Consider the Plants, Week 2: Ishmael Under a Bush

Post Author: Pastor Courtney R. Young

Prayer of the Day

God of All Creation, we thank you for the companionship of plants throughout our lives. In times of distress, give us the courage to cry out. Give us faith to remember that God is listening and will show us a way through our wilderness. We offer our prayers in the promise of life and new life through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. 

Commentary
By Courtney Young

There is no way to know what type of bush Ishmael was placed under exactly. Some candidates are the white broom (think of Elijah’s pitstop), the bean-caper, the saltbush, or any number of herb bushes. While we don’t know the exact plant, they all have a few characteristics in common in order to survive and flourish in the desert: they must have a well-developed root system to access the limited water, usually both shallow roots alongside a long taproot; they must be able to manage the salty soil of the wilderness; and they must be able to manage seasons of drought. 

It is notable that when humans in the Bible have to resort to relying on bushes for refuge, they have reached a particularly low point. Seeking refuge from a bush is a sign of despair, degradation, and exile:

• Hagar is desperate for some water and a new home for herself and her son. She is convinced that she is going to watch her son die of dehydration, so she places him under a bush so that she doesn’t have to see it happen–and perhaps to alleviate just a bit of his suffering with some shade.
• Elijah is on the run from Queen Jezebel. He finds refuge under a broom tree and, feeling depleted, asks God that he might die. God responds to his cries and replenishes him before sending him on further. 
• There is even an odd description in Job 30 of some disreputable men occupying bushes who have the audacity to mock Job when he used to be highly respected within his community. Verses 3-5 state, “Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground, they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom. They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief” (NRSV).

Beneath a bush is not a place that one wants to end up. There, a person’s suffering seems out of scale with the comfort and provision that the bush is able to provide. The perceived meagerness of the bush seems to emphasize that the person seeking shade beneath their branches does not have what they need and will not likely get it any time soon. A bush is no replacement for the care of human community.

But it is also beneath the bushes, that God hears our cries. God hears Ishmael crying out, and God shows up to provide water and reaffirm promises that They had made to Hagar long ago. In the end, Ishmael learns how to be at home in the wilderness just like the bushes have.

A preacher could explore how God shows up during those times in our lives when our problems seem bigger than our resources. A preacher could also explore God’s habit of providing what is needed and showing people a way forward through the wilderness.

Hymn Suggestion
Children Of The Heavenly Father
Text: Carolina Sandell Berg (tr. Ernst W. Olson)
Music: Swedish folk tune