AJESUS CHRIST IN THE SONG OF SONGS - INTO THE THRONE ROOM - THEN THE THRONE.
JESUS CHRIST IN THE SONG OF SOLOMON (3-5).
Tuesday Bible Study
November 18, 2025, the Year of Our Lord
The Journey of the Bride from the Baptism of the Holy Ghost to the Throne room – THEN INTO THE THRONE.
In chapters 1 and 2, the Shulamite has experienced the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost. But there is a Feast of Tabernacles in the Seventh month (perfection)! It begins with the blowing of the trumpets (Prophecy), and that clear word from God will blow her off the bed of ease! Then on the tenth day of the seventh month, there is the Day of Atonement. He called her to this Gethsemane on the mountains of Bether. This is to be a baptism of fire (Heb. 12:29). In the outer court He is Jesus, our Savior. In the Holy Place, He is the Christ, the One who indwells her. But in the Most Holy Place, he is the LORD – and to His total reign in her life she is called! She is to afflict her soul in the Day of Atonement--- But she refuses to cooperate.
3:1: By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not. (she is speaking).
This verse tells the result of not following on to know the Lord in the Most Holy Place. Many who were blessed in the Feast of Pentecost stayed there and never followed on to know the LORD in the realm of Tabernacles.
All at once it seems everything, she once did in a particular way to get results doesn’t work anymore. Her Christian friends now begin to judge her. The King is gone for several nights. She did not arise when He called; so, He will draw her out to pursue Him and His desire for her.
3:2: I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I found Him not. (She is speaking)
Here is the plight of those who want to do the will of God their way! They go in circles, as did the Preacher in Ecclesiastes! These are persistent in their search of Him in their programs and systems! He is not there! (Lk. 24:5) So they travel from place to place, church to church, doctrine to doctrine and still not satisfied. Where can He be? She even tried the larger ministries and their broad views. She is wearing herself out seeking, and still has missed the point and missed God. But at least she did arise! The streets are dangerous. So are some of the public assemblies. All over the world, men are seeking Him in the religious systems. But He is so very near, much closer than she realizes. At first, she does not find Him. For he is waiting for her to confess her need of Him. The couch and bed of contentment were once paradise to her; now it is hell, for the Beloved is gone. He did not seem to be beyond the limits of the city. (Lam. 3:33)
He has aroused her from her lethargy, by His silence. He has drawn her to seek Him diligently; by prolonging His apparent absence. He has broken down the wall of reserve and drawn her out of herself. He watched her as her rushing hither and thither, to this or that place, expecting to obtain “blessing” as of old. The King was silent in His love. The Shulamite arises and steps into the streets. They are dark and lonely. Perhaps the watchmen who go about the city at night would know where He is! They were supposed to be able to know these things. But they found her first.
3:3: the watchmen that go about the city found me: To whom I said, “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” (she is speaking)
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these ministries who are on various levels. Each has a calling and are following the Lord on their journey. But the realm of life and the high calling to which the Shulamite is beckoned will demand that she hear from God for herself! She reads their books, hears their tapes, and even stops to hear some teach or preach. In all of that she is searching for her King. Not even Angels could satisfy Mary (Jn. 20: 11-16). These watchmen were also shepherds. She didn’t find them, they found her! The true servant-leader like John the Baptist, will see to it that his disciples become Jesus’ disciples (Jn. 1:35-37). We give honor to whom honor is due. But these cannot usurp the Lord’s place in our heart and affections. We avail ourselves of every aid in finding our Lord and inquire especially of those appointed as watchmen in Zion, the ministers of the Word, concerning our spiritual state the means of our being restored to the joy of His salvation. Then some of the watchmen may say, “You’re not walking in faith. That what’s wrong.” She knows this cannot be true because she is now seeking Him who her soul loves with all her heart. The watchmen have not yet come to the path that leads to the mountain.
These watchmen were ministering to the people of the city. The people desired a “good time” of drunkenness, ease, and entertainment. Raising their voices against these things would disturb the “good people” of the city.
Instead of crying against these sins, the watchmen worked it out so that such activities were regulated and controlled. The people of the city paid their salaries; in turn they would give the people what they wanted in a proper way and in the proper houses. In fact, most of their work was to regulate and conduct the affairs of the houses where the harlots operated!
