Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (KJV)
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Nature narrates and displays God created cycles of growth and development, wild as well as cultivated. Tales of seeding, planting, watering, pruning … expressed in sprouting, ground breaking, bud break, growing and blossoming in a near infinite variety until decay and withering inevitably sets in. Then, in the unseen of winter dormancy we come to know and trust, based on our past experiences, the cycle of growth and promise will recommence next year while most generative energy is redirect to inner workings for a season.
In the transitioning of spring into summer the Lord is lavishing His creation once again with a wonderful display of his love, creative genius, eye for beauty and detail, a splendid floral covering, unaffected by and irrespective of how the darkly inspired may use and/or abuse it. Hidden within its splendor, an imperative and urgent message is found.
Looking outside I noticed wild, dark hearted poppies (prophetically and culturally associated with commemoration of death) surfacing alongside our sandy bike path, wisteria’s purple rain leaves falling in our neighborhood gardens (resonating with the post rapture order to come) and carefully handled red roses blooming in a nearby park (prophetically pointing to the goddess of regeneration, Isis, Mystery Babylon).
Only three flowers are mentioned by name in the Bible: the Shoshan or Shoshanna (lily or rose), Shishanat Ha ‘Emakim (rose of the valleys) and Havatzelet Ha’Sharon (rose or lily of the Sharon). In the Song of Solomon Jesus equates Himself with a rose of Sharon and lily of the valleys. Pure and white, resonating with a spotless lamb designated for a likewise spotless bride.
Closing our eyes, we can almost smell their wonderful scent while longing to hear the accompanying trumpet sound as He’s leaping towards us. Concurrently, on our pathway there are still little foxes to handle and remaining traces of darkness to overcome, nearing the day we will be called up, as on a mountain, to come away. Solomon sings:
Song of Solomon 2 (KJV)
1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
Tender grapes | Sly foxes
Looking for both solid Biblical teaching on topic as well as insightful research and practical application as to what to focus our attention on right now, I selected these.
For your consideration: a Charles Spurgeon Bible study on ‘tender grapes‘ in which he puts forward what tender grapes are. He reveals what the Lord’s estimate of them is and exposes what the danger to these tender grapes constitutes, based on the 15th verse:
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes.”
There’s nothing new under the sun. No foxes exempt.
“The same creature that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the one that still wants to destroy mankind, and is pulling the strings of most little creatures.” Steve Quayle, end times watchman and author of the book ‘Little Creatures. The Gates of Hell Are Opening’ puts forward.
Forget Shakespeare | Return to faith
Steve Quayle continues: “When belief Jesus and the supernatural falls to the wayside, it is often replaced by humanist belief systems such as communism, Nazism and socialism. Yet today we’re seeing that the promises of man-made utopias and heaven on Earth were all hollow undertakings. The deaths of untold numbers of innocents were often left in the wake of nations that had the misfortune of adopting one of these governing systems after throwing Christianity under the bus. For that reason, I believe to understand how our world actually operates is essential for returning to reality.
A return to the faith that offers mankind an insight into his existence is the path that must be taken, while abandoning those human belief systems that failed and are failing so miserably. This will enable us to regain sanity in our troubled world. The key to realizing how our world works, and the invisible powers and hands that operate behind the scenes to control us, comes with the acknowledgement that there is a supernatural world that operates within and alongside the physical universe. Once a person comprehends this, the scales can fall from our eyes so that we can see both the dangers that face us as well as the solution to defending ourselves from those unseen, supernatural threats.”
Such dangers are relevant to all believers, young and more mature, especially in the area of their tender grapes. Spurgeon considers these aspects in the life of the believer as tender grapes, in danger of being spoiled by little foxes and in need of protection:
- a secret mourning for sin;
- a humble faith in Jesus Christ;
- a genuine change of life;
- a life of secret devotion;
- an eager desire for more grace and
- a simple love to Jesus.
“If you have any sign of spiritual life, if you have any tender grapes upon your branches, the devil and his foxes will be sure to be at you; therefore, endeavor to get as close as ever you can to two persons who are mentioned hard by my text, namely, the King and his spouse. First, keep close to Christ for this is your life; and next, keep close to his Church, for this is your comfort.
The vine is of all trees the most useless unless it bears fruit. You cannot make hardly anything of it. You would scarcely be able to cut enough wood out of a vine to hang a pot upon. You cannot turn it into furniture and barely could you use it in the least degree for building purposes. It must either bear fruit, or else it must be consumed in the fire. The branches of the vine that bear no fruit are necessarily cut off and they are used, as I have seen them used in the South of France many a time, in little twisted bundles for kindling the fire. They burn very rapidly, so there is soon an end of them and then they are gone.
