Upon driving to church this morning and seeing how that certain of the trees are beginning to bud for spring, I was reminded of several texts which might be interpreted as teaching that Christ will return in the spring of the year. I personally interpret these texts this way, but certainly am not dogmatic about it. I will here present the reader with scriptural evidence for this claim so that they may draw their own conclusion:

Christians have long interpreted the Song of Solomon as presenting an allegorical romantic story between Christ and His church. In the second chapter of that song, the young maiden, who would correspond to the church, said of her Beloved:

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 (i.e. turtle dove) 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. - Song 2:10-13

Had this song been no more than uninspired poetry, then perhaps no significance could be attached to the seasonal setting of this statement, but since it came from a Divinely inspired book, it would likely be unwise to quickly dismiss even the smallest detail as being inconsequential. As I have heard my Father often put it, if the world itself could not contain all the books that could have been written about Christ (Jn 21:25), then one can be sure that God did not waste any space in the single book He wrote.

Observe that the Song makes note of the fact that the fig trees are putting forth their green figs. This brings other scriptures to mind; namely:

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. - Mt 24:32-33 (also Mk 13:28 & Lk 21:29)

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind... For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? - Rev 6:12-17

Do these references to the fig tree and her green figs convey more information than the surface analogy? Taken by themselves, perhaps nothing more should be inferred than the surface meaning, but when other scriptures corroborate the idea of a springtime advent, the seasonal state of these fig trees cannot be so easily dismissed.

Other relevant scriptures are:

Come, and let us return unto the LORD for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. - Hos 6:1-3

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. - James 5:7

These texts associate the coming of the Lord with the former and latter rains. Israel had two rainy seasons; one in the fall and the other in the spring. The fall rains were called the former rains because this was when crops were planted. The latter rains irrigated the crops shortly before the harvest in the spring. It is generally thought that Christ was born into this world in the fall, or during the time of the former rain. Might we be reasonable in entertaining the hope that His second coming will be in the time of the latter rain, that is, in the springtime of the year?