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SOLOMON.S14
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Study No. 14.
SONG OF SOLOMON
TRANSFORMED BY LOVE cont. - Chapter 7:1 - 7:13
7:1 - "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's
daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the
work of the hands of a cunning workman."
a) "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter"-
This speaks to us of the tremendous change that has taken
place in her "walk". Since she began to lead others to Him,
not only has her relationship with the King been restored,
but it had added beauty to her life. Her feet are shod with
the shoes of the gospel - Eph. 6:15. She is saying to Zion,
"thy God reigneth" and her feet on the mountains of human
need and bondage are "beautiful" - Is. 52:7.
She is called "prince's daughter", which symbolises the noble
origin of the Bride. The Church has received the Spirit of
Adoption (Rom. 8:15) and is not a refuge from the world
system, but totally a child of God.
b) "the joints of your thighs are like jewels" - The thigh is
the strongest muscle in the body and is used for lifting and
carrying weight. It was this area of Jacob's life which was
shrunken by God to make him dependent instead of an
independent manipulator as he had been all his life. God put
pressure on Jacob and turned his strength into weakness.
It is pressure that creates jewels in the natural world and
it is the dealings of God, the pressure He allows in our
lives, which produces the precious things of our lives.
7:2 - "Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not
liquor: thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with
lilies."
a) "Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor"
- This is a sign that she has been cut off from the old life.
Her crucified life is never lacking the freshness of a
relationship with God based on the Blood Atonement of Christ.
The goblet of liquor is a reference to the cup of communion -
the remembrance of Jesus' death. Paul declares that this
"cup of blessing is the communion of the blood of Christ" - 1
Cor. 10:16. There is a communion with the Lord on the basis
of His blood shed for us there can be no real approach to
God. We are made nigh by the blood of Christ - Eph. 2:13.
b) "Thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies" -
The "heap" refers to wheat that has been winnowed and the
chaff removed. It speaks of the Word of God which had been
to her milk under her tongue (4:11). It is not superficial
in her life now, but is in the very centre of her being. Her
whole life is now identified with the King's will and
purpose. Her life revolves around His word.
7:3 - "Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins"
The breasts of the Bride are referred to five times in the last
two chapters. Her faith and love are essential manifestation of
both her maturity and her relationship with the King. She cannot
any longer receive the blessings to consume them on herself as
she did in chapter 2. She must give them out to others and finds
that she is sustained in doing so.
The need of balance in her faith and love is still stressed.
"Thy breasts ... like twins." Love without faith is unproductive
and tends to be blessing oriented to go round in circles. Faith
without love tends to aggression and hardness. Both are
essential to the perfect operation of the other.
It is "faith that works by love" - Gal. 5:6. The fact that these
two essential elements are identified as the breasts of the Bride
also suggest that they are to be both prominent and attractive
features of her life. The breasts are unique to women as faith
and love are unique to the Bride. The world does not know real
love or faith. These are aspects of the Church which make it
different to all human institutions.
7:4 - "Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the
fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose
is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus."
a) "Thy neck is as a tower of ivory" - In chapter 4:4 the King
described her neck as being like the tower of David. The
difference now is that her defence is from within rather than
being external. The neck in scripture is a type of the human
will. We can be stiffnecked in rebellion or have a bowed
neck in bondage or the yielded neck of submission and
obedience - cp. Matt 11:29-30.
Ivory is extremely hard, but it is the product of growth from
within. Ivory tusks also represent a dead animal. We see in
this that a crucified life (the navel) produces its own
defence. She had tried to be defensive in chapter 2:9, but
had lost everything. Now she has abdicated from the selfish
control of her life and has yielded to the will of the Lord
(belly as wheat).
b) "Thine eyes like the fishpools of Heshbon by the gate of
Bathrabbim". - Heshbon means "stronghold" and was previously
the capital of Sihon, King of the Amorites who fought against
Israel. Sihon was defeated at Jahaz which means "trodden
down" or "underfoot."
Twice before the Bride's eyes have been described as "doves
eyes" - fixed on the King. Now they symbolize the vision of
victory.
i) Heshbon was the place of conquest. It was an early
example to Israel of God's ability to overthrow the
strategy of the enemy.
ii) As a result, Israel's vision of the possibilities was
increased.
iii) The city of Heshbon was a stronghold covering two
mountains with a narrow entrance called the Gates of
Bathrabbim. The two pools were the water supply of this
stronghold which made it almost impregnable. Prov. 29:18
declares that vision is essential to effective defence.
