Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/religion/alphon_3.zip/SOLOMON.S03

Text File | 1992-10-29 | 19KB | 333 lines

        Study No. 3
                               SONG OF SOLOMON

        A.   BEGINNING OF LOVE  - Chapter 1:2 - 7a

            This  part  of the book describes the  new  believer  already
            engaged  in  spiritual activity,  coming to  an  overwhelming
            discovery of the intimate love relationship which is possible
            between  the believer and Christ.   The first step in Initial
            Love in "fervent desire",  and it is this which is called the
            "first love"  (Rev.  2:4),  or the "prototype".   The burning
            passion  for the Lord Himself sets the stage for  an  ongoing
            love  relationship  instead  of the drag and grind  of  duty.
            This "first love" with the Lord is generally uplifting rather
            than  challenging.    Marriage  leads  to  confrontation  and
            change, but courtship is non-confrontational and concentrates
            on blessing.

            This  "first love" is often emotional mixed  with  spiritual,
            and  is based on needs met or blessings imparted by the Lord.
            This level of relationship is generally self-oriented in  the
            sense  that the degree of blessing the believer is  receiving
            determines the response to the Lord.

            There  are great heights of experience with the Lord with the
            associated blessings and impartations.  Unfortunately at this
            stage  of the Bride's development,  these often give  way  to
            serious    defections   from   the   Lord   and    tremendous
            disappointments.   These  first  experiences of love are  not
            deep enough to be found.   However, with characteristic grace
            and  understanding, the  King  accommodates  Himself  to  the
            woman's weakness and accepts her where she is.   He stoops to
            her  level and begins the love relationship at the  point  of
            her  need and desire,  but continually seeks to lead her to a
            greater  capacity  for His love and a higher  level  of  both
            response and responsibility.   If we waited for full maturity
            before loving the Lord, we would not draw near to Him.  It is
            the  love  relationship with Him that matures us as  marriage
            works maturity in us in the natural sense.

        1:2 (a) - "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth"

            While  working  in Solomon's vineyard the Shulamite sees  Him
            for  perhaps the first time and His magnificence and  majesty
            overwhelms her.   She can no longer settle for mere  activity
            in the Kingdom.   Her heart's desire is set on a personal and
            intimate relationship with the King.  She is "pressing in" to
            love.   The  routines of religious exercise can never satisfy
            if we have seen the King in His beauty - Ps. 45:1-8.

            Her desire for the kisses of His mouth suggests both the need
            for a response from the King which will signal his acceptance
            of her, and her desire for an ongoing relationship.

            Various kisses are referred to in scripture:

            a)  Judas' traitorous kiss upon the  cheek  - this is the  kiss
                of divided interests.   Is.  29:13 - "worship with  lips,
                but the heart is far from God."

            b)  The   Prodigal  Son   receives   the  Father's  kiss   of
                forgiveness upon the  neck  - this is the kiss of  restored
                relationship.

            c)  Mary's   kiss  on the feet - this is the  kiss  of  self-
                abnegation.   She  did not feel worthy to look Him in the
                eyes.   While  her  humility is admirable,  a  real  love
                relationship cannot develop while she is in the servant's
                mode.   The Shulamite has been at this stage - service in
                the vineyards,  but she longs for more.   Jesus said,  "I
                call  you  not servants,  but I call you  friends"  (John
                15:15).    In   order  for  there  to  be  a   successful
                relationship  between  the Lord and His Church,  we  must
                rise to the fullness of His stature (Eph.  4:13), so that
                we have a true compatibility - Note also Eph. 5:27.

            d)  The  Holy Kiss  (1 Thess.  5:26) - this is  the  kiss  of
                general fellowship,  but it does not indicate more than a
                group acceptance.

            e)  The  kiss is a picture of the revelation of Christ to  us
                which  builds our relationship with Him.   When Joseph (a
                type  of  Christ) revealed Himself to  his  brethren,  he
                kissed them (Gen. 45:15).

        The kisses which the Shulamite desires,  however,  is the kiss of
        love - the intimate kiss of mouth to mouth which:

            a)  seals the choice of each other

            b)  excludes  all other relationships - this kiss  cannot  be
                given  to a multitude at once.   It is by its very nature
                exclusive and is parallel to commitment

            c)  reveals the true feelings of one for the other.  The kiss
                conveys  whether  there  is a desire  or  reservation  in
                either partner

            d)  indicates  the desire for eventual and total  fulfillment
                of the love both expressed and promised by the kiss

        1:2 (b) - "for your love is better that wine"

            Love  between  humanity  and  God  is  the  highest  form  of
            relationship  and  has  within itself a  satisfaction  and  a
            stimulation  that  cannot be found in  "natural"  stimulants.
            Wine  is a temporary stimulant but the Shulamite  is  longing
            for a permanent relationship.

            Even in our Christian life with the Lord,  there is a need to
            progress beyond basic levels of relationship.  John 4:24 says
            that  the  Father is seeking people to worship in spirit  and
            truth.   Praise is valid and necessary,  and it is the  means
            whereby  we  enter into the King's Court  (Ps.  100:4).   The
            intimate  and exclusive place of love is the Most Holy  Place
            and this is the place of worship in spirit and truth.

