It is a light [insufficient] thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved [the hidden] of Israel; I will also give you for a light to the nations that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

Also Isaiah 56:8, “The Lord GOD who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, ‘Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered to him’.”

The promises were all made “to Abraham and his seed”. The greatness of those promises is in the ability of that seed-sowing to produce the process of worldwide redemption.

Quite Significantly

Israel recently celebrated her 58th birthday with a televised Bible contest for Jewish high school students from all over the world. Many attended the event. Prime Minister Olmert asked the finalists the last question. He called for contestants to produce Scriptures about this year’s contest theme, “national unity”.

The first response was, “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions’. Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand” (Eze 37:16 & 17).

In our day, it seems many spiritually-minded Jews and Christians are putting an emphasis on unity. May this grow and produce practical results of peace and good will to all mankind. It requires a great deal of give and take in both camps.

Shabbat (Sabbath) meal in Jerusalem apartment with friends: Sunnie Bell Merk, Pastor Emil Mullins and Holocaust survivor Zev Kedem breaking the Sabbath bread.

As a believer from the nations who heard the good word-seed of the Gospel of the Kingdom, I personally have come to an understanding of the God of Israel that implanted a love for His people and the Land.  This is the reason for our projects in Israel and for my spending more time in Jerusalem in a rented apartment.  I am not there to convert Jews to Christianity, but to have a place where we can come together on common ground with the same goal to help in the restoration of the land and to study the guide Book together. It is also a place where friends coming to Israel can stay awhile and join in the Bible Midrashim (sharing Bible studies) and learn what can be done to help.

Palm trees and Bougainvillea adorn Biblical Tamar Park in the Arava Desert.