Sow Not Among Thorns

God has a word from Jeremiah to Israel in Jeremiah 4 but it is to a specific segment of the population. The men. 

Jeremiah 4:3 (ESV) For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

It's astonishing the impact men have on society. For both tremendous good and tremendous evil. Look at the story of almost any overachiever and you will most likely find a failed father in their past. They are desperate to undo the damage Dad did. 

Jeremiah knows that the men need to repent if the nation is to rebound. And their hardness is causing hardship in the land. 

Then this phrase: "So not among thorns." What a crazy statement! Who would sow seed where you could get stuck or pierced with pain? Only foolish men!

Thorns are a picture of sin in Genesis 3. Adam's rebellion would cause the land to produce them. Jesus wore a crown of thorns on his brow symbolizing His payment for Adam's rebellion. Jesus also tells us that thorns represent the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. 

Matthew 13:22 (ESV) As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

How much men need to hear Jeremiah in this passage. Do not sow your seed among the things of this world that suck you in and strangle your faith. Do not let riches be the chase of your heart. The greatest thing a man can do is to cultivate a soft heart toward God and to raise a family in the fear of the Lord. 

So Jeremiah calls out.

Jeremiah 4:4 (ESV) Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

 Interestingly, the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham was a man's action, not a woman's. Circumcision is a man's thing. Women cannot do this. The idea is clear in scripture, men can lead their family for tremendous good or tremendous evil. God is looking at THEM to lead and feed their homes. 

God warns clearly here as in Malachi 4. When men fail to be godly, the nation is cursed and suffers wrath. 

Malachi 4:5–6 (ESV) “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

There is a faithful father who acted nobly in scripture. His name was Joseph. He loved Mary in spite of the image her pregnancy brought upon his reputation. He moved his family to and from Egypt to keep the Christ child safe. He navigated to Nazareth to raise the Lord out of the target of Herod. He was a man who listened to God and did not chase the "good life" at the expense of his family. 

Men do well to embody Joseph-type leadership in our home.