They did not understand the Shulamite. Who was this strange woman in the streets? “Why aren’t you in your home?” They coaxed her to join one of their brothels. We have buildings for them on many corners of the city. Our buildings are the finest to be seen in any land. She asks again, “Have you seen Him whom my soul loves?” No, they haven’t seen Him (Jn. 3:1-8). The nerve of this woman! If the King were about, they would surely be the first to know. If He had anything new for the people, everyone knew that he would bring it through their systems! The watchmen plead further, “come with us and we will make you a keeper of the vineyards. We understand you have had some experience in doing that kind of work.”
Chapter 2:17, is a key verse in the Song. This shows the reason and the result of doublemindedness. Her mind was set on “Until” or “One of these days.” Until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and you like a roe or young hart unto the mountains of Bether. (she is speaking).
Morning is breaking.
The Shulamite had been born again in 1:4; Spirit-filled in 2:4 and here in 3:4, she enters the Holy of Holies!
Song 3:4: It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loves: I held him, and would not let Him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. (She is speaking).
A word study on “Chamber” means “inner chamber” – same a 1:4 – the principle of the Most Holy Place.
She passes through the Pentecostal realm (Holy Place) and then passes through the rent veil, past the golden altar.
Heb. 10:19-22; 6: 19-20: having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh:…6:19-20: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that inside the veil; Where the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.”
It is in this Third Dimension that she discovers again her Lord, (11 Cor. 3-4). Like Jacob who was changed to Israel; this maiden had become an overcomer and prevailer. The King has been drawing her up to this point, now she begins to draw Him!
Like Esther, the Shulamite is in the throne room, but not yet in the Throne. (Rev. 3:21).
This story is just beginning. She brings Him into her own home, her own life, into her mother’s chambers; into the place where she can be birthed into a higher dimension. She brings Him into the innermost part of her life and being. This is a realm of union, where two become one (Eph. 5: 17-33). The Banquet of Wine had been their engagement party. It is in this verse that she becomes His bride! The marriage procession is seen in the latter half of this chapter. (3: 6-11). The nuptial chariot is the Ark of the Covenant!
The Shulamite had experienced the 30-fold realm of the Outer Court and the 60-fold realm of the Holy Place. But 60 from 100 leaves 40. She is on the back forty, and the greatest trials and testings are yet to come. This is a New Day (the 7ths from Adam and the 3rd from Jesus) (11 Pet. 1:19). Like the prophet Simeon, we stand in one age and hold another in our arms. Let us not identify with those who are content to see it but let us become part of the New Thing which is the consolation of Israel and the creation! The Inner chamber here is her heart, her Zion. It is the bosom of God, the contents of the Ark of the Covenant (Heb. 9:4).
Story Line – In this place of union, there will be consummation and conception. This point in the story marks the place of the marriage of the Bride, but the story is just beginning. For now, the Shulamite sleeps and he guards.
3:5: I charge you, o you daughters of Jerusalem by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love, until he pleases. (He is speaking).
(The daughters of Jerusalem perform the duties of a chorus in this ancient play. They interact with the actors from time to time. Sometimes they will agree with the players; sometimes they will ask questions on their own, evoking a response from the players and other times they will ask questions on their own… They arbitrate the scene changes. Their place is unique in Biblical literature but not unlike the Angel of Heaven who escorts John from place to place. Revelation 12 uses a similar flashback and flash-forward method to unveil its truth.” (Solomon’s Secret by C. R. Oliver)
The King has many blessings and honors to bestow on His new bride, and in time they leave their simple, secluded home. It is time to go public with this good news! The King plans His return to Jerusalem to be one of surprise. It will be at Midnight. The “good people” of the city are sound asleep when the trumpet begins to sound.
Matt. 25:6: At midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom comes; go ye out to meet him. Far down the dark street is coming the sound of the King’s homecoming parade. The daughters hear the feet of those bearing the litter as they come forth on the cobblestone street. The sound of sixty guards valiantly marching rumbles in the stillness. As the marriage procession moves nearer, pillars of smoke ascend from the torches and incense burners as they come before His litter the perfume of myrrh, frankincense, and other powders of the merchants fill the air. But wait a minute in the midst of all this stirring sight, there sits a woman! She is the Bride of Christ. She is sitting beside the King on the royal litter. She is a woman out of obscurity…a woman from the desert wilderness. Whatever did she do to talk the King into allowing her to ride in His royal Chariot? The King has found Himself a Bride. But who can she be?