The only time the word "fishpools" is used in the Bible is
in this verse. The Hebrew word is "Berekah" and means
"blessing". The Bride has the defence of a neck of ivory
and the vision of victory.
Bathrabbim means "the daughter of a multitude" and shows
us that the Bride is many - though she is one (6:9). This
status is not for an exclusive minority. It is the will
of God to bring all His people to the fulness of the
stature of Christ - Eph. 4:14 - "till we all come".
The vision of the possibilities which the Bride now has
will assist the Lord in bringing this seemingly impossible
thing to pass.
c) "Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon that looketh toward
Damascus" - her nose has never been mentioned before in the
book.
Note - a "flat nose". Lev. 21 lists this condition as a
disqualification from priesthood. If the olfactory sense was
defective the priest could not fulfil his ministry. It
speaks of a lack of spiritual perception or discernment.
"Looks toward Damascus" - the first real battle in the New
Testament was at Damascus. Saul went there with letters from
the Chief Priest to hunt and destroy the Christians.
Damascus is mentioned 13 times in Acts, and this is the
Biblical number for rebellion. Her nose, as the tower of
Lebanon, or ministry against the powers of darkness, is able
to uncover the rebellion which Damascus stands for. All of
these references are related to Saul's visit there, and his
rebellion against the Lord. Ananias exercising true
spiritual perception was able to bring Saul to freedom from
this bondage, and solve the problem facing the young Church.
7:5 - "Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine
head like purple; the king is held in the galleries."
a) "Thy head is upon thee is like Carmel" - The Bride now has
her mind in line with the King's. No longer is there a
difference in their thinking (cp. Is. 55:8-9). Carmel means
"fruitful place" and parallels the description of the King's
head (5:11) - "His head is bushy and black."
The unregenerate are given over to a reprobate mind and their
thoughts are evil continually - Gen. 6:5, Titus 1:5, and Rom.
1:28, but the saints have the protection of the Helmet of
Salvation (Eph. 6:17). Positionally, we have the mind of
Christ. 1 Cor. 2:16 - All the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge hid in Him are available to us. Col. 2:3.
Progressively, we need to have our mind renewed day by day -
Rom. 12:1, Phil. 4:7, Heb. 8:10, 10:16, Matt. 22:37.
b) "Thine hair of thine head like purple; the King is held in
the galleries." - Purple is the colour of royalty. The
queens of 6:8 were those demanding their rights without
maintaining a relationship. The Bride chose to give herself
unreservedly and continually to the King. In doing so she
does not lose her privileges. The queens demand their legal
position and lose out, while the Bride surrenders and
receives all that she was prepared to give up. She receives
all her throne-rights.
It is her hair, however, which is purple, and this refers to:
i) Her covering or submission to the King - 1 Cor. 11:15.
ii) Her consecration - Samson's hair was the sign of his
Nazarite consecration to God. While ever it was not
tampered with, God honoured him.
It is the consecration of the Bride which holds the King
captive in her tresses (galleries) so that her desire becomes
his desire. She has achieved this level of privilege or
"throne rights" by total submission and obedience. She
conquers His heart by yielding to Him.
7:6 - "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!"
This statement by the King shows the growth of her commitment
and the increase of their relationship.
He had said, "You have ravished my heart" (4:9), "How fair is thy
love - much better than wine" (4:10), "Thou art beautiful" (6:4).
Now He emphasizes the pleasure and delights that only the Bride,
the one, the undefiled, can give to the King. The Church rarely
understands the exalted place she has to bless God and delight
Him. There is nothing else in all the world, including the
angelic creation, which can satisfy His heart with love, worship,
consecration and obedience as His Church can.
7:7 - "This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts
to clusters of grapes."
a) "Thy stature is like a palm tree" - The King acknowledges the
growth of the Bride. She is tall and has grown to the
fulness of the stature of Christ - Eph. 4:13. Her full
maturity is expressed in her ability to take the strong meat
of the Word and her acceptance to the palm tree is in Exodus
15:27 at Elim. There were 70 palms here. This number means
the end of limitation. At other points in her experience she
was not able to receive all the King wanted for her. She was
not ready. He will not permit us to go on to perfection (or
maturity) unless our foundations are in order. Heb. 6:3.