The vine is constantly used, in Scripture, as a picture of the nominal Church of Christ, so, like the vine, we must either bring forth fruit or we shall be accounted as good for nothing. Dear Friends, we must serve God! We must bring forth, from our very soul, love to God and service to Him as the fruit of our renewed nature, or else we are useless, worthless, shall only abide our time and then we shall be cut down to be burned. Our end must be destruction if our life is not fruitful. This gives a very solemn importance to our lives and it should make each of us seriously ask, “Am I bringing forth fruit to God? Have I brought forth fruits meet for repentance? For if not, I must, by-and-by, feel the keen edge of the Vinedresser’s knife and I shall be taken away from any sort of union that I now have with the Church which is Christ’s vine—and be flung over the wall as a useless thing whose end is to be burned.
Beloved, you all know that there is no possibility of bringing forth any fruit unless we are in Christ and unless we abide in Christ. We must bear fruit, or we shall certainly perish—and we cannot have fruit unless we have Christ. We must be knit to Christ, vitally one with Him, just as a branch is really, after a living fashion, one with the stem!”
In addition to this profound teaching, a gem indeed, I looked for a practical applications reflected in nature from the understanding that God speaks directly through his creation. Interested in how the annual growth cycle of grapevines is designed, Wiki proved a concise and clear way to commence. Note the descriptions of ‘spring bleeding’ and the veraison or tender grape stage especially, wonderfully applicable to our spiritual life.
Spring bleeding
“The grape starts its annual growth cycle in the spring with bud break.”… “If the vine had been pruned during the winter, the start of this cycle is signaled by a “bleeding” of the vine. This bleeding occurs when the soil begins to warm and osmotic forces pushes water, containing a low concentration of organic acids, hormones, minerals and sugars, up from the root system of the vine and it is expelled from the cuts (or “wounds”) left over from pruning the vine. During this period a single vine can “bleed” up to 5 litres (1.3 US gal) of water.“
Isaiah 53:5 KJV
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Ephesians 1:7 KJV
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Veraison in focus
As ripening continues, the fruit becomes attractive to animals, partly due to changes in aroma from acidic to sweet with fruitiness. As ripening occurs, herbaceous aromas are degraded. It is unknown whether the degradation of herbaceous aromas allows fruit aromas to be detected, or if fruity aromas develop later in berry ripening.
A wine specialist added some information regarding timing and handling: “In the northern hemisphere veraison, the ripening grapes begin to soften and change colour typically occurs anywhere from late June to mid-August, depending on the climate, and in the southern hemisphere from January to February.
Leaves are often pruned, thinned at this time to give grapes more sun and air exposure. Sugar levels begin to rise in individual grapes after veraison. At this stage of the growing cycle, vines are rarely irrigated after veraison because this can/will dilute the grapes flavours.”
Below, the a depiction of multicolor veraison or tender grapes; the vine’s attractive coat of many colors …… although the grapes may still taste sour at this growth stage, the Lord calls them tender …. indicating they are both precious and vulnerable, awaiting His sweetness to be added.
Imagines synchronizing with what we studied previously concerning our being caught up and going home soon to be reunited with Him and attributed His sweet promises. We may rejoice in the subsequent understanding put forward by Spurgeon:
My beloved is mine and I am His
- He is mine by connection in the same body; He is the head and I am part of His body.
- He is mine by affectionate relationship; He has given me His love.
- He is mine by the connection of birth; I am born again of Him.
- He is mine by choice; He gave Himself for me.
- He is mine by indwelling; He has decided to live inside me.
- He is mine personally, He is mine eternally.
“It certainly does seem a great thing to call him mine; to think that he should ever be mine, and that all he is, and all he has, and all he says, and all he does, and all he ever will be, is all mine. When a wife takes a husband to be hers, he becomes all hers, and she reckons that she has no divided possession in him; and it certainly is so with thee, dear heart, if Christ be thine.”
Ways of knowing that I belong to Jesus; ways that ‘I am my beloved’s’:
- I am His by the gift of His Father.
- I am His by purchase, paid for by His own life.
- I am His by conquest, He fought for me and won me.
- I am His by surrender, because I gave myself to Him.
“Blessed be God, this is true evermore — ‘I am his,’ his to-day, in the house of worship, and his to-morrow in the house of business; his as a singer in the sanctuary, and his as a toiler in the workshop; his when I am preaching, and equally his when I am walking the streets; his while I live, his when I die; his when my soul ascends and my body lies mouldering in the grave; the whole personality of my manhood is altogether his for ever and for ever.”
“Which is the greater miracle — that he should be mine, or that I should be his?”
May these teachings of the spiritual and descriptions of the natural help us to focus our attention on what the Lord points us to in Scripture in this season, raising our spiritual and sensory awareness of both our earthly responsibilities as well as His soon coming.
Blessings!
For further study and preparation for the Lord’s soon return | Do you know what time it is?
Do you know what time it is? Have you asked the Lord to come into your life and submit to Him. What do you need to cast off to be ready for His coming? What trimming do you need to do to make your lamp shine brighter? What do you need to purify? Stop what you are doing, and ask God for wisdom on what you should pursue and purify.
How do I get saved if I do not know Jesus yet?
This simple, yet profound, question is the most important question that can be asked. “How can I be saved?” deals with where we will spend eternity after our lives in this world are over, in heaven with our Lord Jesus or in hell which means everlasting punishment, torment and eternal damnation. There is no more important issue than our eternal destiny.
