Sitting Under the Grape Arbor

by John Comer

How does your garden grow? Profusely and picturesquely, if you’re looking in the Bible. Scripture has a way of landscaping some of its lessons. Plant life is used in teaching about human life.

One of the world’s greatest word-pictures is the description given in the Bible of a secure and peaceful nation with happy, prosperous homes, and it is characterized this way: “During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25).

Sitting under one’s own vine and fig tree might seem just a little archaic to us as a way of measuring the State of the Union. But there’s certainly something to be said for it.

A number of years ago we lived near Savannah, Georgia, and often visited the old-fashioned farm of “Aunt” Ada and “Uncle” Fermin Rahn. Sometimes, Aunt Ada would say, “Let’s go sit under the grape arbor.” (Aunt Ada could pronounce “arbor” so gently you’d never even notice the hint of an “r” in the word.)

If the Rahns had a fig tree, as those Israelite homes had, I don’t remember it. But then Solomon’s people didn’t have Spanish moss draped from their oak trees, or fields of okra and collards growing all around, as the Rahn’s did. So, it’s a trade-off, and the imagery remains, all the same.

That’s the only grape arbor I ever sat under. And I never sat under it without thinking of those happy days when all was well with Israel. It’s a lovely, peaceful place to spend some relaxing time.

I really don’t think I have a case of nostalgia. I have never been one to wish for the good old days, and I am not suggesting that everyone rush out to plant grapes and figs. But are we missing something?

In this Bible verse, are we reading about people who had a better handle on life than we do? In their own ways, their lives must have had many of the same pressures as ours. Their lives were not without stress. Many of the people I know think they are too busy, or too important, to sit under a fig tree. There’s a lesson here somewhere. Can we find it?