            The  original  language shows that the word  "love"  in  this
            verse  is  actually  plural  and  suggests  that  God  has  a
            wonderful  variety  in the expression of love.   Note  "There
            will I give thee my loves" 7:12b - The Shulamite speaking.

            In  order  for  that love to be effective  it  must  have  an
            excluding quality.   Other things take a lesser priority than
            the  development  of our relationship with Jesus.   Even  His
            work,  or His blessings to us must never take precedence over
            Him.   Jesus asked Peter,  "Do you love me more than  these?"
            He had just given Peter a miraculous catch of fish and wanted
            to  know if He was more important to Peter than the things He
            did.  (John 21:15)

        1:3  (a)  - "(Because of the) savour of your good ointments  your
                     name is as ointment poured forth"

            The  ointments of the King are both fragrant and  dominating.
            In  His  presence the odour of His ointments cancel  out  any
            smell,   including   the  work  stained  coarseness  of   the
            Shulamite.   The presence of the Lord has a particular effect
            about  it which tends to saturate those who have been in  His
            presence so that they exude the same qualities.

            An  odour  generated by such ointments is discernable  before
            the  person is,  and may be smelt before the  person  wearing
            them  can be seen.   The Shulamite discovers that the  King's
            ointments  and their ability to overpower negative odours are
            really a manifestation of what the King is as a  person.   It
            is  characteristic  of  the King to take a  person  naturally
            disqualified  as the Shulamite is,  and to transform them  by
            His  love which is better than wine,  just as  His  ointments
            negate the bad odours of her unprepared state.  In this sense
            His actions and His name are synonymous.

            The  name "Jesus" means "He shall save His people from  their
            sins".   His  name  is an ointment poured forth to deal  with
            humanity's offensiveness.  His name, Jesus, (& Emmanuel - God
            with  us)  has been poured forth from  heaven.   It  did  not
            originate on earth.  Matt. 1:20-23.  The pouring forth of His
            name  also relates to His redemptive work for the human  race
            for He "poured forth" His soul unto death.  Is. 53:12.

            The  ointments  referred  to in this verse of  the  Song  are
            identified in Ps.  45:7-8 - myrrh, aloes and cassia, and were
            received  by  Jesus because He loved righteousness and  hated
            iniquity.   His name and nature are synonymous.  He will save
            from  sin,  but He hates sin Himself and there is in Jesus  a
            correspondence between His power and character.

        1:3 (b) - "therefore do the virgins love thee"

            Psalm  45:13-15 tells us that the "virgins" shall be  brought
            unto the King.   The pure in heart shall see God - Matt. 5:8.
            Those with pure desires for God will respond to the fragrance
            of His outpoured ointments and will love Him.   Those who are
            pure  in heart will be drawn to Jesus because of what He  is.
            There  is  often a reason why people get caught in  cults  or
            apostate  religion.   Sometimes the motive of their spiritual
            search is not to please God but themselves.  Note 1 Cor. 1:22
            - "The Greeks seek after wisdom and the Jews require a sign."

            The  word  "virgins" also means  "hidden  ones"  (Ps.  83:3).
            Those  who  seek  after God become cut off  from  the  world.
            Their  lives  are identified with Jesus'  death,  burial  and
            resurrection  (Rom.  6:4)  and are hid with Him in God  (Col.
            3:3).  There is an exclusive quality to walking with God .

            However,  the virgins (in verse 3) are plural.   To walk with
            God is not to walk alone.   It simply means that a change  of
            emphasis  in  our lives will produce a change of  companions.
            Elijah  thought he was alone, but God had others who had  not
            bowed  the  knee to Baal,  and these were "hidden  ones"  - 1
            Kings 18:4 and 19:18.

        1:4 (a) - "Draw me and we will run after you"

            The   Shulamite,   having  experienced  the   excluding   and
            stimulating  nature  of His kiss and the power and beauty  of
            His name,  desires to go further in her relationship with the
            King.   So far the King has not spoken and she realizes  that
            this  time  of  courtship leaves all the initiative  for  the
            development  of  the relationship to Him so she  asks  to  be
            drawn closer.

            Only the King can draw us.   Jesus said, "No man cometh to me
            except the Father draw  him" (John 6:44). Some teach that the
            things of God are totally at our initiative.   All we need to
            do  is confess positively or exercise various techniques  and
            we will get what we want,  however we must grasp early in our
            relationship  with the Lord that He is sovereign and  can  do
            with  us as He will.   He is the potter and we are the  clay.
            Is. 45:9-10, and 64:8, Jer. 18:6, and Rom. 9:21.

