A Herb Garden

“Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, [and] doth teach him. For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread [corn] is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break [it with] the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it [with] his horsemen. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, [which] is wonderful in counsel, [and] excellent in working. “ Isaiah 28:23-29.

In the Word of God people are often compared with plants and trees. Each one of us is in God’s eyes a tender plant that must grow and bring fruit. In this case we are compared with aromatic herbs that are used to make food tastier. The Lord explains how every plant should be handled in order to grow healthily. There are some herbs that must be taken special care of and handled tenderly, while others must be beaten, “but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod”. Can anyone of us identify himself with the fitches or the cummin? When one is often beaten by hard trials, does it mean that the Lord does not love us? “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,” says Paul in Hebrew 12:6.

Why does our heavenly Father handle some of His children in that way? “… for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness.” Hebrews 12:10. It is part of our educational process so that we may be partakers of His holiness! We are in this world in order to be educated to become inhabitants of the kingdom of God and members of the heavenly family. Our teacher is God Himself and our lessons are the different situations we live daily, in which our character is tested and formed. Our text book should be the Bible because, as it is written, “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. “ 2 Timothy 3:16.

Generally, when people speak together, they always try to show how right they are or how correctly they have acted. But God’s word tells us, “But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6. And Paul adds, “There is none righteous, no, not one” Romans 3:10. It is impossible for an unrighteous person to enter the kingdom of heaven. We all need to be instructed in righteousness.

Sometimes we think that we have to educate others, therefore we take the staff or the rod and start beating them with our words and piercing them with our looks, but the result is exactly the opposite of what we expected. We forget that the gardener is God. He is the One who knows how His plants should be dealt with. He is the only One who knows how to beat and at the same time show love. He is the perfect Educator.

All these wonderful herbs grow together, and each one is handled in a different way, because each one has a different aroma, another taste and is appropriate for a different kind of dish.

In God’s plan each one of us occupies a different place, plays a different role and needs a special preparation to be able to fulfil his commission on this world and be a child of God that reflects his Father’s character.

It is wonderful to be in God’s school and to know that we are aromatic herbs meant to give a special flavour to this dark and unloving world. Let us not fear when we come across problems or when we are beaten. The word of God tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” Romans 8:28.

God’s family, His church, is a Garden. We are His, the bride who will be translated when Jesus comes back. In Song of Solomon 4:12-15 we read, “A garden enclosed [is] my sister, [my] spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants [are] an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.” All sorts of trees and plants grow in God’s garden and He takes care of each one personally.

“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” Songs 4:16.

When the winds blow the aroma will spread out. The wind that is called to blow is the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus’ second coming, the Holy Spirit will be poured out in its fullness and the aroma of God’s plants–the love of God’s children for their Master and for their fellowmen–will spread out in the whole world and speak to every heart.

“Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits” Songs 4:16. Jesus comes to pluck the ripe fruits for His kingdom.

May the Lord give us faith so each one of us can see himself as an aromatic plant under the loving care of an experienced Gardener.
Amen.

Teresa Corti