Yes, you can, because the seed of regrowth is in you (Genesis 1:24). A town named Luz, in Judges 1:22-26, is a good example of regrowth. The name Luz means “almond tree.” They took the man out of Almond Tree, but they couldn’t take Almond Tree out of the man! The Almond Tree buds and blossoms earlier than other trees in Israel, even when the winter snow is still on the ground. “The early tree” (as it is known in Israel) buds before spring arrives.
“What do you see?” the LORD asked Jeremiah the prophet. He replied, “I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree” [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter]. Then the LORD said, “You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:11, 12. The Amplified Bible)
The King James Version reads, “I will hasten my word to perform it.” To hasten means to hurry up! God likens His Word to a tree that buds and blossoms despite unseasonal conditions.
The man who lived in Almond Tree was forced to leave, but he and his family went elsewhere and planted another Almond Tree. They budded and blossomed all over again.
Would you like to be productive again? We have the power to reproduce, because like all other growing things in God’s creation, we have “seed within ourselves” (Genesis 1:11- 12, 28). We can grow again. We can bud, blossom and bloom wherever we find room. Wherever we take root, we can bear fruit (2 Kings 19:30).
When Israel split into two the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the dynasty of David. (1 Kings 12:20) King Rehoboam of Judah would have fought against the break-away kingdom led by Jeroboam if a prophet had not warned that the split was from God. The ten tribes took the name “Israel”, leaving a “remnant” – the tribes of Judah and Benjamin – to unite and become the kingdom of Judah.
The flourishing tree of Israel had become the stump of Judah. But that stump held the promise of a new beginning. In God’s plan, the future growth would come from what remained. This is the “remnant” principle of future regrowth.
“Except the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9) Isaiah foresaw the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians and prophesied the preservation of a surviving remnant. He also prophesied the destruction of the Assyrian army “in one day.” (Isaiah 10:17, 20-23)
In 710 BC, the Assyrian army advanced on Jerusalem, capturing 46 cities of Judah and about 200 000 Jews. This world-power had already conquered the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel, exiled its 10 tribes, and repopulated the land with pagans (later known as Samaritans).
Isaiah 10:28-32 presents a graphic account of the enemy’s advance through Judah toward Jerusalem and the anguished fear of the people of Judah, as the arrogant army of the first World Empire approached the City of God. But the weight of Assyria was removed and its bondage was destroyed when the angel of the LORD slew 185 000 Assyrians in one night! (Isaiah 37:36) The bondage was broken by the blessing. (Isaiah 10:27)
“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant.” (Isaiah 37:31)
Out of the once-great kingdom of Israel only tiny Judah remained. After the Assyrian invasion, only a remnant had been left in the land. Yet there was life in the stump of Judah, and God would grow it again!
“The holy seed (the chosen remnant) is the stump and substance [of Israel].” (Isaiah 6:13: The Amplified Bible) Between the last verse of Isaiah, chapter 10, and the first verse of Isaiah, chapter 11, is a gap of 710-years. After prophesying the destruction of the Assyrian army, Isaiah saw in the Spirit the emergence of the promised Messiah! (Isaiah 11:1)
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stump of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was King David’s father. David’s kingdom was to become a stump. But although the seed would be preserved in the stump, the promise of future growth would be in the branch!
In the year 588 BC, the savage Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, burned the Temple, broke down the walls of the city, and exiled the survivors to Babylon. The Jews remained in captivity for 70 years, until released by Cyrus of Persia. A mere 50, 000 persons returned to rebuild the temple. (Ezra, Chapter one.) They were the remnant of a remnant of a remnant!
God would not make an end of the remnant, even though most of them were ungodly (Ezekiel 11:13 & 14:20), for in the remnant was “the holy seed”: those with re-growth potential. (Ezra 9:2, 8) Throughout Israel’s history a remnant remained, at times barely visible, who would carry the promise forward.
In Elijah’s day the remnant numbered only 7000, and the prophet was unaware of them. He thought that he was the only faithful witness. (1 Kings 19:18) The Apostle Paul called the believing Jews of his day “a remnant” and referred to the remnant of 7000 in Elijah’s time.
Paul introduces the grace shown in God’s selection as the mark of the remnant in his day. In the New Testament the term “elect” is used to describe God’s chosen people. Though not always visible, they were known to God as those who had not “bowed their knees” to the idolatrous system of their day.
“They are not all Israel who are of Israel” Paul wrote. Nor are they all “children” simply because they are descendants of Abraham (Romans 9:6, 7). The true seed are not those who are “the children of the flesh” (natural children) but “the children of the promise.” (Romans 9:8)
“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly…but he is a Jew who is one inwardly…” (Romans 2:28, 29) The same might be said of Christians today.
In the time of the Apostle John, the unbelieving Jews were called “the synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9 & 3:9) They claimed they were Jews but were not “the children of promise” as were the true seed of Abraham, “the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16) They were the evil natural descendants of Abraham, and, spiritually speaking, the “seed” of the serpent. (Genesis 3:15; John 8:37,
But if the preservation is in the stump, the Promise is in the Branch. Jesus Christ the Son of David was the true seed of Abraham. (Galatians 3:16) In Christ we are all the children of promise. (Galatians 4:28) As such, we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), which means we inherit all that God promised Abraham!
What did God promise Abraham? “And in your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 22:18) “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you, all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” (Galatians 3:8, 9)
Four things you need to know about growing again after a cut back:
1. Recovery and reproduction is intrinsic to the nature of every living thing that has seed in itself; so, you can grow again – it’s in your nature to do so!
2. When God permits reduction, He has in mind greater production. Don’t gripe about personal cutbacks – grow from them!
3. Although the stump itself preserves the promise, the new growth comes from the branch. It’s no good saying, as a church, an individual, or a business manager, “I’ve still got life in me.” You need to branch out again! The branch of promise will grow out of the roots, not from where the tree was cut; and in your roots are your new beginnings (Romans 11:18).
4. God’s purpose is to bless you so that you will be a blessing! Focus on the blessing you can be rather than on the blessings you’ve been given. (Genesis 12:2) The top line is that we are blessed; the bottom line is that we are a blessing.
Remember the town called Almond Tree? The man who was forced out took it with him, in his heart. He retained his vision of what it had been, and ‘grew’ it again in another place. With that kind of vision, the new Almond Tree would have thrived in its surroundings and become as productive as it had grown before.
The circumstances of life may have cut back years of good growth, but there’s still life in the stump of promise, so the branch can grow again! You can stop it by thinking that the stump is the end of everything. But it isn’t. In fact, it holds the promise of a new beginning.
You may think that your best years of growth are behind you, but you can bud and bloom as before, now you know you can grow again! If God could cause the dead stick that was Aaron’s rod to bud, He can certainly do the same for you. The rising of Jesus from the dead before daybreak proved that there’s always plenty of life in what had seemed a dead promise!
“Christ in you” is the glorious hope — not only a future hope but also a present one!