Thicket 2

The word "thicket" appears most often in the prophets, almost always in relation to bad news--God's judgment. Here's an example from Jeremiah 26:18--

"‘Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets."

Thickets are chaotic, movement-impeding spots of unrestrained, non-productive growth--like a cancer, perhaps. And therefore a fitting image of judgment.

At Homestead National Monument of America, where this photo was taken, thickets occur because of a commitment to leave the land in its natural state--like it was when the first homesteaders arrived with their saws and plows.