Song of Solomon 2:10-14
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth theirfragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your form,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.”
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth theirfragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth theirfragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your form,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.”
In the secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your form,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.”
Along with the gift of life comes the blessing of uncertainty. Yes, it is a gift too. The mystery is in what we will choose. Whether we make the correct choice or no, there will be consequences of suffering and sorrow. This, too, is a gift. Deep and profound meaning and wisdom will be realized by living them through. It is granted to us to know the reasons why.
Don't ignore the signposts God has distributed along the way. God leaves them there so we will know where He is. He is our home. He is the goal.
As to where we are now, I have been contemplating the rapture reference contained in The Song of Solomon. It is a vision of springtime, and mention is made that the time has arrived to trim the vines, that the fig tree has ripened it's figs (1,2) The vines are the vineyard that is Israel (3,4) This is when He tells His beloved to rise and come away, that He will take her to the cleft of the high Rock.
At this same time of year, springtime, also comes the Feast of Passover. In the imagery of the Exodus, which this feast memorializes, there is the warning to be properly "clothed" so as to be "ready" to leave Egypt! (Staff in hand, sandals on the feet, travel ready!) It is only those who are "covered" by the blood of The Lamb, which have "eaten" The Lamb ("eat my flesh and drink my blood") who are leaving Egypt this night! They are going to the Promised Land! These have no inheritance in Egypt!
Fast forward in time to the observance of Passover by Jesus and His disciples! Jesus instigated, here, a vast change in the meaning, and our understanding of, the feast, endowing it with the uniquely Christian celebration of communion! There was just one thing, though, that Jesus said, at this "Last Supper" that can have a different meaning than we're used to hearing!
Luke 22:16 "for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” What if this means "The Wedding Supper of The Lamb" referred to in Rev. 19:9? Could this be the supper that is waiting to be served by The Master's hands to the good servants in Luke 12:37? " Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them."
At this same time of year, springtime, also comes the Feast of Passover. In the imagery of the Exodus, which this feast memorializes, there is the warning to be properly "clothed" so as to be "ready" to leave Egypt! (Staff in hand, sandals on the feet, travel ready!) It is only those who are "covered" by the blood of The Lamb, which have "eaten" The Lamb ("eat my flesh and drink my blood") who are leaving Egypt this night! They are going to the Promised Land! These have no inheritance in Egypt!
Fast forward in time to the observance of Passover by Jesus and His disciples! Jesus instigated, here, a vast change in the meaning, and our understanding of, the feast, endowing it with the uniquely Christian celebration of communion! There was just one thing, though, that Jesus said, at this "Last Supper" that can have a different meaning than we're used to hearing!
Luke 22:16 "for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” What if this means "The Wedding Supper of The Lamb" referred to in Rev. 19:9? Could this be the supper that is waiting to be served by The Master's hands to the good servants in Luke 12:37? " Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them."
NOTES
1. In the world of nature, growers produce new fig trees from branches cut from other fig trees. In most cases the new trees will bear fruit about three to four years later. Fig trees are prolific and will bear two crops of fruit each year. The first crop appears in spring before the leaves. The fruit is green and is inconspicuous among the leaves as they unfold, until the time of ripening which is from about May in Israel. The young fruit appears on the branches of the last year's growth. The next crop, the late figs, grow on the new wood and ripen into late summer, in Israel to about August and September. At this time of rapid growth the fig tree has gained more leaves. http://biblefocus.net/consider/v15FigTree/Fig_Tree_and_Israel.html
2.The fig tree sheds its leaves in winter, at the end of which, even before the tree is covered with leaves, the paggim ("green figs," Song 2:13) begin to develop in the form of small fruits, which are really tiny flowers covered with a soft skin, and which continue to grow during the summer months. Hosea (9:10) compared the young nation of Israel in the heyday of its glory to bakkurot ("first-ripe figs"), which are delicious and eagerly sought after (Isa. 28:4; Jer, 24:2). Not all the paggimreach the ripened stage, some falling off or withering (Isa. 34:4). Figs that ripen at the end of summer have an inferior taste (Micah 7:1), as do those that burst when overripe (Jer. 29:17). Figs were dried in the sun and were either left whole or cut up and pressed (develah, I Sam., 25:18; I Chron. 12:40). The word kayiẓ (II Sam. 16:1–2; Jer., 40:10, 12), which may refer to summer fruits as a whole, signifies primarily dried figs (cf. Isa. 16:9; Tosef., Ned. 4:1–2). http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_06440.html
3. Isaiah 5:Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
“What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
“So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
“I will lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
4. With that said, you can approach your pruning in a spirit of learning and adventure, not panic. Grapes are best pruned in spring (February/March, or even as late as early April) because if pruned too early a hard frost in late winter can damage the canes and buds. (http://extension.wsu.edu/maritimefruit/Pages/GrapePruningBasics.aspx)
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