The Old Testament is made up of 39 books including law, history, wisdom, and poetry. One of the poetry books is a book called Song of Solomon or Song of Songs as some of us know it.
It was written by Solomon the son of King David and Bathsheba, around 971-931 BC. This book added to Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther makes up the Megillot.
Megillot are the five scrolls that are read during the Jewish festivals, such as Purim, Shavuot, and Shabbat. The Song of Solomon is read at the onset of Shabbat and at the end of Passover Seder. There are other times it is read also.
The book itself is a collection of poems and writings, love letters as it were between a man and a woman, and both Jewish interpretation and Christian interpretation say that this can be used to interpret the covenantal love between Christ and the Church.
Others would say it is simply a book of love letters between a male and female and that no real biblical connection exists.
I tend to think all of Scripture has been given to help us in our biblical understanding and so I believe there must be some reason for God to ensure these words were kept in our Bibles.
With words in the book like: “You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.” It is hard not to understand the romantic element that exists on the pages.
But the verse we will look at today is found in chapter 2 verse 15. It reads: “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
As we have acknowledged this book is full of poetry and romantic elements. But it is also full of symbolic speech and references.
The Song of Solomon is written about two lovers, a male and a female, who are caught in the courting stage (or dating stage for young readers).
Some have suggested that this couple are not yet betrothed or married, while others believe these passages to be read at wedding feasts or the like. I am unsure of my thoughts so I will leave you to gather your own.
This reading is very detailed and contains a lot of symbolic statements that people in the 10th century BC would have made sense of. But if we look at our verse, we see that this relationship is blooming, or in the writers' words, blossoming.
They are in love, and they make no secret about it. It is not hidden or ashamed of. Rather they talk openly to each other, and it seems even in his title of king, He is not embarrassed about being seen with “His Bride” as he names her.
What Are These Little Foxes?
Foxes are always known in literature to be crafty and clever, animals that sneak in and take what they want, on occasion without even being seen or heard in the act.
Often, foxes will come in the night and burrow into chicken coops leaving destruction for farmers in the morning. Foxes are known to be adaptable and full of mischief.
In any loving relationship, we can always expect quarrels or issues to arise. Two humans raised very differently can not ever argue or see from a different perspective.
Even parents who raise their kids similarly can have a difference in opinion from time to time. It is often those big differences that are having an obvious effect on our loving relationships.
What this verse is talking about is the little foxes that come along and spoil the vineyards. What we see here are the seemingly insignificant, or trivial things that creep into our lives that we do not see.
Busyness in jobs or even church, attitudes that are not holy, sins that keep us from each other, or habits that keep us apart can over time be left to grow and then they fester until they single-handedly destroy the garden.
It feels as though these little issues are just that, too little to argue over, too little to debate or get annoyed about.
But there is a risk to that, the little sins all build up over time and often they go unnoticed, brushed under the carpet as it were, and ignored until they can be ignored no more.
How Can We Be Vigilant about These Issues?
It's simple, my friend, we must be watchful in our relationships, both our loving ones, but also with our children and parents, friends and leaders. While this verse is in a passage about lovers, it is also a piece of gold that we should consider in all relationships.
Being vigilant about these foxes is acknowledging that we are never too good, or too holy to not fall into their trap.
We all can be tricked by the devil into leaving footholds for him to grab a hold of. We need to recognize that we can be a person who lets little foxes in and that way we are more likely to see them when they come.
But once we acknowledge they exist we need to ask as David did, for God to reveal to us if there is a wicked way in us — have we unknowingly, or knowingly let little foxes into our relationships?
As the New Testament tells us we must deal with the plank in our own eye before we approach our wives or husbands about the speck in their eye.
Allow God to reveal to you the areas you are blind to, issues you have ignored that are slowly growing in your heart or mind.
Then once we have done the above, we can acknowledge those things in confession before our spouse, apologize, and once again, refocus our relationships.
No doubt all spouses can see clearly the things our loved one is doing that causes friction in our relationships, if we are going to address those, please remember to do so in love.
How Does This Relate to Jesus and Us?
Friend, how often have we allowed the devil to side-track us with little foxes destroying the garden we have built alongside Jesus? We have allowed pride to sneak in quietly, discontentment to burrow into our hearts, and anger to tear up our vineyard.
I say this with all the love in my heart, the same rules apply to Jesus as do our spouses. We need to acknowledge our daily need for Jesus to protect us from small sins and foxes, and ask Him to help us flee from sin as James puts it, all sins, not just the big sins like sexual sins, murder, lies, and deceit, but also from comparison, shaming, and pride which cause equal destruction when left unnoticed.
We need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show us our blinkers and blindsides so that we may focus fully on Jesus and become more and more like Him and then we must confess to Him areas in which we struggle to stay in relationship.
God loves you and He wants a relationship with you. So come to Him, He will never turn you away. God is the Author and Finisher of our faith and He through the Holy Spirit will help to guide you in His path for your life and lead you in righteousness, helping you to have a gorgeous and blooming vineyard in your heart and soul and not a piece of land that has been ruined by small foxes.
If you do not know Jesus, please get in touch with a local church community, they would love to explain more about Jesus and His sacrificial love for you!
For further reading:
Is There Intended Allegory in the Song of Solomon?
What Can We Learn from the Song of Songs?
What Is the Biblical View of Love and Intimacy Found in the Song of Songs?
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