3:6: Who is this that comes out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with Myrrh and Frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? (The daughters of Jerusalem are speaking, along with all the people).
The Holy Spirit was manifested in the pillar of fire and cloud. (Ex. 13:21-22; Joel 2:28-30). The wilderness is the realm of Pentecost. She has come out of that into the Holy of Holies. She has been purified. (Psa. 107: 1-7). Frankincense speaks of worship (Rev. 8:3-4). The powders of the merchant speak of selling all for the Kingdom! (Matt. 13: 45-46). The Jewish interpretation of this section (3:6-11) sees the chariot of Solomon as the Tabernacle or Moses, a habitation for God through the Spirit. (Jn. 1:14). Compare this whole metaphor with the Ark of the Covenant marching through the wilderness. The principle of the cross and its suffering (myrrh) will release the sweet fragrance of prayer and praise (frankincense). The Lord himself was the merchant who had enriched her. As Elisha had passed on over the Jordan with Elijah, so the maiden has passed on from the watchmen to find a realm of life in her King.
This is indeed a sight to behold. Everyone had expected to see the King in the homecoming parade, but they had not expected to see a woman riding at his side! Their question is answered. There at the King’s side sits the former little goat-keeper! The Shulamite is in the litter! In the royal litter. Surrounded by the royal guard.
3:7-10: Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s threescore valiant men are about it of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: Every man has his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made Himself a Chariot of the Wood of Lebanon. He made the
pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of Gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the Daughters of Jerusalem. (The Daughters are speaking, along with the people.)
These verses are descriptive of Solomon’s nuptial chariot and speaks to us of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies! The Shulamite has tasted peace with God; now she is a partaker of the peace of God. It is from this throne that a people will shepherd the nations! There is no end or limitation to this place! (Isa. 9:6-7). The 60-fold company are around this throne, but the Shulamite is in it!
Never had the Shulamite dreamed of such pomp and splendor. Then she remembered the King’s words, “We will make your borders of gold with studs of silver” (1:11). She had been hurt most of her life. Now she was surrounded by those who allow nothing by any means to hurt her (Lk. 10:19).
Those who handle the sword describe the ministers of God, in particular those who are his Mighty Men and Overcomers. Or the principle of angels who minister to those who are heirs of salvation (Heb. 1: 7, 14.) Perhaps each of these 60 men were to protect each of the 60 queens mentioned in 6:8. Madame Guyon likened them to 60 attributes of God through which the soul must go if it is to rest in the King’s bed. This bed reveals the total victory of the Lord Jesus over all enemies. We need not fear the hosts of darkness.
The Shulamite has nothing to fear. No angry stepbrother could get to her now as she rests beside her King. Her eye had not seen, nor had her heart considered all that He was sharing with her now. The House of Wine was good, but this was better! “His love is better than wine!”
The royal chariot has lifted her up into the royal realm. The gold, the silver, His love, the purple, the timbers of Lebanon …all speak of His Divine Nature. We can compare the seat of Purple with the mercy seat which is the throne of Grace. His sons the bright stones and arrows of the Lord (Zech. 14: 9-17), shall walk on the King’s Highway. What is the intent of all of this? It is for His Bride, the one who will later bear Him a Son and an heir and a deliverer, and that man-child will be for the Daughters of Jerusalem!
3:11: Go forth, o’ you daughters of Zion, and Behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith His mother crowned him in the day of his marriage, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
The term “Daughters of Zion” occurs only here and Isa. 3: 16-17; 4:4. These Daughters of Jerusalem could have been Daughters of Zion. These have settled for a lesser priesthood (Ezek. 44). - Silence follows this announcement. The crowd is awed beyond words. The foolish virgins who had let their oil leak out had missed it all, including the passing of the parade. The wedding feast has been prepared for the party at the banqueting hall. Many guests had been invited, but all did not make themselves ready – the good people of the city did not care enough to attend!
