Twenty-One Signs of Doomsday (Update XLVI) -- The Scent of Water

The end draws nigh, and most will be fully oblivious until it is upon them.  Jesus likens it to the days of Noah, as He describes in Matthew 24:36-39:

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The world’s final judgment and the new beginning of the redeemed is described in II Peter 3:10-13:

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

The handwriting is on the wall and God’s judgment is knock-knock-knocking at the door. 

The later rain, which is earnestly awaited by the saints, will witness the final effort of the ministers of the Cross to reconcile unto God all that will believe upon and call upon Jesus Christ.  It fully appears to run in tandem with the great tribulation period that leads up to the battle of Armageddon.  During this last stretch of time, the world and all its lifeforms—and even the heavens themselves—will fall under the heavy judgment of God.  The prophet Isaiah states in Chapter 24:1-6 and 19-20:

1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.

4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

There is only one way to escape this impending doom, and the Way is the person, Jesus Christ.  John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

One enters into this marvelous salvation through a miraculous experience Jesus calls “born-again.”  Romans 10:10:

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

At this place, we believe upon and confess Christ, and begin to follow Him. 

Have you been born again—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  This is where the new life begins.  Will today be your day, where all your sin and shame are washed away? Will today be the day all of Satan’s bondages are broken, no matter how overpowering they may appear?  Will today be the day your life is filled with glorious, eternal purpose and where the blessed hope arises each morning as the Sun of Righteousness, to lead the way?  In mere moments, you will choose for or against Jesus Christ. Choose Christ and live!  Follow me in this simple prompt.  Come on; let’s go!  Click onto “Further with Jesus”  for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Job 14:7-9:

7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 11:1:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

GOD SAID, Matthew 24:32-34:

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

MAN SAID: These doomsday prophets make me laugh!  There is no “end of the world,” and certainly no “Judgment Day!” 

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The Holy Bible is portrayed in its Scriptures to be the inerrant and perfect Word of God, the God who is the Creator of all that which is visible and invisible.  It is the story of man’s beginning and the story of man’s end, and how to navigate what’s in between.  When it is approached in childlike faith, everything changes.

Unusual, even extreme, pronouncements in the Word of God—or what appear to be strange groupings of words—cause the wise of heart to stop and listen.  How these unusual passages play out in the intricate, interwoven Gospel narrative is amazing, which Job 14:7-9 will demonstrate:

7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

The scent of water?  Does the field of forest husbandry have an understanding of this strange grouping of words?  Let’s set the table with two paragraphs from Science.HowStuffWorks.com:

So, it seems American environmentalist Edward Abbey was onto something when he wrote in Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, his 1968 memoir: “Long enough in the desert a man like other animals can learn to smell water. Can learn, at least, the smell of things associated with water—the unique and heartening odor of the cottonwood tree, for example, which in the canyon lands is the tree of life.” 

Because although plain H₂O has no scent, chemically pure water also basically never occurs in nature.  You’ve got to make that stuff in a lab.  So when other animals sniff out a water source, it isn’t the water they’re smelling—it might be a water-loving cottonwood tree, or it may be the other stuff in or around or otherwise associated with the presence of fresh water: chemicals, bacteria, algae, plant matter, or minerals. 

BibleHub.com published the following regarding the scent of water:

From Jamison-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary:

Scent—exhalation, which, rather than the humidity of water, causes the tree to germinate.  In the antithesis to man, the tree is personified, and volition is poetically ascribed to it. 

From Matthew Poole’s Commentary:

Through the scent of water, i.e., by means of water.  Scent or smell is figuratively ascribed to a tree. 

From Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible:

Yet through the scent of water it will bud…As soon as it smells it, or perceives it, is sensible to it, or partakes of its efficacy; denoting both how speedily, and how easily, at once it were, it buds forth through the virtue of either rain water that descends upon it, or river water by which it is planted, or by any means conveyed unto it; particularly this is true of the willow, which delights in watery places; and, when it is in the circumstances before described, will by the benefit of water bud out again, even when its stock has been seemingly dead:

and bring forth boughs like a plant; as if it was a new plant, or just planted.  [End of quotes]

Things on earth are patterned after things in heaven.  The ultimate example is Genesis 1:26-27:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In many cases, things of this life, such as the stump and the scent of water, are shadows of the reality of the plan of God. 

Before discussing the supernatural relevance of the stump and the scent of water, you might find the following excerpt from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Trees Now and Forever” to be exhilarating:

Trees are an amazing creation of God that are so central to life and, imagine: even central to eternal life.  GodSaidManSaid just reviewed a book written by Peter Wohlleben, titled The Hidden Life of Trees.  In this feature, we will reference numerous observations made by Mr. Wohlleben. 

My wife and I have a large, healthy oak tree in the backyard.  Our neighbors call it the "mighty oak." Since the oak has a lifespan of 400 to 500 years of age, it puts that tree’s birth back into the 1600s when all that existed on our land were Indians, at best.  That is impressive, but there are trees that far outlive the mighty oak.  According to ground source information published by NPR, the world is covered with 3 trillion trees—over 400 trees per human—and they satisfy quite a list of earthly needs.  A short list follows:

🌳 Erosion control.  Trees play an integral part in keeping the soil from washing away into the streams, rivers, and oceans. 