            The  Shulamite unfolds a powerful principle of true love  for
            God.   She  says  that if she is drawn "we" will  run.   This
            plural  word indicates that if she comes under the  influence
            of  the  King this will generate such an effect in  her  that
            others  will  also  follow Him.   Real love for  God  is  the
            foundation of true evangelism and not some humanly  motivated
            programme.   Matt. 22:37-38 shows us that the result of union
            with  God  is to love ones' fellow men.   The woman  who  met
            Jesus at the well of Samaria immediately seeks to draw others
            to Him.  John 4:29.

            The result of being drawn to the King will be swift progress.
            The  Shulamite  says,  "we will run  after you."  This  is  a
            reference  to  the way God intends to do His  quick  work  in
            righteousness in the End-time Church.

            In order for that "run" to be effective:

            a)  every distraction or interference needs to be discarded -
                Heb. 12:1.

            b)  other  people may wish to side-track us from our  purpose
                to  seek  the  King - Gal. 5:7. They must be  avoided  or
                refused.

            c)  Discipline  and determination will be  needed.   Personal
                areas  and  the  natural   desires   must  be   carefully
                controlled  so  that  we  may  achieve the goal - 1  Cor.
                9:24-27,  Phil. 2:15-16.

            d)  There are times when patience will be needed.  The runner
                may not always be in sight of the goals - Heb. 12:1.

            The drawing power of the Lord to change our way of living and
            motivations is seen in Ps. 119:32 (Amp.) - "I will not merely
            walk,  but run in the way of your commandments when you  give
            me   a  heart  that  is  willing."   This  is  the   greatest
            requirement  for a true relationship with the King.   We need
            to  seek God to have a willing heart - one sensitive  to  His
            plans  and  priorities.   Another translation says  "enlarged
            heart" and suggests that in order to run after Him we need an
            increase in our spiritual capacity.

        1:4 (b) - "the King hath brought me into his chambers"

            This is the first time that the "King" is referred to by  any
            title,  and  it shows us that the development of love between
            us  and the King leads to submission to  His  Lordship.   The
            King is the absolute authority.

            It also shows us that this intimate relationship brings about
            a revelation of the King.  We see Him exalted when we see Him
            through the eyes of love.   In the previous part of the verse
            the  Shulamite  had  asked to be drawn and  this  is  swiftly
            answered.   The  King  brings her into His  chambers.   Entry
            cannot be forced.   It depends upon being drawn by Him.   Our
            responsibility is to wait on the Lord,  seek Him, desire Him,
            and  develop a willing heart,  and He will bring us into  the
            chambers  which  are  the King's most private  suite  in  the
            palace and refer to the "secret place" of Ps. 91:1.  They are
            plural and speak of the Holy Place and Most Holy Place of the
            tabernacle.

            These  chambers are called the "treasure house"  in  Nehemiah
            10:37-38,  where  the corn,  wine and oil were to be  stored.
            Corn is a type of the "Word of God",  wine symbolises joy and
            oil  stands  for  the anointing of the  Holy  Spirit.   These
            elements  of a Christian life are available in  full  measure
            through a secret place relationship.

            We  enter  His gates with thanksgiving - this is for what  He
            does, and we enter His courts with praise for what He is, but
            the  Most  Holy Place is only entered in love as we  are  one
            spirit with God.   This is for His benefit alone and is  true
            worship - John 4:24 - "The Father seeks such to worship Him."

        1:4 (c) - "we  will be glad and rejoice in you,  we will remember
            your love more than wine:  the upright love you"

            Three elements have emerged in the first part of this book  -
            love,  the King's drawing or bringing her in,  and rejoicing,
            which is a natural product of the first two things.

            Rejoicing  is  an essential component of a true  relationship
            with  God.   Lifeless  and  formal religion is  a  false  and
            devastating substitute for vibrant faith expressed in praise,
            singing, clapping, dancing, etc.

            Ps.  16:11  declares that in His presence is fullness of joy.
            It  is  impossible  to have a  manifestation  of  the  King's
            presence  without  there  being  an  overflow  of  the  human
            personality.

            This  joy  is a "secret place" experience.   The  first  time
            rejoicing   occurs  it  is  in  connection  with  the  King's
            chambers.

            Once  again  we  see  that the effect  of  the  King  on  the
            Shulamite  is  transferred  to many  others.  "The  King  has
            brought me in - we will rejoice."  The overflow of joy in the
            King's  presence  is  infectious and imparted  to  others  in
            exuberant  evangelism.   The  bride has a proper  balance  of
            Spiritual life at this point.  She is pressing in for all she
            can receive herself, but is not seeking it for herself alone.
            She is moved by the need of others also,  and has not  become
            super-spiritual or selfishly motivated.   She says,  "we will
            remember your love more than wine."

            This  remembrance  promotes a further release of love  toward
            the  King in those who are upright.  Those with a true  heart
            are  the  type of people who will respond to God and  seek  a
            secret  place  relationship with Him.   In verse 3  they  are
            called virgins or hidden ones,  now they are termed  upright.
            The   phrase  can  be  translated,   "they  will  love   thee
            uprightly."   This  shows the motives of those who  earnestly
            seek  Him.   They want the result of it to be for  His  glory
            alone.

                               END of STUDY THREE