The Song of Songs
The day is drawing near when a remnant of Israel, strengthened by Jewish faith, buoyed by Jewish hopes, and trusting in Jewish promises will make its appearance as a distinct company in Israel. Perhaps that day is dawning and mingling its faint light, like an arctic spring morn, with the dying rays of Christendom's cold evening light. This present day of grace in which the Church is being called by a heavenly testimony for heavenly blessings is fast drawing to a close. Even at this late hour there is no limit to what God may do in grace to lengthen the day with the light of heavenly truth for the saving of men. There is strong evidence that the day of grace has almost run its course, so far as it has been the responsibility of Christians to preach the grace of God to sinners, and for Christian believers to make use of the gifts and the power that are available to them through the presence and by the power of an ungrieved Spirit.
Scripture clearly states that, before the day arrives when the Lord will appear to deliver Israel from overpowering enemies and out of fearful chastening judgment, the faith and hope of Israel will be strong in a remnant of Jews, a fragment of the nation. It is rightly called a remnant company, because it is a true portion of the original people. Those who compose it are true Jews, and not merely a people other than Jews who have embraced in part the faith and hope of Israel; they are of the nation of Israel, and rightly connect their national hopes with the promises of Jehovah given to the fathers long ago. These hopes are grounded upon the expectation of the King-Messiah, who will come in power and glory to establish His kingdom on earth, and Jerusalem will be the centre of His earthly glory. (See Isaiah 1:9; 4: 2-6; 8: 18; 10: 21, 22, 25; 24:13, 14; 53; the Psalms etc.)
All the promises to Israel will be fulfilled by the coming Messiah, and by Him alone. But the Jews have yet to discover that the Christ whom they rejected, and who at the present moment brings the hope of glory to the Gentiles through faith in Him, is also the Messiah of their earthly hopes. The nation, or what is left of it after the judgments (Jer. xxx. 7), will not be fully seized of this and will not be filled with repentance until they see Him. Before that day a portion of those who return to the land will be found with the true faith of Israel in their hearts, and the Psalms clearly distinguish these from the mass of unbelieving Jewry. The godly will learn in their trials that the rejected One anticipated them in their affliction, and they will come to understand that He who spoke by His Spirit in the Psalmist was their Saviour. Not only did He enter into all their sufferings, but the work that He did on the cross of Calvary was for their salvation, His blood was shed for their atonement. The hope of His return will sustain them while they suffer the chastening trials of the nation. Contrition of heart and strength of hope will be found in the hearts of these few, and the rest of the people will remain in unbelief. The great body of the Jews will look to the united nations of Western Europe for help, so that they may retain their hold on Palestine against the aggression of the northern and eastern peoples, who will combine to drive Israel out of the land. There will be no thought in the hearts of the majority of the Jews that Jehovah God is the only Saviour of Israel. The ungodly will follow their godless leader when he comes forward posing-as the promised one who is to lead Israel into national greatness.
God, who cannot go back from His promises but will fulfil them all, owns the nation in the remnant. When they enter into the power of the sacrifice of Calvary, and look upon Him who whom they pierced, and mourn for Him, it will be a day of affliction for their souls. Those who do not repent and mourn will be cut off with the ungodly of the earth. If they refuse the sacrifice they will have no part in the blessing which is founded on its efficacy.
There is already in many Jews a decided change of heart. The old opposition to Christ is giving way and this is a sure sign of the times. Many Jews instead of looking upon their dispersion merely as the result of past imperial conquest, and a violent anti-Semitism aroused by jealousy, see in their scattering and universal persecution, evidence of Divine disfavour which should be a matter of shame to them. This is the beginning of a spirit of repentance in Israel, and should be a warning sign to the so-called Christian nations. It is the shadow of coming events, and a forerunner of a complete change in world government.
Although the whore nation sinned and passed under the sentence of judgment and has suffered dispersion, Judah stands guilty of the rejection and death of the Son born to them. They have failed as a responsible people under the first covenant, which stated that they would retain the land as long as they were obedient to the law of Jehovah. They also refused the One who came to fulfil all the promises, that is, if they would, have Him in lowly grace. Yet God has not forgotten the unconditional promise He made to Abraham; but He must now fulfil it, not merely in the ordinary course of events, but in mercy and in judgment, for Israel, as a responsible people, have forfeited all right to the promises.
God called one man out from a world ruined by idolatry. Instead of destroying the world for its idolatry, God called out Abraham and gave him a promise, and in believing God Abraham found the way of blessing. He entered into the blessing by faith, and it gave him knowledge of God that was the strength of his way for his pilgrim path. He sojourned up and down in a land which God gave to him in promise, but of which he possessed nothing; for the time he was content to buy a field in which to bury his dead, holding firmly the hope of resurrection. God, to him, was the God of resurrection. In figure, Isaac was the proof of God's purpose to fulfil the promise in the risen Son. The promises were confirmed to Isaac after he had been offered up in sacrifice and raised again, for that is the meaning of the figure.
