The Song of Solomon has been called the 'Holy of Holies' by Rabbinic tradition. It has been said that everything we need to know about God and how to live as He intended is contained in this one book.
The Song is in the Megillah, the five Hebrew books of poetry:
| Bible name | Tanach name | Author | When to be read |
| Song of Solomon | Shir HaShirim | Solomon | Passover (Pesach) |
| Ruth | Ruth | Samuel | Shavuot (Pentecost) |
| Lamentations | Eichah | Jeremiah | Tisha B'Av (Ninth of Av) |
| Ecclesiastes | Kohelet | Solomon | Sukkot (Tabernacles) |
| Esther | Esther | Mordechai | Purim (Lots) |
Though it is unclear why, the song has been traditionally read on the Shabbat (Sabbath/Saturday) during Unleavened Bread - the day before Firstfruits. Ruth, another book with heavy Rapture and harvest messages is tied to Pentecost. Did God influence these traditions to give us messages? I will let you ponder this.
Here is a portion of chapter two from the Song with a few word definitions. The Shulamite, the gentile girl is speaking:
The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands [Amad1] behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice.
My beloved spoke, and said to me:
"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!
"O my dove, in the clefts [Chagav2] of the rock, in the secret [Cether3] places of the cliff, [Madregah4]
Let me see your face [Mar'eh5], let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet, and your face [Mar'eh] is lovely."
Song of Soloman 2:8-14
1Amad - to stand, tarry, wait
2Chagav - concealment
3Cether - covering, shelter, secret hiding place
4Madregah - a step, a steep or inaccessible place, stairs
5Mar'eh - appearance
Could it be that He was pointing to the Rapture on Firstfruits or Pentecost? I was hoping that He might have given us a clue here but with the passing of these feasts in 2009 I am wondering if this was not the year - or if I didn't read the whole message in context. Following the above passage in chapter three is:
I will rise now, I said,
And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
Song of Solomon 3:2
Hmmm... in chapter two he called but she did not arise. And then in chapter three she finally went looking for Him! Is there a message for us? Did He want to take us but we were asleep?
I found an awesome page written by Marilyn Agee that says most of what I wanted to say - and more. I didn't think I could improve on what she wrote.
So for your convenience, here is the full article, but presented using my site's formatting. At the bottom is a link to the original page.
Christ said, "I have foretold you all things." (Mark 13:23)
One of my favorite scriptures is Song of Solomon 2:10-14. It paints a beautiful picture of the Rapture of the Church when flowers are unfurling their blooms like tiny upside-down umbrellas and birds are singing for the sheer joy of being alive in the spring.
The Lord teaches by types and likenesses. Solomon was a son of David, a good type of Christ, the Son of David. In this scripture, Christ is the beloved Son who comes "leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." He addresses his loving bride, the Bride of Christ, those of the Church that have a love relationship with him and are to be taken to Heaven when the Rapture takes place. As this passage begins, we hear her saying,
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills... My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle [literally, turtledove] is heard in our land; 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. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs.
Song of Solomon 2:10-14
The word "places" is not in the original. This is why it is in italics in the King James Version. The word was supplied by the translators, who did not understand the full significance of the passage. This scripture is talking about the secret of the stairs.
"Rise up," it says, similar to the "Come up hither" of Revelation 4:1. Both are referring to the Rapture, when we will meet Christ in the air. These stairs remind us of Jacob's ladder:
Then he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold the Lord stood above it.
Genesis 28:12
In the Song of Solomon, if you have an ear to hear, you will be able to hear the overtones if you listen carefully. The Lord is the bridegroom. "Rise up," he says, "my love, my fair one, (his Bride is his love) and come away (it is the Rapture). For, lo, the winter is past (it is spring), the rain is over and gone;" (the latter rain of Nisan, our March 28 through April 26, is over).
The former and latter rains are such definite seasons in Israel that they are listed on their calendars that list the feasts and times of harvest. The former rain starts Tishri 1, in the fall, the latter rain on Nisan 1 in the spring. This is of tremendous import for according to Hosea:
He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
Hosea 6:3
But more about that later.
At the time of the Rapture, "The flowers appear on the Earth (i.e., April showers bring May flowers); the time of the singing of birds is come (it is spring, when we will sing 'a new song' as we fly like birds up to heaven), and the voice of the turtle (Tor, turtledove, a migratory bird that returns suddenly in the spring and is a symbol of the Spirit of God) is heard in our land; The fig tree (Israel) putteth forth her green figs (the fruit of Israel is not quite ripe when the Rapture takes place), and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell (it is the time of the firstripe grapes, i.e., Siven on the Jewish calendar)."
"Arise, my love, my fair one and come away (the Rapture). O my dove (one sealed with the Spirit of God until the day of Redemption), that art in the clefts of the rock (i.e., in Christ, for 'that Rock was Christ'), in the secret of the stairs." If we truly believe in Christ and trust him as our Savior, we are "in Christ." We are in the clefts of the Rock. When he is ready to take the Body of Christ to Heaven, all those joined firmly to him will go.
Do you agree that the Rapture is actually the secret of the stairs. Like Jacob's ladder, the top of the stairs reaches to heaven, angels ascend and descend on it and the Lord stands above it. The Rapture is when we will go through a great door in heaven to stand before our Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation says:
Behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
Revelation 4:1
Just look at the exciting date clues our loving God has given us. It is not dreary winter, but beautiful spring, and after the latter rain, every sprig is coming to life with lush foliage. Spring is appropriate for the Rapture is also a time of resurrection. The green figs enable us to place the Rapture between the end of the latter rain (end of April) and when the early figs ripen, in some years the end of May, in others early June. Pentecost is Sivan 6 (end of May) after the rains are over and there are birds, green figs and May flowers.
The Lord's timing is perfect. A beautiful spring day makes us want to fly when we hear the voice of the turtledove, i.e., the Lord, for the Lord himself shall descend with a shout.
As you study Scripture, you will find other parallels. For instance, after leaving Egypt on the Passover in the first month, when Moses sent them to spy out the promised land, it was the "time of the firstripe grapes. So they went up" (shadow of the Rapture), "and searched the land." The Septuagint says it was "the days of spring, the forerunners of the grape." In Israel, grapes begin to ripen in Sivan, so it looks like we may go up to search our promised land in the Jewish month of Sivan.
Marilyn's original page can be seen at: The Rapture In The Song Of Songs
If you arrived here from a link, click here for the chapter index.