🌳 Trees, and all of God’s green creation, produce oxygen for us to breathe.  In summer, one square mile of forest manufactures 29 tons of oxygen per day—enough to supply the daily oxygen needs of over 29,000 people. 

🌳 Living creatures breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; trees are carbon dioxide vacuums. 

🌳 Trees act as huge air filters, catching particles in the breeze that pass through their leaves and needles; a square mile of trees can trap up to 20,000 tons of materials per year. 

🌳 Trees are disinfectants.  The following excerpt is from The Hidden Life of Trees:

These secret reserves can be activated at any time, and depending on the tree species, they contain a selection of defensive compounds produced by the tree. These so-called phytoncides have antibiotic properties, and there has been some impressive research done on them.  A biologist from Leningrad, Boris Tokin, described them like this back in 1956: “If you add a pinch of crushed spruce or pine needles to a drop of water that contains protozoa, in less than a second, the protozoa are dead.”  In the same paper, Tokin writes that the air in young pine forests is almost germ-free, thanks to the phytoncides released by the needles. In essence, then, trees disinfect their surroundings.  [End of quote]

🌳 Revelation 22:2 reads in part: “…and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Much of today’s medical remedies are a product of the world’s trees and plant life, including the ubiquitous aspirin. 

🌳 Trees produce essential foods—from their wide array of marvelous fruits and nuts to the olive tree, whose fruit and oil are foundational to the famed Mediterranean diet. 

🌳 Trees are central to the hydrologic system of the globe.  Consider Peter Wohlleben’s comments:

Of all the plants, trees have the largest surface area covered in leaves.  For every square yard of forest, 27 square yards of leaves and needles blanket the crowns.  Part of every rainfall is intercepted in the canopy and immediately evaporates again.  In addition, each summer, trees use up to 8,500 cubic yards of water per square mile, which they release into the air through transpiration.  This water vapor creates new clouds that travel farther inland to release their rain.  As the cycle continues, water reaches even the most remote areas.  This water pump works so well that downpours in some large areas of the world, such as the Amazon Basin, are almost as heavy thousands of miles inland as they are on the coast.  [End of quote]

🌳 Trees support a multitude of creatures important to the world’s ecosystem.  Again, the author writes:

In 2009, tree researcher Dr. Martin Gossner sprayed the oldest (six hundred years old) and mightiest (170 feet tall and 6 feet wide at chest-height) tree in the Bavarian Forest National Park.  The chemical he used, pyrethrum, is an insecticide, which brought any number of spiders and insects tumbling down to the forest floor—dead.  The lethal results show how species-rich life is way up high.  The scientist counted 2,041 animals belonging to 257 different species.  [End of quotes]

Watch how beautifully the pattern of the stump and the scent of water materialize on the spiritual plane in the following numerical bullet points:

1. John 7:38-39:

38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Holy Ghost who leads and guides in all truth is the quickening (life-giving) force of God and is the proclaimer of all that is true.  This living water goes forth in all the earth to accomplish all that God has purposed.  When the scent of water is sensed, the stump will bud. 

2. Isaiah 11:1-4:

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

On the Cross of Calvary, when all appeared lost, when the hope of the Messiah was dashed by the Jewish leaders and augmented by the Roman gentiles, when all that was left was a stump—a dead body—there was a scent of water.  The Word of prophecy—the living water—went forth and accomplished its purpose as Christ was risen from the dead and given power over all the works of darkness. “A branch shall grow out of his roots.”

3. Isaiah 66:8:

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

The name Israel was missing from earth’s geography for over 2,000 years, but in one single day—May 14, 1948—by the mere stroke of the pen, that nation was restored. At the scent of water, Israel once again began to bud from its stump. 

4. Mark 13:28-30:

28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

Israel is equated to the fig tree and its fruit in numerous passages.  Jesus instructs us to learn a parable of the fig tree.  It is widely understood that the budding of the fig tree is indeed Israel having been restored as a nation—a major sign and critically pivotal to the end of the world as we know it. The living water of the Holy Ghost has proclaimed; there is a scent of water.

5. II Thessalonians 2:3-5:

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

Critical to this world’s judgment is a third Jewish Temple to be built again upon Mt. Moriah, which is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  The headline in the Jerusalem Post said, “Donald Trump is Not Cyrus…Yet.”  The Persian King Cyrus gave the commandment to rebuild the second Jewish Temple that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  Many religious leaders in Israel, as well as many in the Christian ranks, think U.S. President Donald Trump will endorse the rebuilding of the third Jewish Temple, which will play a central role in the world-ending battle of Armageddon.  There is a scent of water in the air. 

If you have yet to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, know that a stump of childlike faith lives in you, just waiting for the scent of water.  The living water comes unto you today, and if you receive it, life will spring forth—even eternal life.  Click on to “Further with Jesus” right now and your glorious journey will begin.   

GOD SAID, Job 14:7-9:

7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 11:1:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

GOD SAID, Matthew 24:32-34:

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

MAN SAID: These doomsday prophets make me laugh!  There is no “end of the world,” and certainly no “Judgment Day!” 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

“Job 14:9,” BibleHub.com

GodSaidManSaid, “Trees Now and Forever”

Shields, J., “Why Didn''t Evolution Give Us the Ability to Smell Fresh Water?,” Science.HowStuffWorks.com, October 27, 2016

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