Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.
This week's question:

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven, a time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). And so it is with the seasons that God created year in and year out, "Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth'; and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:14-18). Amazingly enough, ancient stone buildings with holes that allowed for the sun to shine through exactly on the solstice still hits its mark after so many centuries. We may wonder, with this great universe to behold, who are we for God to think of, "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?" (Psalms 8:3-4), but then we see, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31).

 That brings us to our question, "Which bird's song is the sign of spring?". When Noah was on the ark and water covered the earth, it became time to test if the water started to abate so that land again started to appear, so he sent a dove to look for a sign, but returned with nowhere to set her feet. After seven more days, he again sent her out and after a time she returned with an olive leaf in her beak! When seven more days passed, he sent her on a journey again, to only never return and Noah knew that the water was beginning to abate from the earth (Genesis 8:1-12).

 So then, for the answer to our question we turn and read from the book of the Song of Solomon, where king Solomon falls in love with the Shulammite woman (6:13), as he describes her beauty, "How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves." (1:15). And so, as he comes to visit her in the spring, "My beloved responded and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; the time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, by beautiful one, and come along! O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway, let me see your form, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your form is lovely.'" ( 2:10-14).

And so there we have the answer to our question, as it is the "turtledove" that is the sign of spring! Although Solomon has many wives and concubines, many arranged by political gains, we can see that his heart is truly stolen by her, 'How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind the veil; your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mount Gilead."(4:1-2), "You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride; you have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, with a single strand of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices!" (4:9-10).

 Sadly, many of the foreign women that Solomon had, both as wives (700) and concubines (300), finally divided his heart from God, as he listened to them and built alters for them, so they could worship their idols, even though God had warned Israel not to marry outside the nation, and the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was not wholly with God (1 Kings 11:1-13). May we stand strong to the very end for our home eternally with the Lord!