Since the world began there always has been the idea of a remnant, the few who walked by faith as distinguished from the majority living in unbelief: The world grew up as a system away from God, and God, to preserve a testimony to His name, wrought by grace in the hearts of some few who had this distinction amongst men, they called upon the name of the LORD and were guided by His word. In the approaching day when the world will be given up to the unrestrained will of man, there will be a company of such people amongst the Jews. They will be distinct from their brethren because of their belief and expectation of the near return of the King-Messiah in the power of Jehovah. They hope for His coming, to judge the world in righteousness, to cleanse away all unrighteousness from His people, and to set up His kingdom in peace. At the moment, those who understand the true calling and relationship of the Church bear this character. The Church began as a remnant, and in its true testimony to Christ amongst the faithful, it has always borne a pilgrim and stranger character. Though outwardly what is recognized by the world as the Church has grown into a vast pretentious and worldly system, there are still those who, through grace, walk in the faith of the gospel and are pilgrims and strangers in the world.
The remnant will bear the affliction of Israel on their hearts, and they will feel that the chastening of God is just; it will bring from their hearts a cry of great distress. All that comes upon the nation which was once so favoured of God will be felt by the remnant as their own affliction, and recognizing His hand in their chastening they will cry to Him for deliverance. The blessing of Jehovah rested on His people, but when they turned away from Him He had to put them away for their sins, and could no longer own any public relation with them. The remnant will acknowledge that Israel has been stricken for refusing grace when it was offered to them, and they will cry as those who fear the worst because they can expect nothing but judgment, for death has come between them and Jehovah ; they killed the Son and Heir. Now they will have to find deliverance through the mercy of God, and in the strength of the One who rose from among the dead victorious over the power of death. He died for the nation that He might deliver them out of the place of death; but Israel has not yet awakened to this, the remnant will through grace discover it.
Israel did not remain in the place of privilege into which God had brought them, and they are not now in a condition to meet Jehovah in His glory coming in the Person of the Messiah. When Christ came in lowliness and meekness He took His place amongst the godly remnant of the day. He led them out of the dead ritual of Judaism which no longer glorified God, and which cannot glorify Him. God has wholly disregarded the ritual of Judaism as a means of bringing man to God. It failed to keep man for God, and through man's weak-ness it broke down as a means to maintain any sense of relationship with God, and He had to put an end to the whole system and throw down His altar. Whatever patience God extends to man, however providentially He may preserve Israel, the way of present known blessing in communion with God is through the Son, by the Spirit. Righteousness, peace and joy are not the result of mere consistency in the observance of religious forms, but are now known through redemption and enjoyed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the Psalms and in the books of the prophets we hear the Spirit of Christ speaking in sympathy with the suffering godly remnant, putting into their mouth words suited to the day of trial. These expressions of feeling and hope perfectly express the sentiments of the suffering faithful of that day, who look for Jehovah's intervention to deliver them out of their afflictions. There is hopelessness in the cry when the sins of the past rise up in consciences quickened by the thought of judgment. But the cry goes up to God, for it is to Him they cry. They see no way of deliverance, but they hope in the mercy of God. The call for help in the Psalms and Prophets brings God near, that is prophetically in the call, and it makes the sufferers ever more aware of their own failure and the need of mercy. Even in the worst state of despair the godly remnant, which feels the guiltiness of Israel as its own, expresses faith in God, whom faith knows cannot change in nature. He is merciful, and faith counts on Him for such mercy that brings hope to the hopeless who cast themselves on Him. The Psalms give the feelings and exercises of a soul on its way to God. Thoughts of His presence trouble the soul, yet through grace the soul hopes in mercy. Because of mercy the soul can hope in Him that is true, for mercy leads to the truth, it brings the soul by the truth to God Himself.
Today the Jews are showing evidences of the two divisions into which the books of the prophets and the Psalms divide them. The Jew, who only has political aspirations and seeks to base the future stability of the nation on political arrangements with the great nations of the world, will seek in vain for peace and security. But there are Jews who understand that without God nothing lasting can be accomplished. They are reading the signs of the times but only half aright. The present return of the Jews to Palestine lays the foundation for the final trial of the nation. Having refused the blessing, and seeking to find it in human resources, they must learn the folly and weakness of their human schemes. But there are those who begin to see that the present suffering has a definite connection with the rejection of Him who came in grace to fulfil every word of the prophets. They have not yet in their hearts the peace of God that comes with the knowledge of forgiveness of sins, nor the joy of His presence amongst them.