4:1-10: Behold you are fair, my love; behold you are fair, you have doves’ eyes within your locks: your hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins and none is barren among them. You neck is like the tower of David built for an armory, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. Your breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. Until the daybreak and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the Mountain of Myrrh, and to the Hill of Frankincense. You are fair, my love; there is no spot in you. Come with me from Lebanon my spouse, with me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the Lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, you have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck. How fair is this love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is your love than wine! And the smell of your ointments than all spices!
Here begins a sevenfold description of His Bride. She is in the process of being that wife spoken of in Ephesians 5:27: that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
“There are two themes in this chapter. (1) Her spiritual character. (2) The cause of the transformation. As we study this transformation of the Bride of Christ from a goat keeper to a Queen, let us remind ourselves of Solomon’s intellect which superseded that of any man on earth. 1 Kings 4: 29-31 (Amplified Version): And God gave Solomon exceptionally much wisdom and understanding, and breadth of mind like the sand of the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men. (Solomon’s Secret – C. R. Oliver)
His words are not transitory in order to be changed if they meet with wonder or dismay. Their intent is to position themselves in her heart that she will clearly know and understand her value.
Eph. 1:18: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.
Formal churches can never approach this type of interaction. Like death, once this type of intimacy is entered into, there is no retreat.
We are in the Throne Room but not in the Throne! Legally we are one; experientially, we must climb the mountain of separation, Mountains of Bether. (2:17). To Mt. Zion she is being prepared whereon are the thrones of the Kings and the tombs of the Kings. The Hill of Frankincense is Calvary (11 Cor. 3:10). This is total death to self. She is about to see that the most severe dealings have been reserved for the Holy of Holies and a Baptism of Fire! She was talking less and listening more. She was under far more control of the Holy Spirit, and she could now remain in quietness of spirit at the Lord’s praise of her, without private self-exaltation and the elation of those natural energies which produce pride. But there were still certain shadows, and the perfect light had not yet dawned (Prov. 4:18). There is a fountain at Calvary open for sin and uncleanness (Zech. 13:1).
He turns again to climb the Mountains of Bether. Doesn’t He want to stay? The Kings continued to reassure her. He invites her to come with Him to a place she has repeatedly shunned.
In verse 8, this is the first time He calls her his “spouse” or “Bride!” This verse is His call to the Heights of Zion (Psa. 133).
Phil. 3: 12-14: Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also, I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before.
He wants to expand her vision of the Kingdom which she shall rule with Him. It will involve danger and a greater dimension of spiritual warfare. Here Lebanon is the starting point. The lion that roams and the leopard that devours are there! She is invited to see that she is seated with Him far above all principalities and powers (Eph. 1:20-23; 2:1-6; 6:12). This experience in the Heavenly Realm brings us to the enemy’s hiding out (the carnal mind of 11 Thess. 2: 1-8), that we may come to grips with him face to face, in order to break his power! (Psa. 18: 33-42). He desires to share the deep things of his heart with her. In 2:10,13, He said, “Come Away,” but now he says “Come with me.” We can compare this to the call of Peter, James, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration.
“Come with me from Lebanon my spouse, with me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the Lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. How fair is this love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is your love than wine! And the smell of your ointments than all spices!”
Lebanon was dangerous (11 Kings 14:9); Hab. 2:17). This is the cruel persecution suffered at the hands of men and devils (wild beasts).
If it weren’t for the lions’ dens and leopards, she would love to go to the snow-capped mountains of Lebanon. Aman’s peaks seemed to shout faithfulness and truth. Shenir’s peaks were the apex of all these lofty ideals. She remembers the Mt. of Bether where she lost sight of Him. “Could she make it? Could she face down those powers of darkness that she knew lurked on the mountains or would she fall in the midst of the battle?”
In Verse 9, the Lord sees upon her neck the single strand of the necklace which speaks of keeping the Word of God (Prov. 1: 8-9; Matt. 7:24-27).
Col. 3:4: When Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.
In verse 10, He is telling her that she now has the capacity to minister to Him! Her love has gone beyond the Pentecostal realm of wine and she is now living in the realm of the Fruit of the Spirit. She has begun to wear the garments of royal ministry. It is the unction (anointing) of the Holy Ghost that releases this fragrance unto Him.
“How fair is this love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is your love than wine! And the smell of your ointments than all spices!”
