2025-01-12A
THE BRIDE AND HER SELF-IMAGE.
2:1 – 2-3
THE BRIDE: 1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys .
She enjoys the company of her Bridegroom, but the disturber of peace hates it and whispers a thought of doubt in her heart: “You enjoy it so much now when He tells you that you are His daffodil and His lily, but have you counted how many roses there are in Sharon and how many lilies in all the valleys and He says exactly the same thing to each one of them. Don’t think you are so special, you are just one of His many brides. Don’t believe him. You might as well do the same and look at all the other lovers around you.”
THE GROOM:
(He is omniscient, hears the cunning words of his rival, contending for the hand of his Bride and answers as follows):
2:2 As the lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters. .
His Bride is as special to Him as if all of Sharon and all the valleys were strewn with thorns, and she was the only rose, the only lily that bloomed there. What an answer!
Herein lies the greatness of God: He who plays with the giant heavenly bodies like a boy with his marbles, can isolate himself in one body and wrestle with his son Jacob physically, man to man, all night long, to break the old deceitful nature in him and declare him a prince by dawn (Gen 32:24). He is not only the God of humanity, but just as much the God, the Saviour of the individual. He died for you by name. Your name is written in the palms of his hands. Be at ease; see Him as your personal Bridegroom.
THE BRIDE:
The cobwebs of doubt have been swept from her mind; she can think clearly again and this is what she thinks:
7:3 As the apple among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.
Just as special as I am to Him, He is to me. He catches my eye, is exceptionally attractive and desirable like an apple tree growing amongst the other trees of the field. Shade trees, provide relief of the heat of the sun, but do not still the hunger for food or the desire for someting tasty. That is how everything is which the world has to offer. It provides in the needs of the body and to an extent in that of my soul, my emotional needs, but leaves my spirit, my heart empty. He alone refreshes my inner being with the sweet apples of His love, encouragement, comfort, peace, hope, and vision for the future. He is my Apple Tree; why should I wander around looking for another tree when I have already found the very best One? (The Pearl of Great Price; the Hidden Treasure in the Field.)
IN THE WINE HOUSE
2:4 – 2:7
THE BRIDE (At a later time): 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love. 5 Feed me with raisin cakes, comfort me with apples, for I am sick with love. 6 His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me. 7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up or awake my Love until He please.
Erotic moments. The wine house is the place where the worldling goes after a hard day’s work to intoxicate himself and, for a while, escape the harsh reality of earthly life. This is because he does not know the true wine house and has no access to it. But the Bridegroom wants to take his Bride out (entertain her) for the evening and bring her into the wine house of the Father, the key to which we lost in Paradise with the fall.
Inside, a giant banner is stretched (suspended) over the entire hall. The wording on a banner, as we know, usually is a motto or summary to propagate a cause, for instance “Save Water!”. On this Wine House banner, something like the following is painted in ornamental script:
… I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3).
Everyone entering the wine house, reads it, is engulfed in this eternal love of God and forgets for a while, the turbulent world outside. The Bride is so overwhelmed that she seeks strengthening of her physical body. She desires the Groom to embrace her protectively.
Man is fragile and cannot endure the immense flow of God’s love for too long. It is like an immense electric current flowing through a thin copper wire. A great man of God, when the Lord baptized him with the Holy Spirit, experienced it as waves of grace that washed over him. Later it made him cry out that He lift His hand from him because he could no longer bear it. Once we enter the next life and have received our glorified bodies, we will be able to live continually, day by day, in the wine house of His love.
THE BRIDE (continued): I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, do not stir up or awake my Love until He please.
The Lord created the Oryx, deer and many other species of the wild for the two sexes to be attracted to each other only at certain times (during their mating season). The male species seeks and finds a female, mates with her and they multiply. This usually happens in the spring when green grass sprouts and the new born small will have food to eat. The Bride points her fellow Brides to this God-given principle and holds them bound to it.
It works like this: the Heavenly Bridegroom, takes the initiative to spiritually approach his Bride. She then responds to his love. He is the initiater of their love affair. Should we, as Bride, then not long for and seek an intimate relationship with Him ourselves? No, that is not what we say; we must also, from our side, reach out to Him, but, it is He who takes the initiative to take me, his Bride, by the arm and lead me into His wine house. He is the Source of love and also the One who awakens the love for Him in me. He determines the right time for everything in our relationship. He teaches us this in nature by the conduct of the Oryx and the deer (Stag).
