Remove the Foxes

It's the little things.  The little weeds that destroy a plant.  The little bit of biterness that can destroy a person.  And a little bit of unrest that can destroy a church.

Uniquely enough, we find this idea adressed in the Song of Solomon.  Jewish tradition suggests that Solomon wrote three Biblical books, corresponding to three states in a man's life: Song of Songs, which expresses the lustful vigor of youth; Proverbs, which expresses the wisdom of maturity; and Ecclesiastes, which expresses the cynicism of old age.

Song of Solomin in this context would have been part of various Jewish feasts including family gatherings and wedding celebrations.

Song of Solomon 2:8-15 The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”

In the United Kingdom, British have a sport where they run around the countryside on horseback chasing and attempting to catch a Fox. They will ride all day long until they capture or give up. Foxes were referred to as beasts of the chase by medieval times, along with the red deer (hart & hind), martens, and roes,[11] but the earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk, England, in 1534, where farmers began chasing foxes down with their dogs for the purpose of pest control .

The fox is a rather peculiar animal. It derives its name from its tendency to dig underground to settle in holes or burrows or to feast on grapevines. It is silent and solitary. It has an incredible sense of sight, smell, and hearing. It exhibits tremendous cleverness in going after its prey. At times, it will actually play dead in order to attack a bird which is within its striking range. When hunted, it is very cunning, devious, and capable of misleading its pursuers with utmost skill. Resultantly, it has always been considered as an emblem of slyness - cunning - craftiness - mischief.
• Fox is Fast
• Fox is Slick
• Fox is Sneaky
• Fox is Little
• Fox is Adorable
• Fox is Cute
• Because of its cuteness we don’t take it seriously
• Decoy so we don’t see how dangerous it really is
• Cunning more dangerous

So the bride writes…Catch the foxes for us. The little foxes. In the sense of the story of Song of Solomon they knew that the little foxes would destroy the fruit of their love.  It’s the little things. They represent all the little hindrances and obstacles that threaten to sabotage my relationship with Christ. They restrain, restrict and put up barriers between Jesus and me. I can only imagine the foxes that sneak up on marriages. Our relationships. Our families. Our neighborhoods. Our churches.

Jealousy, envy, discord, anger, bitterness, insecurity, anxiety, lust, discouragement, hatred and the list of foxes could go on and on. If we don’t continually catch the small foxes, the foxes will seek to spoil the growing fruitful vineyards.  So the little foxes under consideration here are not small at all in God's sight. May we never minimize what God forbids. Our entire future as fruit bearing Christians is at stake here. Bearing fruit is depending on getting answers to our prayers and answers will be delayed until we deal with the sinful obstructions in our lives.

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

Little foxes will divide us from one another and eventually even break complete fellowship with Him, to the point of the greatest spiritual loss of all, separation from God's grace altogether and they will spoil the growth and the vineyard.

It would be easy to think of someone else for this message. If only so and so were here. But the Lord requires us to look at our vineyard individually, within our families, and then corporately. There are battles to fight and victories to win, if, at the reckoning time, we would hear His glad "well done, my good and faithful servant."

What are your foxes? I listed out each of the foxes I’ve let in my vineyard.  The things I do have control over because of Christ in me. It was amazing the difference it made in my week. Declaring out loud those ugly flaws. I dare us to ask the Lord to deliver us from them, ask the Lord to catch them before they can ruin one grape in my life and in the life of the church. Before they can pounce on you at the first sign of any good fruit.

Remove the Foxes.