4:11: Your lips, o my spouse, drop as the honeycomb, honey and milk are under your tongue; and the smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, camphire, with spikenard. Spikenard and Saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. A fountain of Gardens, a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon” (He is speaking to her).
These verses are descriptive of her ministry. The lips and tongue are the channel of that ministry, and her garments speak of the Office of her ministry. The milk and honey are indicative of Canaan or the Kingdom. This Kingdom Word is spontaneous from her. It flows freely without being forced. Honey takes time to make. This word is not impulsive but spoken wisely. Lebanon was known for its fragrance because of the variety of aromatic shrubs dotting its slopes. Her garments speak of all that has to do with outward attitudes, behavior and all that has to do with external appearance. Her speech has been changed to a Kingdom vocabulary. She had eaten the Word from her apple tree (2:3).
Christ is in her. This anointed one is a prophet, priest, and King. This anointing is to release the Kingdom (the life of the King) from within. That Kingdom according to Rom 14:17 is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost! A prophetic anointing to produce righteousness, a priestly anointing to produce peace, and a kingly anointing to bring forth joy! Fear and condemnation have stifled her.
All of the fruits mentioned in Verse 13 had to be imported from another country with the exception of the Pomegranate. She is called to an apostolic vision for the nations. She is a veritable paradise. The pomegranate is a symbol for pure and gold thoughts (open heart to the Lord). By dwelling on the Word, she has cultivated a Godly lifestyle. (Phil. 4:8). The fruitful life is costly. The pomegranate also speaks to us of the priesthood as well as righteous (Heb. 12:11). The camphire (or cypress) points to the Cross and all its workings. That will release the flow of God.
Talking about gardens is much nicer than those terrible mountains of suffering. But she senses that He is speaking in an allegory. He is still
trying to tell her something. His word-picture, spoken with words of tender love, is vivid in her mind. More and More the attributes of the King can be seen in the Shulamite.
His anointing, His nature, His life, and death; all this and more is becoming a reality in her. He had seen this potential in her years ago. Now is the time for the release of all that is within. The Bride knows that someone needed to open her seals and let the water flow, to the ankles, to the knees, to the loins, waters to swim in, even a river that cannot be passed over. A river of life from the Shulamite.
She is the sanctuary out of which this River of Life is flowing. Out of her belly is to flow faith filled words. The King is the fountain of the Shulamite who is His garden! He is her source of life. (Heb. 7: 1-16). The deeper the well, the purer the water. The artesian well below the level of the hardest rock never needs pumping; it is under pressure! (Jn. 4:11). The New Jerusalem is a garden city. Jesus knows how to bring us into contact with the overflow of His Life, which breaks forth spontaneously from His HIDDEN ONES as they remain restful in His keeping.
The Shulamite is now convinced that she can offer the fruit of her life to the world.
4:16: Awake O north wind; and come, you south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruit” (She is speaking).
(We have followed the development of the Bride from the Outer Court, through the Pentecostal Realm and into the Holy of Holies. Beginning with Song 4:16, we have her response to the King’s call for her to, “Come up Higher”. Verse sixteen is her response to that “call”.)
The Shulamite responds to his words of love and commitment. She accepts her calling and asks Him to release the flow of the garden within. There is a blow and a flow…no blow, no flow! Here we see the release of the Kingdom as revealed in 4:12-15. She invites Him in His manifest presence. The North and South winds represent those negative and positive circumstances brought by the Spirit (appointed by the King) to develop the fragrance of the garden and cause this new life to flow out to the world. It is the commitment made by Paul in Philippians 1:20: According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
“Thousands of years have passed since the first garden, but it has been the plan of God to establish this second since the former was defiled. The book of Hebrews tells us plainly His plan is focused on His Son. “He takes away the first that he may establish the second.” The first garden was defiled and was abandoned; the second garden will have none of this defilement. In one sentence whole epics are displayed when the Bride issues the invitation, “Let my beloved come into his garden and eat.” If we are the Bride; let me repeat it; IF WE ARE THE BRIDE; dwelling in our hearts is the garden, individually… This is the garden of the heart.” (C. R. Oliver, Solomon’s Secret).
5:1: I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O Beloved. (He is speaking to her.)
