Day 14 – Almond

(Prunus dulcis)

“Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.” Jeremiah 1:11-12 NKJV

The almond tree is associated with one of the earliest prophecies of a young Jeremiah using a play on words that carries a vital truth for Israel as well as for us. The Hebrew word for almond, shaked, is also translated “to watch”. By seeing the almond branch, God assured Jeremiah that He is watching over His Word to bring it to pass, no matter the passage of time – His Word is eternal.

In Numbers 17 God put Israel’s murmuring against Moses to an end when He commanded that 12 staffs (representing each tribe) be placed in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark. The next morning when Moses went into the Tabernacle, “he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!” Notable about the almond is that it first blooms and starts forming fruit before the branches produce leaves. Is our fruit visible before the leaves? God watched over the 12 tribes and gave the symbol of the almond tree as His eternal watchfulness.

God watched a sinful nation murmuring and walking away from Him, and the message to us today remain the same: God is watching! He will watch over His Word and His chosen ones. When sin and immorality engulf nations and the Church, God is watching! When nations assail Israel and seek to destroy her, God is watching!

Prayer: Father, thank You for the comfort that we can be assured that You are watching – then, now, and what is to come. Just as Revelation declare, “who was, who is, and who is to come”! May we blossom and produce fruit in Your presence under Your watchful eye Lord. Amen.

Love, Pastor Iriza