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                Pine Cone Rose Craft  by Rev. Dan Wheeler

 Roses have a long and colorful history. They have been symbols of love, beauty, war, and politics. The rose is, according to fossil evidence, 35 million years old. In nature, the genus Rosa has some 150 species spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Alaska to Mexico and including northern Africa. Garden cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago, probably in China. During the Roman period, roses were grown extensively in the Middle East. They were used as confetti at celebrations, for medicinal purposes, and as a source of perfume. Roman nobility established large public rose gardens in the south of Rome. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the popularity of roses seemed to rise and fall depending on gardening trends of the time.

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets" (Matthew 5:17). Reverently and humbly I venture to explain some of the myths and misconceptions that have accumulated about the flowers 
mentioned in the Bible. It is a remarkable fact that, other than the blossoms on flowering shrubs and trees such as the almond, there are only three: the lily, the rose, and the camphire.

Curiously, too, all three are mentioned in the Song of Solomon: "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys . Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron. The spikenard referred to is a Himalayan plant from whose roots was and is extracted a precious 
ointment and perfume. It is nothing like our American spikenard, a common woodland plant. Saffron, used in curry and as a yellow dye, is the product of several species of crocuses native in Greece and Asia Minor.
Roses are mentioned many times in the Bible. After exploring the Holy Land and re-examining Greek and Hebrew documents from which the Scriptures were translated, botanists are now agreed that a narcissus, a crocus, a rock rose and an oleander were variously referred to as "roses".

Here are some basic facts about this verse and how it may be related to Jesus being considered the Rose of Sharon.

1. Nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus actually referred to as the rose of Sharon. However, He is symbolically referred to as the rose of Sharon by many.
    
2. You are right about Sharon being a place. Sharon is a plain - it is one of the largest valley-plains in all of Palestine. Back at the time of Solomon, it was considered a wild, fertile plain that had many beautiful flowers in it. Sharon was supposed to have been known for its beauty and majesty back in those days.
    
3. The person saying she is the "rose of Sharon" in the above verse was a Shulamite woman who apparently was Solomon's bride.
    
4. Here is the reason that I think people like to use this analogy of Jesus being the Rose of Sharon. The New Testament refers to Jesus as being the Bridegroom and the Church as His Bride. This tells us right here that God is using the "lover" analogy to describe the personal relationship that He wants us to have with His Son.

However, in the above verse, the person saying she is the rose of Sharon is a woman, not a man. Jesus is obviously referred to as "male" since He is always referred to as "He" in the Bible. The rose is considered the most "perfect" of all flowers.

You will notice that Jesus is symbolically referred to as the rose of Sharon. Jesus is totally perfect in His nature and personality. He thus can be considered the actual rose of Sharon since He is totally perfect within His own nature - just like the rose is supposed to be considered the most perfect of all flowers.

Normally in a husband-wife or boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, it is the male who gives roses to the wife or girlfriend. Since Jesus is considered the Bridegroom in His personal relationship with His church, it would thus be Jesus coming to us to give us the flowers. However, in this case, God may be going one step further in allowing this analogy to be made of His Son.

I believe God may be trying to tell us that Jesus will go one step further. Instead of Jesus being the One who would give us the flowers as we have in our normal human relationships, Jesus is actually referred to as the flower itself! And with the rose being the most perfect of all flowers, God is telling us that His Son Jesus is the Rose of Sharon rather than just having Him be the One to just give us this rose flower due to His perfect nature and perfect love that He has for all of us.

The Pine Cone Rose Craft.

1. Pine cones in their new state

2. Q tips to paint them

3. Glue

4. Floral wire or very small wooden dowels it is your choice. These are used for the stems

5. Paint.  Red, Yellow, Pink, White [Make sure you explain what the colors represent]

6. You can wrap the material you use for a stem with tape and place a ribbon with a scripture on it or simply   the perfect rose...Jesus Christ

Pine cones            Have the children break them       Below paint them with a Q tip.  As they dry over the days they will open up.

What to do:

Collect the cones, have the children break them.  I like to tell them the scripture in Isiaha about How the Messiah, Jesus was foretold by the prophets. Then when the children break the pine cones they can relate to the scripture.  The Most perfect flower is the Rose. And Jesus Christ I believe himself was the Rose of Sharon the perfect rose. That he was broken for us. Isiaha 53

2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

By using the rose flower as a "visual symbolism" of Jesus’ love for us, we can better appreciate or "see" what God is trying to tell us in the personal love relationship that He wants to establish with each and every one of us. He wants us to realize how "special" His love is for us and that He wants more than anything to be able to enter into this personal love relationship with each one of us.

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