Wisdom's Corner
The Vine Out of Egypt

Sometimes farmers will take a vine from one place and plant it in another place. The farmer must take great care of the vine. He must make sure that the vine has plenty of water and the right amount of sunshine. He must make sure that the dirt is properly prepared for the vine to get a good root system.

If the farmer does a good job, the vine will grow many branches. It will cover a large area and have a lot of fruit on its branches.

In Psalm 80:8-15 we read about a vine that God brought out of Egypt and planted in another place. That vine was the nation of Israel. God planted it in Canaan. God took good care of the vine and its root grew deep. The picture given to us is that the vine grew many large branches that covered the hills. The branches reached from the Mediterranean Ocean to the Jordan River.

But Israel had not stayed faithful to God and he had allowed bad things to happen to them. The picture we are given is that the hedge that usually protected vineyards has been broken down. Now wild animals came in and not only ate freely from the vine but destroyed it. The writer of the psalm is asking God to once again take care of the vine.

We need to make sure we are obeying God. Jesus said he is the vine and we are the branches. God planted Jesus as the vine. Our vine will never go bad. But we can be a bad branch. And a bad branch is cut off. I know that you do not want to be cut off from Jesus.

Make sure that you study the Bible so that you will always be a healthy branch on the vine. Keep getting nourished from the vine, Jesus. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 2002

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)