Apples of Gold

by Robert Burgess

(This was taken from one of our Discussions at

Great Eagle Ministries International Forums )

For a printable version of this file click here

This morning the Lord nudged me to “Tell them about the Apple..” So I got up and started praying about what the Lord has shown me concerning His Sons in this hour; We are each so much like an apple of Gold growing upon the Tree of Life, and we are finally now come into a season of growth and maturity after a long time of hibernation. It has been said that “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a Seed.” Notice the following Scriptures:

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear (Prov 25:11-12 KJV).”

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste (Song 2:3).”

“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee (Song 8:5).”

The Scriptures actually say very little about this wonderful fruit; The Lord uses the word “Apple(s)” only three times in the Song of Solomon, and once more in the Book of Joel where he speaks of the great and terrible devastation which was to come upon all the fruitful trees of His Kingdom during the dark ages (Joel 1:12). The Word of Wisdom is shown clearly in the first passage above: This speaks to us of a “Word fitly Spoken,” a Word in “Due Season” as it were; A Word that comes with precise timing, and exactly fits the situations of life, and perfectly compliments what the Spirit is doing in our lives.. The other night at our Wednesday home meeting here in Castle Rock, I felt led to share with one of the Sisters about the inner design of the five-pointed star that can be discovered within an apple when you cut it in half; She cut one horizontally and sure enough, as she held each half in her hands there were the two little five-pointed stars looking back at us, a double witness of a mighty Word and Work of “Grace.” Now this might seem like foolishness to some - perhaps even a bit childish; But why did the Lord place such emphasis on the “Bride of Christ” as being one who was “Born and Raised” under the Apple tree (Song 8:5)??

Being from the State of Washington I have learned something about apples; First of all, they never produce very well in “Temperate” climates; In order for apples to produce to their maximum potential they must hibernate (A type of death) for at least 3 to 5 months out of the year. That often means that the temperature will vary from 100 degrees in the summer to way below zero in the winter; Jesus said “I would that thou were Cold or Hot (Rev 3:15)..

“Awake, O north wind (of Cold Judgments); and come, thou south (the Warm Blessings of the Lord); blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits (Song 4:16).”

Tremendous reverses in climatic temperatures are necessary to produce good apples.. The most highly gifted people I know in the Kingdom are ones who have suffered some great and terrible “Reverses” in this life; They have gone from being extremely successful and highly regarded, to being terrible failures, and a reproach to many - and back again. Some have even come from being very successful business people to being hardly able to work at all, or earn a dime for themselves. Some have owned great houses and lands, but now have nothing to show in the natural, for all their years spent toiling upon the earth. But all these terrible “Reverses” in life have somehow opened up a “Door” within their Spirit man to become much more sensitive to the things of the Spirit of God than “Ordinary People.” When an apple tree hibernates, all the “Sap (Life Blood)” goes down into the ground (a type of Death) until the cold winter is past; Then, when the warm winds of spring begin to blow upon the tree, the “Sap” rises up again out of the ground (or Grave) to flood the tree with life once more (a Type of the Resurrection of Christ).

Secondly, apple trees must be cared for by a wise “Husbandman” in order to produce much good fruit; He must know which branches will bear fruit for him, and which ones will not. Jesus said:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:1-2).”

My Dad was one who loved fruit trees, all of his life he always had some kind of fruit growing in the back yard; Once he had a tree he called a “Fruit Cocktail” which had five different kinds of fruit growing on it.. The Scriptures reveal that we as “Wild Olives” have been grafted into the “Tree of Life (Israel - See Ro 11:17);” This is a wonderful truth, but even after our engrafting into Christ there needs to be some further “Engrafting” done so we won't continue to bear the same old “Wild Olives.” This calls for the work of a “Wise Husbandman” the Lord Himself.. He sees something in us which is unacceptable to Him and He clips it off with the “Pruning hook” of His Word, and then proceeds to replace it with the “Engrafted Word (Logos) which is able to save our Souls (See Jas 1:21)..” The timing for this “Pruning” must be right, He doesn't do it while the tree is in full bloom, but waits until the tree has been put to “Sleep” a little; This operation is like that of a Surgeon who puts his patient “Under” while he performs a delicate surgery.. God is so good.. The Engrafted “Word in due season” generally comes to us after the Holy Spirit has “Anesthetized” us sufficiently to where we can and will receive it without much argument; This is the mark of the Divine “Husbandman” at work among His Apple Trees..

This “Gardener” is also the “Pardoner,” He knows and understands the “Times and Seasons” of our lives, and how to correctly work on changing things in us without destroying us altogether; I would like to see some fast and immediate changes in myself and in others, but I am finding out that it doesn't always work that way.. But I am seeing so many powerful changes in the lives and in the Spiritual content of God's people lately that I can't help but believe that some wonderful kind of “Engrafting” has been taking place here; For “By their Fruits ye shall know them..” The fruit of the Tree of life is becoming more and more excellent and comely as the times and seasons progress.

Last of all, I am thinking of the Feast of Tabernacles which is just around the corner from us now; The seventh month in the Hebrew year begins with the blowing of “Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)” on the evening of Saturday September 30th. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is the evening of Oct. 9th, and the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) begins on the eve of October 14th. To keep the Feast of Tabernacles, we are told in the Scriptures to go up to the hills and find certain kinds of Trees and build little “Shelters,” or “Tabernacles” made up of the boughs of these “Goodly Ones:”

“And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly (Excellent, or Godly) trees, branches of palm trees (the Upright ones), and the boughs of thick trees (in Close Fellowship), and willows of the brook (the humble “Weeping” ones, bowing down in humble Worship); and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days (Lev 23:40).”

My dear friends when I look at all the different kinds of “Trees” that are being assembled before us here on a daily basis, I can see that the Lord is building a habitation, a “Shelter” as it were; This habitation is not for Himself alone, but it is being built as a “Hiding Place” where His people can come and find refuge in a time of trouble, a Shelter against all the winds of adversity that will surely blow upon the earth.

“And a man (Christ Jesus in His many-membered Sons) shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow (as in a “Type”) of a great rock (Christ) in a weary land. And the EYES of them that SEE (the SEERS) shall NOT be DIM, and the EARS of them that HEAR (what the SPIRIT is SAYING) shall HEARKEN. The heart also of the RASH (Feisty - Peppery ones) shall UNDERSTAND KNOWLEDGE, and the TONGUE of the STAMMERERS (Tongue Talkers) shall be ready to SPEAK PLAINLY (or PROPHETICALLY - See Isa 32:2-4).”

“Set your affection on things ABOVE, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your LIFE is HID with CHRIST in GOD. When Christ, who is OUR LIFE, shall appear, then shall YE also appear WITH HIM in glory (Col 3:2-4).”

Robert Burgess

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