2025-01-16A
THE GROOM IN HIS ROLE AS KING
The Bride of Christ must get to know Him not only as a lover, but also as the King of his mighty kingdom. This will increase her respect for Him and her trust in Him to provide for all her needs. These two building blocks are essential for every healthy relationship. (Also for a child-parent and employee-employer relationship). In this pericope the Bridegroom acts proactively to reveal himself in this capacity to his Bride.
THE BRIDE: 6 Who is this that comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
She looks out over the desert and sees a procession approaching but cannot make out who the group or the main figure is. She sees smoke, but not a cloud of smoke floating away. These are pillars of smoke which retain their shape and (as if from incense bowls) rise straight up, high into the sky. As the procession approaches, she smells the most delicious scents from afar: myrrh, frankincense, yes, all kinds of spices. But is this not the familiar aroma surrounding her Beloved? Moments later she recognizes the central Figure. Truly it is He, her beloved, King Solomon!
Did Solomon really undertake such excursions into the desert? Apparently so, otherwise he would not have described it in his Song. Perhaps, as a beloved king, he visited settlements of his citizens at oases to inquire about their well-being, to learn of their needs, and to assure them that they could trust him as king to protect them from their enemies. He wanted all citizens of his realm to live peacefully in the knowledge that he truly cared for them. This required personal sacrifice, for the text indicates that he sometimes had to travel at night.
Secondly, it is interesting how he announced his arrival: not by suddenly appearing over the last dune with a loud trumpet blast. That would have frightened them greatly, suspecting it to be an enemy attack. No, he sent incense signals in columns into the air.
Smoke signals, visible over long distances, were the normal and effective means of communication at a time when cell phone towers and satellite connections did not yet exist. The people he was heading to would have been able to see them from afar. No enemy would have betrayed his approach like that. His arrival was in peace. As he approached, they would sense and breathe in the delicious scent of myrrh, frankincense, and some of the most expensive spices in the world. Only one king on earth could afford this and have the heart to spend it so generously on his citizens: Solomon, their beloved leader and provider; the most powerful, wisest, most glorious king on earth, but also a humble and meek man; a man of peace like the King of Salem with whom Abraham had been friends (Heb 7:2).
He is also called:
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace—of the increase of the government and of peace without end, (Isa 9:5,6).
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and riding on a donkey—on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9:9).
He is no weakling, He is a conqueror; a prince, yes, but a prince of peace, not a violent man to flee from. He is humble and meek. He conquers hearts, not with thunderous force, but draws man to Himself with cords of love (Hos 11:4). He is surrounded by the soothing scents of humility and meekness. He makes you feel at home and safe. Like John, you can rest your head on His breast (John 13:23). He conquers His enemy with the sword, but He wins His Bride’s love by the scent of His perfume, that is His love and tenderness towards her.
THE BRIDE: 3:7 Behold, this is Solomon’s litter, with sixty mighty men around it, the mighty men of Israel, 8 all of them armed with swords, trained for battle, each with his sword at his side, because of the terror by night.
Kings and commanders rode in chariots or carriages equipped with wheels and drawn by horses, but Solomon had to travel through sandy deserts and along winding footpaths on mountain slopes to reach his people. For this, a finely designed type of litter, equipped with a long pole on each side resting on the powerful shoulders of selected bearers, was much more efficient. With this “vehicle” he could venture into basically any terrain. While the wheels of Pharaoh’s chariots got stuck in the muddy bed of the Red Sea, such a “sixteen-track” vehicle would have been able to speed through it with ease and climb nimbly up the steep slope on the other side.
Even today, the Heavenly Lover travels over mountains and through valleys on the shoulders of his devoted bearers to carry the Good News of Salvation to the furthest corners of deserts where man has wandered:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isa 52:7 ).
Are you also such a carrier? Do you bear your Heavenly Crown Prince on your shoulders and do you introduce Him to those who live far beyond the “Mountains of Separation” (2:17). Do you lift Him up high before the nations? (Mat 28:19). It is He who gives you those bulging muscles of faith to be able to do this glorious work for Him; for Him who carried the heavy wooden cross on His bloodstained shoulders for you.
These bearers are like the twelve apostles and the prophet Isaiah: they leave their homes in response to the call of their King:
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Then I answered, “Here I am, send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
They sacrifice everything for His sake and do not consider their lives precious. They brave the thirst and the scorching sun. As their King did when He set the example for them during His earthly visit, they sometimes sleep at night in the open field, without a stone to lay their heads on.
Carrying Him on the shoulders, is of course also a symbol of praise and worship.
But let us also look at the sixty warriors who protect the King and his bearers. The Crown Prince now sits at the right hand of the Father where He no longer needs protection, but here on earth His Name must be protected. It is here where His enemy slanders Him. It is here where a fierce battle rages for his honour for, if His Name is derided, a Bride will not be won for Him from the wilderness of the peoples of the earth. That is why He is accompanied by His 60 heroes, trained in spiritual warfare. What is said of the bearers is also true of His warriors. They are not mercenaries, no, each of them is willing to fight for Him till death.