Now the Bride has overcome her weakness and selfish
motivations and is in a realm of no restraint. There will be
no end to her fruitbearing - Ps. 92:12-14.
b) "Thy breasts are like clusters of grapes" - Twice before in
this song grapes are referred to:
i) 2:13 - the symbol of new life after winter
ii) 2:15 - they were in jeopardy from the little foxes
She is now mature and has gone past the place of self
enjoyment of God's power. Jesus was tempted to use the
power of the Holy Spirit for self-satisfaction - "turn
these stones to bread", Matt. 4. The Bride has also moved
beyond the insecurity of temptation symbolized by the
little foxes destroying her experience with God. Now, due
to her growth (stature as a palm tree) the grapes will not
be wasted or spoiled. Her breasts, the place of faith and
love in her, are also the way in which the Holy Spirit is
disseminated through her to others. Not only does the Holy
Spirit promote the development of her faith and love, but
the expression of these vital and basic qualities actually
causes a flow of the Holy Spirit to meet other people's
needs.
7:8 - "I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hole
of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as
clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like
apples."
a) "I will go up to the palm tree and take hold of the high
branches thereof" - The King advises her that there is a new
touch of God available at this level of maturity. Throughout
our development there are special touches of God at each
stage of obedience or overcoming.
Now that she has put her failures behind her and has grown to
full stature, she received His touch again. He takes hold of
the high branches. Her new level of progress is blessed by
His specific empowering which the touch of His hand speaks
of. In other words, there is an enabling of God for each new
skill we develop and for each area of territory we gain for
Him. Note Joshua 1:3, cp. verse 5.
b) The King says "Now", or at this stage of high level
development, "Your breasts shall be as clusters of the vine".
During this period of restoration there has been a continual
release of the King's power in her. The ministry of the Holy
Spirit to the Church is not once only or static, but ever
increasing. In the last verse her breasts were seen as
clusters of grapes, but now a more inclusive term for the
whole Church is seen. A bunch of grapes may be isolated from
the vine and kept for one person's use alone, but now the
King refers to her faith and love as belonging to the whole
Church. She is not developing these qualities for herself.
Her growth has brought with it added responsibility. The
release of the Holy Spirit's power in her, through her faith
and love, is for those who are less mature so that they also
may grow to the fulness of Christ's stature.
c) "The smell of your nose is like apples" - Her nose was
mentioned for the first time in 7:4 and refers to the
spiritual perception of the Bride. Now it is said to be like
the apples (or citron), spoken of in chapter 2:3. This was
"His fruit"... or the fruit of the Spirit. After her decline
from Lebanon she has opted for fruit instead of gifts. Now
she has come back to a full appreciation of her call to war
and the power of the Holy Spirit. Her faith and love towards
the King has brought her into a new dimension of the power of
the Spirit.
She is now able to achieve the proper balance between the
fruit of the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit, and in fact her
"perception" which falls within the category of gifts smells
like the fruit. The Bride is exercising the power of God
with the right motivation. Her perception is for the
restoration and growth of those less developed in faith and
love, rather than to be critical or judgmental.
7:9 - "And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my
beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of
those that are asleep to speak."
The palate is the part of the mouth which helps to form the
speech. Throughout the book there has been numerous references
to the return of Christ - 2:8, "Behold he cometh"; 2:17 and 4:5,
"until the day break". This speech of the Bride is the call to
those at ease in Zion to awake. Her maturity and its resultant
responsibility causes her to attempt to awaken others to the fact
that the King is coming back and the time is short.
The reference to the best wine points us to Christ's Second
Coming. At the marriage feast the best wine was kept till the
last (John 2:10). Though all the blessings of the Church age are
marvellous, nothing will compare with the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb. Jesus said of the wine that He drank with His disciples,
"I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new
with you in my Father's Kingdom" - Matt. 26:29. Her palate,
being like the best wine then, is the Second Coming message of
the Bride, which causes those who are asleep to respond. Note
Matt. 25:5-6 - the virgins awoke and trimmed their lamps. Who
makes the cry to awaken them? Rev. 22:17 says that it is the
Spirit and the Bride who announces the coming of the Lord.
7:10 - "I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me."
Her recently acquired sense of the power of her relationship with
the King causes her to have a new level of confidence towards
Him. This chapter has mentioned the development of her breasts
three times, and now we see the practical expression of her love
and faith towards Him. Her love is expressed in saying, "I
belong to Him" and her faith is seen in saying, "His desire is
towards me." In other words, the Bride is sure that He wants to
answer her prayers. There is no doubt anymore. Note 1 John
5:14-15. This confidence is of course built on her love for the
King, rather than the self-motivated demands for privilege which
the queens might indulge in.
