[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2026]
Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upwards in a column of smoke.
Isaiah 9 v18 [NIVUK]
Throughout the past few weeks our tv screens have shown images of the extensive wildfires that are raging in southern Europe and parts of north America. At the same time, devastating floods and earthquakes have hit other parts of the world. Floods and droughts do not make comfortable companions.
How can we respond when people ask why God allows these disasters? Indeed, is God even relevant or is it easier to blame natural causes and other people’s interference with the climate?
Thorns are mentioned many times in the Bible, sometimes literally, as in our opening verse, but more often as a metaphor for trouble or opposition. Here is one, rather less popular, example of the latter use:
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.
Numbers 33 v55 [NIVUK]
God spoke to Moses through a burning thorn bush, Solomon used thorns to warn of the consequences of folly[1] and we recall that when Jesus told the parable of the sower he used thorns to describe the plight of those who abandon their initial acceptance of his words.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4 v18-19 [NIVUK]
The apostle Paul faced many challenges in his life, but when writing to the church in Corinth he mentioned one in particular.
So to keep me from becoming conceited … a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
2 Corinthians 12 v7 [ESVUK]
This verse has often been used to offer consolation to Christians facing persistent difficulties, and it is indeed encouraging to think that even God’s most prominent servants can still face problems.
Many people have speculated on the nature of the ‘thorn’ but that is to miss the main point of Paul’s words. He explained that the purpose of the thorn was that of discipline; in particular, to stop him becoming proud of his achievements as a servant of God.
How do you react to the thorns in your life?
Do you rebel or do you remember they are part of God’s plan for you?[2]
Of course, we cannot complete a discourse on Biblical references to thorns without acknowledging the most important thorns in human history.
They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
Mark 15 v17 [NIVUK]
The soldiers’ attempt at mockery has become instead a symbol of sovereignty and triumph.
The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.
The highest place that heaven affords
Is his, is his by right,
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
And heaven’s eternal light.
Thomas Kelly (1820)
References:
[1] Proverbs 26:9
[2] Jeremiah 29:11
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys