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Song of Solomon 2:15
Foxes, relatively small animals, seem harmless at first glance. Unlike wolves or coyotes, they do not travel in packs but are loners, lurking and sneaking around. The author is speaking of when, in search of food, foxes sometimes enter vineyards to eat the grapes. However, foxes are often too small to reach the grapes, so they would chew on the vines to get to the grapes. By chewing on the vine, the fox could eat the grapes when the vine slumped to the ground. Instead of the farmer just losing his crop from that vine for one year, he would lose his entire vine. A vine that produces fruit does not grow overnight but takes years of diligent preparation and care. A fox, though, can take all that away in minutes. This passage in Song of Songs is typically associated with false teachers, and rightly so (see Ezekiel 13:3-4). However, there can be another application. Notice John 15:1-2, 5-6: I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If we are to be true followers of Christ, we must be united to Him—the vine or the root branch—by faith. Through our connection with Him, we derive our spiritual strength and produce fruit. Just as a branch pulls all strength and nourishment from its parent stalk, we also receive all our strength from the Vine. Our spiritual survival rests with our Root Branch, Jesus Christ. He tells us in verse 5 that we can do nothing without Him. In verse 6, He warns us that if we do not abide—live in or continue—in Him and bear fruit, we will be cast out, withered, and burned in the fire. However, if we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, God will hear and answer our prayers. If our faith and complete confidence is in Him, and we listen to and obey His words, our heavenly Father will be quick to respond to us. In the analogy, the little foxes of Song of Songs 2:15 threaten our faith and connection with Christ. Therefore, these little things are not little to God, nor should they be little to us. The importance of the little things is seen throughout the Bible. From as early as Genesis 3, we see a seemingly insignificant act of eating fruit from a tree result in grave consequences. Though God had just warned Adam and Eve of the penalty of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve allowed "a little fox"—in this case, the serpent, Satan the Devil—to persuade her to eat of the fruit, leading to self-centeredness and death! It was sold as a little thing—just a piece of fruit—but this sin separated mankind from God. To fruit-bearing Christians attached to our Root, Jesus Christ, this principle holds true for every small transgression. They may appear little to us, which is how Satan convinces us that they are no big deal. But these little foxes run throughout our vineyards, and we must take action to eradicate them.
Bill Onisick
Should We 'Sweat the Small Stuff'? (Part One)
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