THE BRIDE IS REDEEMED FROM SEPARATION.
2:8 – 2:17
When the Lord created heaven and earth, He divided the day into two sections, light and dark, time to work and time to rest. The days, He then devided into four seasons which He grouped in pairs: growing time and resting time. This is how it is to this day: spring, summer, autumn and winter. During the months of rest, it seems as if the Lord is absent from nature, but this is not so. Even during that period, He continues managing plant life behind the scenes. The animal kingdom also continues its daily routines during autum and winter, except for a smaller group such as the tortoises and bears that hibernate. Man, however, affords himself no rest; even in the coldest regions on earth he finds ways of keeping busy during freezing times.
Do these rest periods also apply in the spiritual realm? Perhaps we may be justified in drawing this parallel. Let us then take a closer look at how the Lord God ordered his own time. He spread his period of creation of the universe over a period of six days. Each day had its period of light during which He created and its period of darkness during which He rested. Then He also set aside a special day of rest for Himself; the seventh day. Is this not an indication that there is a wave in the flow of activity. Does that mean that at times He is not available to us? Not at all; we can contact Him every second of our lives on His heavenly cell phone. He is everywhere and uninterruptedly at our disposal, but … .
The intensity, the experience of his presence varies at his discretion. Sometimes it is as if He is at a great distance and our prayers seem to be bouncing back from the ceiling. At such moments we must recall his words, ponder his promises and and persevere in faith:
… I will never leave you nor forsake you ( Heb 13:5).
And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world . Amen. ( Matt. 28:20).
Such periods of his apparent absence are necessary for the Bride; they are built into their relationship to develop her faith muscles by exercise. The danger, of course, exists that she may fall, like Adam and Eve in Paradise, when the Bridegroom left them alone at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet, the Word also contains many stories of memorable Bridal victories such as that of Daniel who, after a lonely night in the lions’ den, was pulled up, alive, unscathed and victorious.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Jas 1:12.
There we have the answer: No test, no crown!
Let us now apply this principle to the Bride of our story. Her Bridegroom had gone somewhere and she had to remain behind alone in her earthly mother’s home for a while. She missed the warmth of his presence. Her summer turned into winter: cold, snow, no more apples or grapes or even wildflowers. She withdrew within the walls of her home and the wall that surrounded it and she mourned. Later on she did not even look outside anymore. She did not notice that the constant veils of rain had stopped and the flowers were already sprouting. Nor did she hear the turtledove cooing its love song. … Then, one morning, she heard a familiar call, as if from afar. She frowned and looked outside through the dim window pane and … but let her tell it herself:
THE BRIDE: 2:8 The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills. 9 My Beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, He stands behind our wall, He looks forth at the windows, peering from the lattice.
For a short time the Bridegroom had left her to test her love for Him (Isaiah 54:7). But now He hastens back excitedly to welcome her into His arms and see if she missed Him. He is leaping from mountain top to mountain top and skipping over the hills of despair that surround her. He is bursting with energy, cheerful and expectant. He moves not like the little “klipspringer” (“rock jumper”) or “steenbok” (ibex), but like the supple, muscular Oryx or Stag. No obstacle stops Him. Then, suddenly, there he is, at her home. Her heart beats wildly within her.
But – she doesn’t rush to the gate to open it for Him. She is suddenly unsure of how He feels towards her after all this time. Her hair is uncombed, her cheeks tear-stained. Not knowing what to do next, she sits down on a ledge next to the door. After waiting for her at the gateway for a while, He turns away, hurt, but doesn’t give up. He walks around the wall, peering through the bars. Finally he spots her; there she is, as beautiful as ever. She is aware that his eyes are on her, but doesn’t look up. Then He begins to speak to her.
THE BRIDE (continued): 2:10 My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away. 11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself. 12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; 13 the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away. 14 O My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful.
He is grateful that there is no other lover with her and does not reproach her for her somewhat unkempt appearance. He still calls her his beautiful lady friend and tells her how he longs to hear her voice again!
