Sunday, December 12, 2010

The story of Briar Rose

This is the real story of the Sleeping Beauty. Centuries before the time of Jesus, imagine a people, brought low under brutal Assyrian captivity, their culture and faith forbidden, but kept alive, hidden in the stories they passed on to their children. Jesus knew them (Luke 15:8, Matthew 25:5), and so loved them, that He sent His disciples north, on a journey to find them (Matthew 10:5-6). Beyond the Samaritan cities, where they had lived so long before, passing by the Gentile lands. "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel" (Matthew 10:6).... tell them, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand", He instructed them. The message of good news was received by many of them, with joy and belief, since miracles (Matthew 10:8) happen to those who believe. Ancient Israel was ready for the message of redemption, having preserved their hope through stories like this. So, open your heart as a little child would and meet the real Sleeping Beauty.




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Genesis 11:29
Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, ah, if only we had a child, but they never had one.....
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Genesis 18:1
And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

Genesis 18:10
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.

But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the land, and said to her, your wish shall be fulfilled, before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter. What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the king could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a great feast.
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Genesis 49:1

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

He invited not only his kindred, friends and acquaintances, but also the wise women, in order that they might be kind and well-disposed towards the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat out of, one of them had to be left at home.


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Genesis 49:28
A
ll these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The feast was held with all manner of splendor and when it came to an end the wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby - one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in the world that one can wish for. When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in.


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2 Kings 10:26

And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.
The king, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt.
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Jeremiah 3:7-9

And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not.

It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the king and queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite alone. So she went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bed-chambers just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower.
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Amos 5:2

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

Jeremiah 14:17
"You will say this word to them, 'Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.


And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the bed that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep.


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Matthew 25:5

While the bridegroom tarried, they (the ten virgins) all slumbered and slept.

And this sleep extended over the whole palace, the king and queen who had just come home, and had entered the great hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole of the court with them.


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Isaiah 32:13

Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

Isaiah 35:13
And thorns shall come up in its fortified towers.


But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which every year became higher, and at last grew close up round the castle and all over it, so that there was nothing of it to be seen, not even the flag upon the roof.

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Psalm 130:8

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Isaiah 27:4

Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Isaiah 10:17
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

After long, long years a king's son came again to that country, and heard an old man talking about the thorn-hedge, and that a castle was said to stand behind it in which a wonderfully beautiful princess, named Briar-Rose, had been asleep for a hundred years, and that the king and queen and the whole court were asleep likewise. He had heard, too, from his grandfather, that many kings, sons had already come, and had tried to get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained sticking fast in it, and had died a pitiful death.Then the youth said, I am not afraid, I will go and see the beautiful Briar-Rose.

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Isaiah 60: 1 - 2

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Song of Solomon 2: 1 - 2
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Song of Solomon 2:10
My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard, and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the little room where Briar-Rose was sleeping.There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Briar-Rose opened her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly.

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Revelation 19:7

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And then the marriage of the king's son with Briar-Rose was celebrated with all splendor, and they lived contented to the end of their days.


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Romans 11:1

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Isaiah 1:3
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

Romans 11: 25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

~ SLEEPING BEAUTY ~
Sarah who was barren, gave birth to the nations of Israel through her only child.
Jehu king of Israel tried to protect the nations by burning the images out of the house of Baal.
Israel having rebelled against God wandered, and is lost among the nations, asleep. Romans 11:6 ("God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear"). Many prophets died pitiful deaths trying to reach her. Israel, the ten lost tribes (of the Assyrian captivity), are the ones being redeemed in the sleeping beauty story, and though she sleeps still, her awakening is near.
~ Chris

Who is the Rose of Sharon mentioned in the Song of Solomon 2: 1 - 2 ? A clue can be found in the book of Ruth. The redemption of Ruth by Boaz is a reflection of the redemption of Israel by Jesus. "Ruth" is derived from a Hebrew word for "rose." The Rose of Sharon then are the ones redeemed, as is Briar-Rose in this lovely tale of redemption by the prince. A tale compiled by the Grimm Brothers, based on the ancient oral tradition of a long lost people.


If you have happened upon this story, it is no chance encounter. Jesus has come for all people (Matthew 3:9). He is whispering to you. "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me".... to a new everlasting life of happily ever after. Awake to Him and welcome the Prince of Peace into your life now. Beyond the history, beyond the story, the real Sleeping Beauty is you.... "the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys", and Jesus has become the same for you.


Isaiah 1:18
("Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet"
(the rose), "they shall be as white as snow;" (the lily) "though they be red like crimson,"
(the rose) "they shall be as wool." (the lily) .

Jesus took our place, putting on our sins....


Matthew 27:28 - 29
("And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head,..."
(the rose)

that we might put on His righteousness.

Revelation 19:8
("And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:"
(the lily) "for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.").


and none are arrayed like her.

Luke 12:27
("Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.")

Awake, beloved briar rose, listen to His whisper... you are "the lily among thorns". Be transformed by His righteousness, by simply saying yes to His love....

http://grimmsfairytales.us/_wsn/page2.html

9 comments:

  1. Wow Chris... I'm amazed at all the parallels here ... This is an inspiration lead study of the Rose of Sharon & Briar Rose as you 'stumbled' upon all of these scriptures ~

    I'm also thinking of our own roses... beautiful this spring...then ravaged by beetles and too much rain... slowly they are reviving...
    A revival of the roses~
    God Bless you,
    Maria

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  2. Thanks for sharing. That was an interesting parallel.

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  3. That verse from Revelations: "and his wife hath made herself ready."

    Have I?

    Thank you for ministering to this sojourner... I want to be ready....

    All's grace,
    Ann

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  4. Dad, I loved this post. It was awesome the parallel between the two stories. You really bring the bible to life, and relate it to what I know of the world--it has always made it more real for me, to hear the interesting connections you take from it. All the history and stories you connect the bible to. Thank you for that, it helps my walk with God. =)

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  5. Hello, I have popped over from another site as I had read a quote from you in comments. I loved it as my mother used it frequently, "spirit is like the wind, you can't see it but can feel it" now I have been doubly blessed since reading this beautiful post. Thank you for sharing.....:-) Bernie

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  6. very nice and inspiring story..thanks for sharing Chris..God bless us all!

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  7. Nice post; I found this an interesting read!

    Thanks for coming by my blog and commenting.

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