The Doctrine of Thorns

Thorn, Thorns
Literal: Any of various sharp, spiny protuberances; a prickle.
Symbolic: A person or thing that causes sharp pain, irritation, or discomfort.
Biblical: Symbolic of the Judgment of God; first on the earth, then on Israel. In the Old Testament, wherever its use is symbolic, it is the direct result of disobedience, neglect of doctrine, and the negative response of a rebellious people.

Genesis 3:17-18 “…Cursed is the ground because of you (Adam)….It will produce thorns and thistles for you…” Numbers 33:55 “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.” Joshua 23:13 “..they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes.” Proverbs 15:19 “The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway." Proverbs 24:30-31 “I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense…thorns had come up everywhere…” Ezekiel 2:3-7 “He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’  And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

Thorns and thistles are the NATURAL produce of the uncultivated earth. If not systematically destroyed, they will hinder and destroy the good crops of the husbandman.

Matthew 7:16 “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”
Matthew 13:7 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”
13:22 “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Hebrews 6:7-8 “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.  But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.”

Principle: Believers never have to be taught carnality, laziness, rebellion. All these characteristics are natural, instinctive, EARTHLY. We must, however, be taught the Word of God. It must be systematically cultivated in our souls. If we neglect so important a responsibility we will become overgrown with thorns before we notice, and totally incapable of producing good fruit for our Husbandman.

As Jesus was bearing our sins on the cross, He was at the same time bearing the curse of the earth (the crown of thorns) on His head. 

John 19:2,5 “The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe…When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”.

Thorns, then, represent something in our environment; something outside ourselves which causes continuing irritation, pain, discomfort which we see as an obstacle to our spiritual growth. Thorns are not fatal, just troublesome. You can function while enduring the thorn, but you’re never quite relaxed about it. You can never quite forget that it’s there.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “because of these surpassingly great revelations (to Paul in an altered state—near death), therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was GIVEN (grace package) a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.^. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Judges 2:3 “Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”

Why? 

Judges 2:22-23 “I will use them TO TEST ISRAEL and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

Judges 3:1-2,4 “These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan  (he did this only TO TEACH WARFARE TO THE DESCENDANTS OF THE ISRAELITES WHO HAD NOT HAD PREVIOUS BATTLE EXPERIENCE)…. They were left to TEST THE ISRAELITES to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Hebrews 4:15-16,18 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need…Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Paul suffered as a minister of the gospel in the same manner as Jesus suffered reaching out to His lost sheep, and from the same source: His people, the Jews. Not physical illness, but painful rejection by the people He loved. Our thorns are also caused by people we love. If we didn’t love them, it wouldn’t hurt that they despise what we represent. We do, though, and it does. Jesus knows.