What does the Bible say about flowers?
In the Bible, flowers are often used as symbolism for beauty, growth, temporal things, fullness, and more. The gospel can be seen in all of creation. Flowers are a beautiful reminder of our glorious God.
Christian quotes about flowers
“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” Martin Luther
“No Scripture is exhausted by a single explanation. The flowers of God’s garden bloom not only double, but sevenfold; they are continually pouring forth fresh fragrance.” Charles Spurgeon
“The sweetest scents are only obtained by tremendous pressure; the fairest flowers grow amid Alpine show-solitudes; the fairest gems have suffered longest from the lapidary’s wheel; the noblest statues have borne most blows of the chisel. All, however, are under law. Nothing happens that has not been appointed with consummate care and foresight.” F.B. Meyer
“Flowers are the music of the ground from earth’s lips spoken without sound.” -Edwin Curran
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”
“Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.”
“Evil things are easy things: for they are natural to our fallen nature. Right things are rare flowers that need cultivation.” Charles Spurgeon
“Every flower must grow through dirt.”
“Lovely flowers are the smiles of god’s goodness.”
“Holiness appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature; which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, and ravishment to the soul. In other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant flowers.” Jonathan Edwards
“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.” Henry Ward Beecher
“God is in all creatures, even in the smallest flowers.” — Martin Luther
“Most marvellous and enviable is that fecundity of fancy which can adorn whatever it touches, which can invest naked fact and dry reasoning with unlooked for beauty, make flowers bloom even on the brow of the precipice, and turn even the rock itself into moss and lichens. This faculty is most important for the vivid and attractive exhibition of truth to the minds of men.” Thomas Fuller
“If a skillful workman can turn a little earth and ashes into such curious transparent glasses as we daily see, and if a little seed that bears no show of such a thing can produce the more beautiful flowers of the earth; and if a little acorn can bring forth the greatest oak; why should we once doubt whether the seed of everlasting life and glory, which is now in the blessed souls with Christ, can by Him communicate a perfection to the flesh that is dissolved into its elements?” Richard Baxter
Flowers will fade
You can give flowers sunlight, you can give the proper amount of water, but one thing will always remain true. Flowers will eventually fade and die. Anything in this world that we put our hope in will one day wither away. Whether it be money, beauty, humans, stuff, etc. However, unlike flowers and the things of this world God and His Word will always remain the same. God’s sovereignty, His faithfulness, and His love will never fade. Praise be to our God.
1. James 1:10-11 “But the rich should take pride in their humiliation–since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.”
2. Psalm 103:14-15 “For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”
3. Isaiah 28:1 “What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria–the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by wine.”
4. Isaiah 28:4 “It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up, as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten.”
5. 1 Peter 1:24 “For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.”
6. Isaiah 40:6 “A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.”
7. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
8. Job 14:1-2 “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.”
9. Isaiah 5:24 “Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”
10. Isaiah 28:1 “Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley— to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!”
11. James 1:11 “For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”
God cares for the flowers of the field.
God cares for all of His creation. This should cause us to rejoice in our trials. If He provides for even the smallest flowers, how much more will He provide for you! You are so loved. He sees you in your situation. It might seem like God is nowhere in sight. However, don’t look to what is seen. God will take care of you in your situation.
12. Luke 12:27-28 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
13. Psalm 145:15-16 “The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.”
14. Psalm 136:25-26 “He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.”
15. Psalm 104:24-25 “How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.”
16. Psalm 145:9 “The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”
17. Psalm 104:27 “All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.”
Spiritual gardening and the Christian growth process
When you plant a seed eventually it will grow into a flower. For a flower to grow it needs water, nutrients, air, light, and time. In the same way, we need things to grow in Christ. We need to discipline ourselves spiritually.
We need to (wash ourselves and feed ourselves) with the Word. We need to be around a (positive environment) so our growth is not hindered.
We need to (spend time) with the Lord. As we do these things there will be growth in our life. Just like there are some flowers that grow faster than others, there are some Christians that grow faster than others.
18. Hosea 14:5-6 “I will be like dew to the people of Israel. They will blossom like flowers. They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon. They will be like growing branches. They will be beautiful like olive trees. They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.”
19. 2 Pet 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.”
20. 1 Peter 2:2 “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment.”
The sweetness of the presence of Christ.
Flowers are used to illustrate the beauty of Christ and His Word.
21. Song of Solomon 5:13 “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.”
22. Song of Solomon 5:15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster Set on pedestals of pure gold; His appearance is like Lebanon Choice as the cedars.”
23. Song of Solomon 2:13 “The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!”
The flourishing estate of the church
Where there was once dryness, there will be fullness because of Christ. Flowers are used to illustrate the joyful flourishing of Christ’s kingdom.
24. Isaiah 35:1-2 “Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God.”
Reminders
25. James 1:10 “But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.”
26. Isaiah 40:7 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.”
27. Job 14:2 “He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
28. Hosea 14:5 “I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots.”
29. Psalm 95:3-5 “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”
30. Psalm 96:11-12 “Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! 12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy.”
Examples of flowers in the Bible
31. 1 Kings 6:18 “The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.”
32. 2 Chronicles 4:21 “the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—all of the purest gold.”
33. 1 Kings 6:35 “He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold plated on the carved work.”
34. Song of Solomon 2:11-13 “Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone.12 The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. 13 The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!” Young Man”
35. Isaiah 18:5 “For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.”
36. Exodus 37:19 “Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand.”
37. Numbers 8:4 “And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.”
38. Exodus 25:34 “And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.”
39. Exodus 25:31 “Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them.”
40. 1 Kings 6:29 “He carved all the walls of the house all around with carved engravings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers, [both] the inner and the outer sanctuaries.”
41. Psalm 80:1 “To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth.”
Bonus
Song of Solomon 2:1-2 “I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.” “Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the maidens.”