7:11 - "Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us
lodge in the villages."
a) This is the Bride speaking. The "beloved" is always the King
in this book. The Bride's vision of victory with her eyes
like the gates of Bathrabbim is fixed on conquest. She has
now a world vision and wants to reach everyone with the
King's love. Jesus said the field is the world - Matt.
13:38.
The King had tried to show her the world view from the top of
Lebanon (4:8) but she was too immature to be able to receive
it. She became parochial again and was a spring shut up, a
fountain sealed. Her eyes have been opened to both the
possibilities and the need since then and she holds the same
world view as the Lord - John 3:16, Acts 1:8.
b) She is not prepared to be restricted to one interest, but is
reaching out to establish the King's presence and ministry in
every place simultaneously. Villages is plural. She does
not want to restrict Him to a favoured few. Jesus was
impelled by the need to reach the "next towns also." Mark
1:38, Matt. 9:35, Mark 6:6, Luke 8:1, 13:22.
7:12 - "Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the
vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the
pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves."
a) "Let us get up early to the vineyards" - Since the Bride has
entered into spiritual warfare and accepted the
responsibility for the people of her generation, she is drawn
by the need to grasp every opportunity. She must "redeem the
time". No longer is she placing a premium on her own comfort
(2:9 and 3:1). The King had challenged her to rise up from
her comfort in Chapter 5:5-6. She did not respond then, but
now that she is fully restored to the King and totally
committed to His ministry, the Bride now feels the urgency of
the time. She intends to use all the opportunities that
present themselves. She knows that soon the day will be
gone. Jesus said, "I must work the works of Him that sent me
while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work" -
John 9:4.
b) The Bride has also developed a greater capacity for
involvement in the work of the Lord. In Chapter 1:6 the
vineyards had become a problem to her and caused her to
neglect her own personal area of responsibility. She
neglected her relationship with the King because of the
pressure of working for Him. Now, through her maturity it is
her relationship with Him that is producing the ability of
conducting a wider ministry than she was previously capable
of. Now the work is the product of her relationship rather
than a hindrance. We must all work for God, but sometimes
the work itself can become a substitute for really knowing
the Lord. On the other hand, it is not possible to draw
close to God without developing the desire and ability to be
effective in His work.
c) "Let us see whether the vine flourish and the tender grapes
appear" - The things which the King had been unable to entice
her with in Chapter 2 are now her desires. Then she was
uninterested in the growth of new life in the Church. Now it
is her consuming passion. She is checking out the progress
of others and of the Church as a whole, which is symbolized
by the vine. This desire has ben growing in her since her
relationship with the King has been restored (cp. 6:11).
When Paul and Barnabas established new churches, they had a
desire to "visit the brethren and see how they do" (Acts
15:36).
d) "And the pomegranates bud forth" - The Bride, who has been
described by the King as being like a piece of pomegranate
revealing the potential of seeds, is concerned to see that
there is a manifestation of life rather than structure alone
in the Church. She has been sidetracked from the King before
by walls and cities (2:9, 3:2, 5:7) and having learned her
lesson is anxious that the development she is responsible for
in the vineyards is not inhibited by methods of men. She
realizes that unless life shoots forth, all the programmes
are in vain.
e) The Bride says to the King, "there will I give thee my
loves." She is able to show her love to the King in
fulfilling His ministry. No longer is His work a substitute
for His presence, but a joyful expression of her total
commitment to Him.
7:13 - "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all
manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid
up for thee, O my beloved."
"The mandrakes give a smell" - These are first mentioned in the
Bible in Gen. 30:14-29 in the context of Rachel's barrenness and
desire for children. Barrenness was considered a curse and the
mandrakes were considered to be an aphrodisiac and an aid to
conception. Rachel became so desperate for children that along
with the use of the mandrakes she cried out to God, "Give me
children or I die." In this the mandrakes spoken of here are
associated with intercession to break the barrenness in the
Church. The Bride has been expressing her deep desire to see
growth and fruit in the Church (7:12), and how she points out
that such a move of God to bring forth a harvest (Reuben had the
mandrakes in the wheat harvest) requires an intercession to break
through. This level of prayer and desire is like a sweet
smelling savour unto the Lord - like the cloud of incence that
gave Him pleasure in the Tabernacle worship.
END of STUDY FOURTEEN
