Summary: To show that GOD never intended us to be cursed that's why He sacrificed the ground on our behalf and now advises us to eat plant, grass or herb as our food.

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you cursed?

No, but the ground is, so the plant that I eat will be blessed if I pray for it with thanksgiving in my heart.

1 Timothy 4:4-5 (Amplified Bible)

For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be thrown away or refused if it is received with thanksgiving.

For it is hallowed and consecrated by the Word of God and by prayer.

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers/unbelievers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that GOD never intended us to be cursed that's why He sacrificed the ground on our behalf and now advises us to eat plant, grass or herb as our food.

IV. TEXT:

Genesis 3:18 (Amplified Bible)

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

V. THESIS:

Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are pleased in the prosperity of Your servants and in everything we do, we do it for Your Name alone.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (Amplified Bible)

So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God.

Colossians 3:23 (Amplified Bible)

Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,

VI. TITLE:

Thorns and thistles and eat the herb

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Moses

B. Date written: 1450 - 1410 B.C.

C. Purpose: Book of Origins

D. To whom written: People of Israel

E. Main theme: Man's sin and initial steps for his redemption initiated by GOD.

F. Keyword: Beginning

G. Key verse: First Messianic Promise -

Genesis 3:15 (Amplified Bible)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

Genesis 3:18 (Amplified Bible)

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

Genesis 3:18 (New King James Version)

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

A. The ground will yield thorns and thistles for the husband

"Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you,"

Thorns or "" in the Hebrew language meaning:

What are thorns in this life that we will encounter and experience?

1. Unbelievers

2 Samuel 23:6 (Amplified Bible)

But wicked, godless, and worthless lives are all like thorns to be thrust away, because they cannot be taken with the hand.

Psalms 118:12 (Amplified Bible)

They swarmed about me like bees, they blaze up and are extinguished like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!

Deuteronomy 1:44 (Amplified Bible)

Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah.

2. We ourselves are thorns for other people. That's why we need to be changed from within. We need a new heart from the LORD GOD.

Jeremiah 4:3 (Amplified Bible)

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns.

Isaiah 32:13-15 (Amplified Bible)

For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briers—yes, for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

For the palace shall be forsaken, the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watchtower shall become dens [for wild animals] endlessly, a joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is valued as a forest.

Ezekiel 36:26 (Amplified Bible)

A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

3. idols - things, people, events that will stand in the way of GOD and us.

Hosea 10:8 (Amplified Bible)

The high places also of Aven [once Beth(el), house of God, now (Beth-)aven, house of idolatry], the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed; the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their [idol] altars, and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us! And to the hills, Fall on us!

that's why wealth, fame, riches, work/careers and position are called thorns because they prevent you to worship GOD.

Matthew 13:7 (Amplified Bible)

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out.

Matthew 13:22 (Amplified Bible)

As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

How to eradicate or remove these thorns in our lives?

1. Share the gospel, make disciples of all men -

Matthew 28:19 (Amplified Bible)

Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Proverbs 11:30 (Amplified Bible)

The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men—he gathers and receives them for eternity].

James 5:20 (Amplified Bible)

Let the [latter] one be sure that whoever turns a sinner from his evil course will save [that one’s] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins [procure the pardon of the many sins committed by the convert].

Matthew 4:19 (Amplified Bible)

And He said to them, Come after Me [as disciples—letting Me be your Guide], follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!

1 Corinthians 9:19 (Amplified Bible)

For although I am free in every way from anyone’s control, I have made myself a bond servant to everyone, so that I might gain the more [for Christ].

2. Cultivate our hearts with GOD'S WORDS and prayer

Jeremiah 4:3 (Amplified Bible)

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns.

Hosea 10:12 (Amplified Bible)

Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.

How can we share GOD'S WORDS if we ourselves don't have the WORD in us?

Matthew 10:8 (Amplified Bible)

Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give.

3. Bring the whole tithes and offering, use wealth and riches to honor the LORD.

Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible)

And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Malachi 3:10 (Amplified Bible)

Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (Amplified Bible)

As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment.

[Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others],

In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed.

B. The plant of the field will be the main food of man

"and you shall eat the plants of the field"

Herb, plant or "eseb" in the Hebrew language meaning "glisten, green, grass", meaning we need to consume the grass. For example, after learning this, I've trained my stomach to eat quaker oats, or oat meal, which is only fiber and it's a grass in itself, others like wheat can be eaten. This will not only give you a healthy body free from sickness and pain, but a stronger one and longer one.

Romans 14:2 (Amplified Bible)

One [man’s faith permits him to] believe he may eat anything, while a weaker one [limits his] eating to vegetables.

Psalms 104:14-15 (Amplified Bible)

He causes vegetation to grow for the cattle, and all that the earth produces for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth—

And wine that gladdens the heart of man, to make his face shine more than oil, and bread to support, refresh, and strengthen man’s heart.

1 Corinthians 6:12 (Amplified Bible)

Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.

Make sure to take care of our bodies because it's the temple of the HOLY SPIRIT.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (Amplified Bible)

Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God’s temple (His sanctuary), and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?

1 Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified Bible)

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,

IX. CONCLUSION:

Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are pleased in the prosperity of Your servants and in everything we do, we do it for Your Name alone.