Glastonbury Thorn Tree “Cut Down”!
The headline in today’s Daily Mail from England reads: Were anti-Christians behind pilgrimage site attack? 2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury is cut down
Many who are familiar with our ministry are well acquainted with the story associated with the famous Glastonbury thorn tree, through the books, The Traditions of Glastonbury (link is no longer valid), by my friend, the late Bible archeologist, E. Raymond Capt; and The Drama of the Lost Disciples (link is no longer valid) by George Jowett. Both are thrilling books!
They tell of Jesus’ great uncle (Mary’s uncle), Joseph of Arimathea, and of his missionary work in Britain (in Glastonbury, in particular), after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We believe this incident is a sign pregnant with spiritual meaning, and because my time is very limited today, I can only suggest a few trails of thought for those of you who are learning God’s “sign language.”
First, we would think this is a terrible thing, but is it? What could be positive about this attack on a site which is not thoroughly Christian in nature, but one which is so dear to those of us who understand our true Israelite heritage through the Anglo-Saxons and kindred people who once populated most of Europe.
Leaving aside the traditions of the seeming miraculous budding of the tree, let us look at the symbolism. Thorns recall the crown of thorns with which our Savior suffered. When Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, God said to him:
Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it [the ground-JB] bring forth to thee;…
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; ….
Note that God cursed the ground, not Adam! A result of the curse was that it would yield thorns. So thorns are a sign of the curse on the land-ground-earth. Likewise, our sweat as we labor is also associated with the curse.
As Ron Oja has taught, when Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane (which means, Olive Press), his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44. So we see that in his agony, Jesus exchanges His blood for our sweat and takes the crown of thorns to “reverse the curse” upon the ground.
That is enough to get your spiritual wheels turning on what could be the significance of the “Thorn Tree…cut down.” (Actually, the tree was not “cut down,” but the branches were cut off; the trunk remains, if you read the whole story and view the several pictures.)
As we have been deeply involved lately in teaching about the present “falling” of Mystery Babylon, especially being witnessed by the enormous financial destruction being played out on national economies across the globe, I find the most telling and perhaps the most significant part of the Daily Mail story is at the very end where it says:
“The land on which the Holy Thorn stood is owned by Edward James, who was arrested this week in connection with an investigation into failed currency exchange firm Crown Currency Exchange, of which he is a director.
According to the administrator’s report, Crown Currency collapsed owing £16 million with little more than £3 million in the bank. Last night there was speculation that the attack on the Holy Thorn may have been part of a vendetta against him.”
Hello-o-o! Crown (of thorns) being Exchanged for the curse on the land! And it all has to do with the evil and corrupt money system (currency) which pervades the entire world! This is another in the continuing series of prophetic signs we are seeing that the final collapse of Mystery Babylon is on the near prophetic horizon. HalleluYah!