Information concerning the nature and timing of the rapture
- Why should I be concerned about Bible prophecy and end times events | When to watch for the Lord’s return
- The rapture of faithful believers | What is the ‘falling away?
- Be Ye Ready | A guide for spiritual preparation and information and instructions for those expected to be left behind
- The rapture proclaimed in the Old Testament
- Signs in the heavens | Celestial signs of the end times
- The Sign of Shiloh (Genesis 49:10) pointing tot the Lord’s return for His bride at the rapture
- The Revelation 12 sign pointing to the Lord’s coming after the tribulation
- Astronomical signs around Jesus’ birth and nowadays foretelling his coming for the rapture | ‘What the wise men saw’
- Peace and safety handout. The international calls by government officials for ‘peace and security’ have gone out, globalization is progressing towards a ‘one world order’. The Bible states that after these calls, worldwide sudden destruction is upon us.
- An overview of tribulation events | A Visual Guide of the Book of Revelation
- Manipulation of times and naturals laws during the tribulation | Time of Perplexity
How do I prepare myself spiritually for His coming?
- How do I prepare myself spiritually for the rapture and help others? What should I be doing right now to be and remain ready, vigilant and sober? What can I do to help other believers and those expected to have to endure the tribulation
- The Lord’s letters to the seven churches The Lord’s final letters to us from the Book of Revelation, including instructions to make changes before His return.
What may happen if I do not surrender to Jesus’ commands, refuse to accept his Lordship and guidance of my daily thoughts, feelings, communications and actions thus ignore his warnings, do not prepare or even stray away from the Lord?
You may be left behind with the hypocrites and unbelievers to endure the time of judgement and tribulation. So, be sober, vigilant, watchful and go forward in faith!
Information to support other believers and especially those expected to be left behind at the rapture
When Jesus returns for His Bride (the ones who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior and serve him to the best of their ability, children up to the age of accountability and those with uninformed conscience) there will be many lost loved ones and friends wondering what happened. They will likely be shocked, frightened and in great of information and basic comfort.
Be encouraged to write them a letter you could leave behind or post on social media to inform and equip them to deal with what happened.
Below, please find a template or checklist for this purpose, with basic topics that may help convey your thoughts, multiple sample letters and guidance documents for the post rapture time frame.
- Be Ye Ready guide | Spiritual preparation to meet the Lord | Post rapture letter format included
- Samples of post-rapture letters
- The Weeping Bride | Hope, information and instructions of for left behind believers
- Physical preparations. Herewith, a free, downloadable disaster crash course. Print it and have it ready.
- What if you have missed the rapture – The Weeping Bride
- A end times prophetic timeline concerning events and trends in the short-term (months-year) that could have a direct impact on you and your family according to Scripture (KJV).
- A Visual Guide to the Book of Revelation
- Time of Perplexity | Manipulation of time and natural laws during the tribulation
After the rapture and worldwide sudden destruction, the Antichrist will enter the scene. Great delusion, deception and introduction of a worldwide system of totalitarian rule with an unprecedented evil nature will follow (commonly refered to as ‘New World Order’. The Antichrist system will be virtually unrestrained. Even time/pace dimensions as well as natural laws will be manipulated. The tribulation will be highly spiritual and supernatural in nature.
- During the end times, the Bible foretells time and space will be manipulated. Herewith, a pdf overview: Revelation’s Spiral of Time. In addition please find video material on topic and here, additional information of manipulation of time and natural laws as well
- After the rapture and sudden destruction, the Antichrist (the Satan indwelled global ruler or false messiah) will reign the earth and aim to mislead all people towards falling for a ‘great delusion’. Here, you find specific information about the great delusion.
- Our research leads to Prince William as best matching candidate for this role.
- Here, please find information on the great space deception the Antichrist will likely roll out (likely involving demonic beings presented as aliens or superior space brothers falsely proclaimed to have been involved in the rapture) and the earth’s Biblical cosmology(contrary to popular belief, deceptive outlets such as NASA and CERN and false scientific teaching, the earth is not a spinning ball rotating around the sun) will be relevant topics as they are central in his great delusion. Read, heed and be not deceived!
- All other publications by Informedchristians.com (the ministry I currently work for) about the tribulation and general end times prophecy is found here.
Many blessings!
Contact data Sabine Vlaming
- Mail sabinevlaming@gmail.com
- Researcher Informedchristians.com
- Moderator Informedchristians YouTube channel
- Author Forthtell.wordpress.com and nadeopname.wordpress.com
- Scribd co author with Sue Bradley
- Listings on Google +
- Listings on Pinterest
- Business profile LinkedIn
Update April 2017!
Dutch readers will find information and instructions concerning the prophetic time and end times events before and after the rapture on my Dutch blog www.nadeopname.wordpress.com
The blog concerning children and the rapture is found here | De uitgebreide Nederlandstalige blog over kinderen en de opname vind je hier
by Philip A Harrison mentioned on 
forthtell 