“This is his reply to her. From our heart comes the intercession and prayers before the Lord which are ministered further by our Great High Priest. The only work garnered from our worldly trek (which will be in heaven when we arrive) will be our prayers and that part of our life which reveals the Christ. It is the prayers of the saints, preserved in vials, which will be opened to perfume God’s temple. Our High Priest, who is on a first name basis with us, has gleaned from His garden the ingredients He will mix with His intercession for us. Intercession by Jesus will be a mixture of our heartrending prayer and Spirit groanings and utterances…
She (the Bride) who kissed the Rock had honey and milk on her lips, shares His triumph through association…When the disciples sat with the resurrected Jesus in Luke 24:42, and literally ate their last meal with Him, he ate the honeycomb (a fulfillment of Song 5:1). He instructed them:
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them, and said unto them, THESE ARE THE WORDS which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures…
Isaiah 7 says, “He will eat honey.” Psalms 10:19 declares the Law, the testimony, the statutes, the commandments, the fear, and the judgments of the Lord are more to be desired than honey and the honeycomb. (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 55:1).
The Bride now sleeps and rests in the Most Holy Place. A voice is calling her name.
5:2: I sleep, but my heart wakes: It is the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my
head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. (Both are speaking).
The four terms of endearment reveal His world-wide vision to harvest the nations! This is His call to the fullness of the suffering of His Cross. We must awake. However, the Bride begins to make excuses.
5:3-6: I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone: My soul failed when he spoke: I sought Him, but I could not find; I called him, but he gave no answer.
He disturbed her spiritual ease (Amos 6:1). She feels that she has cleansed her walk and that there is nothing else to be dealt with. After all, she had entered the Holy of Holies! “Is it not enough?” she reasoned, “that my life has been dedicated to Him, and that I have been cleansed inwardly? I have dealt with the little foxes!” But He is calling her to walk forth in that Holiness sharing His Dominion (Phil 2: 1-11). She drew back. Note the two-fold danger: (1) removing the garment and vision. (2) Fear of getting involved or contaminating your Holiness or Revelation (Phil. 3:10). The door to the outside world, the night, the sinners, the old order, and the problems of others, is shut and bolted. She was shut in with the Lord and did not plan on every coming out again. We cannot stay on top of the mountain (Mt. 17).
The Shulamite opens the door too late. “My soul failed when he spoke”. She had failed to go with Him and fellowship His sufferings? Had she failed to watch with Him on this night? Now she remembered His call to the mountain of myrrh. When morning came, she had intended to go with Him, but she had gone to sleep. After removing the bolt, she flung open the door. But the King was Gone! He was Gone!
This verse shows the kind of dealing in the Holy of Holies for the Overcomer. She could not find Him, nor would he answer! (Matt. 15: 22-23. Immediately she begins to drink the cup of loneliness and rejection. We see the danger of hesitation and delay in the seasons when He calls (Eccl. 3:1-8). She had not been ready for His coming, but He leaves his anointing to help her through this time of testing and trial. Here He is the Silent Lord (Psa. 84: 5-7).
The door stood open wide. Her eyes searched the darkness outside, but no familiar form was there. She stumbles down the darkened street. She calls, but there is no answer. Soon, angry shouts respond to her cries. She is upsetting the “good people” of the city. Then the watchmen of the city come to investigate. They recognize her. What are you doing in the street? People are asleep, and you are disturbing them. It is our job to see to it that nothing bothers them. You are breaking our rules! Do you want this to become another Azusa Street? For the sake of our system and our organized “houses of women,” we must stop you! You have no right to wear a veil. Give it to us! We are going to expose you!” Then the watchmen began to persecute the Bride.
5:7: The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, and they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. (She is speaking).
This verse portrays the suffering and abuse that the godly must receive at the hands of the Babylonian systems of religion. The watchmen are ministers and leaders of the people. The City is the Church. The Keepers of the wall are those who guard the religious systems. The walls are the systems which are prisons to those who are enslaved by them. The veil is her credentials. This kind of pain and humiliation was even worse than the anger of her mother’s house (1:6), The harlot system abused her. Then these high ecclesiastical authorities took away her “minister’s license” and excommunicated her. The Father permitted this to happen to Jesus. Also, we can compare David and Job.