… they did not love their lives even unto death. (Rev 12:11).
Their swords are the sharp Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph 6:17). They sharpen it constantly by studying every text of it. They examine the cutting edge carefully to see if there is not any damage to the cutting edge, a burr in their knowledge or understanding of it. Their commission is to conquer evil with it as their King did when He utterly defeated the devil in three successive battles in the wilderness. Their swords penetrate every defense and separate truth from falsehood and cause the spirits that sneak up in nocturnal darkness to snatch the soul of man, to flee in confusion.
For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb 4:12).
These warriors are sixty in number, i.e. 6 x 10. The number 6 symbolizes man (who was created on the 6th day) and 10 means “representative of”. The 10 commandments are, for example, representative of all the multitude of other commandments, also the revelations of God’s will found in the New Testament. The 60 warriors are therefore the Lord’s human warriors throughout the ages, including you and me. We too must play our part to defend his Name, the Name above all names.
Oh, beloved Bride of Christ, you are at the same time his bearer and his warrior! This is why the Bridegroom reveals himself to his Bride in this way. She must understand and experience Him completely and lack nothing.
But let patience have her perfect perfection, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4).
…because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, (Phil 1:29).
THE BRIDE: 9 King Solomon made himself a litter of the wood of Lebanon; 10 the pillars thereof he made of silver, the bolster of gold, the seat of purple, the inside of which was beautifully decorated—a gift of love from the daughters of Jerusalem.
We have already spoken of the excellence of the palanquin as a means of transportation. Let us now examine it more closely. First, we must note that it was Solomon, the King,’s idea, not that of his subordinates. So too was the tabernacle, the Lord’s earthly dwelling place in the midst of his people, and all that was therein, God’s plan (Ex 25:9). The palanquin, on the shoulders of its bearers and surrounded by its warriors, places the King in the midst of his people. So also did the tabernacle occupy the central place within the camp of Israel; the twelve tribes encamped around it (Num 2:1-34).
What is also very important to note is that, although the King was in the midst of, and close to, his people, they were not supposed to touch him. He enjoyed a royal privacy. We can also compare this to the Most Holy compartment of the tabernacle where the ark of God was kept and where He dwelt by His Spirit. Only the High Priest had access to it and that only once a year.
We also think of King David who, contrary to God’s instructions, transported the ark on a cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah stretched out his hand to prevent it from falling. Immediately God punished him with death for having profaned it (2 Sam 6:6,7). This teaches us that, although the Almighty came to dwell among us in the form of a man and is our Father and Bridegroom with whom we can commune in glorious intimate surrender, He is also the most holy, only God and that we must always serve and love Him with respect and within the boundaries He has set for us.
When we look at the quality of the materials used, we see that it was only the best: wood from the Lebanon: straight, strong and possibly polished and therefore striking to the bearer as well as the onlooker. The pillars were of silver, just like the pillars of the tabernacle. The rest of the construction was of gold, also a precious metal, desirable and durable, resistant to the elements. The interior of the seating compartment or cabin was decorated by the hands of artists. And then there was the seat of purple, the royal color – a gift from the daughters of the city of God, Jerusalem. It was special in that it was a love offering such as only a woman can give.
This, then, is the revelation of himself the Bridegroom gave to his Bride on this day. This was the first time He appeared to her as king. What was her reaction?
THE BRIDE: 3:11a Come out, daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with joy, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding and on the day when his heart rejoiced.
She is thrilled and realizes her privileged position to be able to see Him exalted like this. Then she thinks of her fellow Brides that are so busy with household chores in their homes here in Jerusalem that they are unaware of the demonstration of royal glory that is taking place outside the walls of the city. So she returns like the woman at the well of Samaria, to tell her people of the exhilirating experience she enjoyed.
The woman then left her waterpot and went into the city and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They went out of the city and came to him (John 4:28-30).
Let you and I, when we have found the Beloved of heaven as a Bridegroom, do the same. Leave your water pitcher, your most precious earthly possessions, at the well, run to your loved ones and invite them to come and share in what you found, that is, to meet your Beloved in person.
THE BRIDE: 3:11b Come… behold… the wreath with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day and on the day that his heart was glad.
What could this mean? We pointed out earlier that the marriage between this Bridegroom and Bride had not yet taken place; that they were only engaged. What marriage then, is being spoken of here? We might see it as a prophetic vision of His incarnation; when He would be born on earth and become one with man. This is compared to the unification brought about by an earthly marriage.
The mother mentioned here can therefore only be the Holy Spirit and the wreath with which She crowned him, was the wreath of his humanity. Yes, it was a joyful day because in this way He could come closer to us, come to live among us, talk to us, share our joys and pains, and finally bear our guilt on the cross so that we too could become his spiritual Bride. His birth day was a great step towards his ultimate goal, namely to win his Bride back to himself. His incarnation was a wreath of joy to him.
(Finally, also note that the devil could not imitate Him in this by becoming one with man.)
~~~~~~~~~~