Part IV of “Springtime Scriptures”
“My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The blossoms 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. The fig tree has ripened its fruit, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!’” (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)
Our fourth passage in our “Springtime Scriptures” series comes from a much more obscure location than the others we’ve seen. We’ve looked at Isaiah 43, and God’s promise to “do something new.” We then considered 2 Corinthians 5, and Paul’s familiar declaration that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creation.” Yesterday, we studied Lamentations 3, and the reassurance that even in difficult circumstances, God is faithful, and His mercies are new every morning.
Winter Is Over, and Springtime Is Here
Today, however, we turn to the dialogue between a “bride” and her beloved. In one sense, that shouldn’t be surprising. After all, springtime is the time when “a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” to quote Tennyson. But what does that have to do with spiritual growth and newness? What might this passage have to teach us? We need to remember that the Church has always interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of the love between Christ and His Church. In this book, the beloved – Jesus – declares His love for His bride – us. So what does this passage have to say to us today?
First, “the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” In the ancient Middle East, rains meant life-giving water. The “coming and going” of the rains meant that the crops and orchards were into their growing season. The blossoms have already appeared tells us that things are moving forward from barrenness to beauty. I spent the last twenty-five years pastoring in Traverse City, Michigan – “the cherry capital of the world.” This time of year means the cherry blossoms are popping out on trees all over northern Michigan. (In fact, I saw pictures from some of my friends online recently of this year’s cherry blossoms.) The winter is past, spring is here. The blossoms are the promise of the harvest.
What does that mean for us? Consider that we all go through spiritual “winters,” where it does not seem that we are growing and moving forward. Perhaps we haven’t seen much spiritual fruit in our lives. Maybe we’ve been praying for family members or friends without visible results. Hear God’s proclamation: The winter is past, and the blossoms have already appeared. Blossoms don’t mean that the fruit is already here, but they do mean that things are moving forward just as God intended.
Winter Is Over; It’s Growing Season
The time has arrived for pruning the vines. I’m not a farmer or a grower. The only experience I’ve had with pruning was with some rose bushes I used to grow almost 30 years ago, before I moved to Michigan. But I do know that whether you’re talking about flowers or fruit trees or vines, pruning is a necessary step in the process.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Ever branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit…Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)
Growing Season Involves Pruning and Purifying
In the theological stream that I am part of, we talk about the purifying presence of the Holy Spirit cleansing us and refining us like precious gold or silver. That imagery harkens back to the Old Testament prophets:
- “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).
- “And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people.’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” (Zechariah 13:9).
- “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:2-3).
Winter Is Over; The Harvest Is Coming
After the blossoms and the pruning comes the harvest: The fig tree has ripened its fruit, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along! There’s no time to sit around and mope about the winter. (I have been guilty of moping about the winter in years past!) When the growth process starts – blossoms and pruning and harvest – there is always something to be done.
The same is true of our spiritual growth. While we naturally have ups and downs in our progress, there is always work to be done. Each day, we should be able to know that we are where God wants us to be – but that doesn’t mean that we have “arrived!”
“Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself has having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Arise! The winter is over, and springtime is here!
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