The use of nettles
Did you think that the only good that could come of nettles was soup?
Then think again.
The past few times you have been here, I have taken your thoughts to judgement. There is a day coming when Jesus will return as king and judge of all men. We can be sure of this because God has always kept his word in the past. We can also be sure that God is judge because there is evidence all around us that he has already judged this world in a number of ways. We briefly considered Noah’s flood, which came upon this earth about 4500 years ago. Soon after that followed the destruction of the tower at Babel which is when men started to speak in different languages. The evidence for these is still around for us to see.
I want you now to consider two more evidences. It is evidence as to what was meant when God spoke to Adam in the garden of Eden on the day that Adam disobeyed God. You will find it here in Genesis 3¹
Notice two things: Dust you are and to dust you shall return. God here confirms to Adam that he must die, and so in time Adam died. All men since then have died – apart from 2, which we can tell you about another time – and the others who have not yet died, that is we who are alive today, can expect to die and return to the dust. There is nothing that we can do to prevent this, and though we may try to delay that day as long as we can it will come.
Secondly, the earth will produce thorns and thistles. I understand this to be a picture, which would soon become very clear to Adam, of everything that was going to go wrong with the world in which he lived. The garden would no longer be a place of beauty of its own accord as it were, Adam would be constantly having to weed it out to remove the thorns and thistles from the ground. You have similar things to think about – your bedroom does not stay tidy of its own accord, you have to do something everyday to keep it that way. If you leave it alone it goes from bad to worse. And thinking about the garden again, Henman would not be able to play on the courts at Wimbledon if the gardeners did not do their job to keep the courts in their best condition.
But see also there is a promise here: someone will come to sort this mess out. I went across the common this evening and found these two things – nettle and dock – God’s judgement had fallen on this earth, but God has not forgotten men. He still cares for us, and provides remedies for us even though we don’t deserve them. If you are stung by the nettle you may soothe the sting with the dock leaf and generally speaking where you find nettles there will be dock leaves not far away. If you fall ill, then we have found cures for many things – not found for all! – or your body just fights against it and you may recover. The younger you are the better your body is at fighting. And when we consider the problem of sin, for it is sin that brings these judgements on us, God has provided the remedy, just as he promised here to Adam and Eve.
He sent Jesus, born of the woman, who took the curse of our sin and the wrath of God on himself so that we could be free of it.
And the promise he makes he gives to all who will come to him for forgiveness. We have all sinned, and all deserve to fall under the wrath, anger and judgement of God, but everyone who comes to Jesus will be saved from this. So when you see the nettles, remember the nettle is part of the penalty for our sin and that God will judge us, but have a look around for the dock – and remember that God is merciful and though we deserve judgement he provides relief for us in Jesus Christ – and then put your trust in him.
¹ Genesis 3:1-15
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “
⁴Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. ⁸And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
⁹Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
¹⁰So he said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
¹¹And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
¹²Then the man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
¹³And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
¹⁴So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