I would describe this Dark Night of the Soul as feeling completely abandoned by all earthly love. Knowing that all is well with Heaven, but not understanding why everyone you knew and love abandoned you.
These watchmen want to beat her back from her position in Christ, pressing her to admit the thought that God has laid upon her more than is right. But their persecution was what God used to remove her veil. It is because of the anointing (myrrh) on her hands! They laid bare her anguish to all. Compare the three strippings of Joseph: (1) by his jealous half-brothers; (2) by Potiphar’s wife; and (3) by himself at the direction of the Lord, when he shaved his face.
The watchmen drag the Bride’s body outside the gates of the city and leave her to die beside the road that leads to Jericho. They depart and leave her for dead. She struggles to her feet and goes back into the city. Soon she meets some of the Daughters of Jerusalem. She stares at her friends. She says to them:
5:8-9: I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem if you find my beloved, that you tell him, that I am sick of love (She is speaking). What is your beloved more than another beloved, O you fairest among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved that you do so charge us? (The Daughters of Jerusalem are speaking)
This verse shows why the Shulamite is the chosen one of 6: 8-9. That the daughters should even ask such a question reveals their ignorance, immaturity or selfishness, and lack of perception. The Spirit of Antichrist refuses to confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. It must invent an alternative – “another beloved.” This is humanism (11 Thess.2). We are to have no other Gods before His face. This utter devotion to Him is the basis of her authority in Him. For the first time in the Song, the Daughters recognize her to be the Bride. Their minds have been blinded. Ruth will minister to Naomi. The Shulamite begins to minister to the daughters. They are still in the realm of duality and unbelief. But to her, He has no rival.
The Bride begins to describe her husband:
5:10-16: My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the finest gold; his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold; his countenance is as Lebanon excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Behold the Man (Christ Jesus)
1. Head – His Wisdom (5:11)
2. Locks – His Vigor (5:11)
3. Eyes – His insight (5:12)
4. Cheeks – His flexibility (5:13)
5. Lips – His worship (5:13)
6. Hands – His Service (5:14)
7. Belly – His Motives (5:14)
8. Legs – His stability (5:15)
9. Countenance – His vision (5:15)
10. Mouth – His Ministry (5:16)
He is the radiant and shimmering One. The white is descriptive of His spotlessness and purity. The Daughters have more than one lover or love. The Shulamite has but One. The King is her Glorious Head!
The Gold is a symbol for the divine nature. On His head are many crowns. The Priestly crown and the Victor’s crown! This is power to rule, power to dispense judgment and justice and power to overcome. His head speaks of his purposes refined. The locks are a token of his headship (1 Cor. 11: 1-15). He is a constant fountain of energy and virtue. Jesus is the lamb with seven eyes (fullness of understanding), which are the seven spirits of God which are sent forth into all the earth. His Holy Ghost-anointed vision sees all things, and yet His eye is single ever glistening with love. The Bride is a company of sons who will wear the coat of Joseph, for the man whose name is the Branch is a full brother. We must arise today with the single eye of Matthew 6: 22-24; only then will we become men and women of perception and understanding.
His was a ministry without prejudice. From his heart flowed the kindest words that men have ever hear (Jn. 8: 11-12). So, the Shulamite had learned that a soft answer turns away wrath. She has come out of the old order and all its rigid legalism. Now she can minister to all men and do it with joy. Like Jesus, we do not need to turn the other cheek, for there is no spirit of revenge or retaliation in us. She has learned how to pray and praise in the Spirit and has built herself up in the power of the Holy Ghost. We are not to be touchy, especially about what we believe, for we know in whom we have believed! We are able to help all men, whether they be unsaved and without the camp, or just newly born within the confines of the Outer Court. We have exchanged our stony hearts for hearts of flesh that the Father can shape at His pleasure.
Song 6:1: Where has your Beloved gone, O you fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? That we may seek him with thee? (The Daughters of Jerusalem are speaking to her.)
The Shulamite then remembers. He said that he was going down into His garden. He must be in His garden! I now know where His garden is! I am His Garden! He is within me! I am His garden and My Beloved lives within!
TO BE CONTINUED.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX.
Scripture quotes from King James Bible unless otherwise noted.’
Story line and text is gleaned from Principles of Present Truth by: K.V. and Solomon’s Secrets by C. R. Oliver as noted.