Then He begins to lure her out of her self-imposed hermit existence, her depression, into His world outside where a new season of joyful life has dawned. He names seven great changes (the number of completeness, perfection) that have come to pass. Firstly, the cold and rain from which she fled indoors are over. All over blossoms and other evidence of new life is showing. Figs are swelling and will soon be ripe and sweet on the tongue. The tintilating fresh air is rich in delicious scents, including those of the blossoming grape vine. The world has awakened from its winter sleep and is singing with joy. With its soft, urgent, coo-coo the turtledove calls to the fearful and the timid to crawl out of their shelters and come enjoy the newly arrived spring.
Glory to God in the highest heavens, and on earth peace, good will toward men! Luke 2:14.
Then a miracle happens: a smile of relief spreads across her flushed cheeks, she jumps up, sweeps her hair backwards, walks purposefully to the entrance, releases the latch, pushes open the gates and falls into his arms. The blockage in their relationship channel is removed and their mutual love flows freely again.
He wants to know why she had been doubting Him. She wonders too; it seems so unreal now. They walk down to her (no, their) vineyard. Hand in hand they stroll between the rows. Then He bends down and shows her the tracks of little fruit-eater foxes. They must have crawled in underneath the wall unnoticed and nibbled the bunches of budding grapes from below. The plants still look good on the top, but down below they are bare and withered. Mercifully it was not the big foxes, the sheep-catchers like infidelity that had entered in. They would have torn apart her spiritual life. Yet, what damage these small, seemingly harmless fruit eaters have caused to their relationship. She is outraged and together they decide on how to prevent this from recurring.
THE GROOM AND BRIDE TOGETHER: 15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that destroy the vineyards; for our vines have tender grapes.
But what do these sneaky foxes look like? She consults her Handbook and identifies three types:
2Cor 10:5 while we… take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
The first fox is her wandering thoughts. In her daily walk she did not keep her mind focused on Him and His Kingdom. She was careless and allowed her mind to wander and dwell on all sorts of insignificant worldly things. This consumed the fruit that the Spirit had sprouted in her. She continues reading:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable —if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise—think about these things. (Phil 4:8)
It hurts, but she learns. She should have filled her mind with the good, then the sly foxes would have fled. She scrolled further and stopped at a text she had highlighted:
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night … (Joshua 1:8).
Her eyes open more: she had not seriously read the volume of books that deal with her Bridegroom’s thoughts, words and deeds and that contain his promises to her. Daily life had brought so many things she needed to pay attention to. She had thought about these constantly, agonized over finding solutions. It had left her exhausted; unmotivated to search for the deeper truths of the Spirit.
As she paged through Scripture, a third text caught her attention:
And in those days he went out into the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12).
Yes, her prayer life had become increasingly weak. She no longer wrote Him love letters, praising and worshipping Him for who He was; only short text messages complaining about her problems with attachments of lists of goods she wanted Him to send her. Eventually, because she didn’t receive clear answers to them promptly, she felt that there was no point in even continuing to pray regularly.
That is what happened. Gradually his image had faded; the words He had spoken to her became dull and unreal. She began doubting whether He really loved her as much as He said. She questioned his motives. Why did He disappear into heaven like Moses when he went up the mountain and left the people below. She isolated herself more and more in her mother’s house, the earthly home in which she had grown up. All these were the little foxes that she now noticed and against which she would have to guard in future. But that was all over.
THE BRIDE: 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his who feeds among the lilies.
The relationship is restored and the Bride joyfully exclaims: “He is mine again and I am his!” She sees herself again as his beautiful lily and Him as her Guardian like a shepherd watching over his flock.
THE GROOM: 17 Until the evening wind blows and the shadows flee, come, my beloved, be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the mountains of separation.
The groom is just as satisfied. His Bride passed the test and learned a valuable lesson. This will lift their future relationship to a higher level. But let them now hurry to seek out each other because in the evening the wind will blow again and the shadows merge to bring another night, another period of temporary separation.
This is how it was ordered by the Father and this is good: grow, consolidate; grow, consolidate. But for now, during this new season, they are going to enjoy each other; seek out each other and be together like the Oryx and Reindeer on the mountains. Their love is just as powerful and flexible. Nothing can stand in its way.
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