The division amongst the Jews also has its parallel amongst Christians. There is a separating process at work in Christian circles. On the one hand there is a more earnest looking for the coming of the Lord to take His own out of the world before the coming judgments, and on the other hand many who merely make a profession of Christianity are slipping into a deadening formalism or Judaised-Christianity. Judaism was right in its place when given by God and it served its purpose for the time, now it can do nothing for man. Christ is the only hope for Jew or Gentile. Judaism was a religion for man in the flesh, it never proposed to man that he should hope for future glory in heaven, or know blessing in union with a Man in heaven. Judaism was not a heavenly call to take men out of the world. It bound ordinances upon men and sentenced to death those guilty of disobedience. Even as a means of bringing man into the kingdom of blessing on earth it failed through man's instability. The preaching of Christ to the Gentiles brings to them the hope of glory with Him in heaven, and the believer who has a world-rejected Christ for His hope, will share with Him the heavenly glory of the kingdom to come. Christian believers now have their blessed place outside all worldly religiousness. Because Christ their Head has suffered here as a sacrifice for sin, and has now gone into the heavens, believers have their place in the presence of God in the heavens. The believer's acceptance in Christ puts him completely outside every form of earthly religion, from which man in the flesh might expect some hope of finding a way into the presence of God, or of being accepted before Him. At the close of this dispensation, Israel, or rather the godly remnant who enter into the hopes of Israel and suffer the afflictions of the nation, must come to recognize themselves outside all hope through religious ordinances, so that they may be saved and be brought in again through grace, and as the consequence of the perfect sacrifice made for the nation. The godly remnant alone will enter into the power of the sacrifice.
Israel will be brought to the brink of the grave in the days of trial. The prophets speak of Israel as sleeping in the dust of the earth, dead among the nations. Only the One who has overcome the power of death can deliver Israel and bring-them new life, the real life of Jehovah's favour, the God of their salvation. Then only will Jerusalem be the joy of the whole earth.
Besides the personal complaints and cries of woe mingled with expressions of hope that break through the clouds of depression and fear, so often found in the Psalms, there is great encouragement for faith in the knowledge that it is God Himself who afflicts, for with Him there is mercy. God will sustain the hearts of those who put their trust in Him even when they are so under the sense of their discipline that they cannot plead a known relationship where there is faith, however feeble, and the soul waits on God, there is the understanding that He must glorify His own name in mercy and in truth. Where there is an expectation of the coming King, the affections of the people are awakened when His name is mentioned. As they are led on to think of Him they more and more desire His coming, they desire to have Him for Himself. Israel has thoughts and affections peculiar to the nation. These affections may be slumbering, but no nation has known God as Israel knew Him. No other nation can express its love for the coming King as Israel will in the day of awakening.
In the Psalms there are few expressions of the kind of love which intimacy with the Lord produces as an answer to the revelation of His own love. But in the Song of Solomon we hear the outpouring of a heart that knows it is loved, and in the strength of its desire seeks to know a closer relationship with the One who so tenderly presses His own love upon it. Here in the Song it is the love of the Messiah for Israel, though only the faithful, whose hearts grace has reached, respond.
As the King draws near, not only are slumbering affections aroused in the heart of the loved one-Jerusalem-and in her daughters, the faithful remnant of Israel, but they are deepened by the expression of the King-Messiah's own love in a character Israel never before entered into. Jehovah married Israel long-ago, He loved Jerusalem, but she never knew the relationship that should have given character to her love. Now He speaks openly of His love so that her heart might be prepared to meet Him, and return to Him the affections alone suited to the union into which He will bring-her. New feelings are awakened by His approach. Thoughts of His presence make her conscious of her shortcomings, and quicken her desire to please and to hold the love of the Beloved. The fact that He sees no spot in her (4: 7) makes her the more sensitive to her own failings and aware of her slowness in answering to His love. Yet she desires Him to find His delight in her, nothing else can please her heart.
When the rebukes of the prophets are brought to bear on the conscience of the remnant they will call to mind the past indifference of Israel, but under the tender and delicate reproach of love that expects a response as fervent and rich as it gives, indifference is banished and love is quickened in the heart of the loved one. The love that Jehovah bears to Jerusalem will find fertile ground in the heart of the remnant of Jews who wait for the King, but it will need His skilful touch to prepare the heart of Israel for His presence. He will not be content to be a righteous ruler amongst them, He must have their love, for all His ways have been full of love to Israel in spite of the hatred of the unrighteous.
Israel has been for a long time away from Jehovah, they do not know Him to speak with Him. The sound of His voice troubles them. His words that have come through His messengers confuse their thoughts. Today the Jews are busy weaving a pattern of life and government. In heart they are still at a great distance from the LORD. Those who give God a place in their thoughts hope that Divine favour will advance them in their efforts to regain their old peculiar place of national distinction and prominence) that even the heathen peoples respected. Today they interpret a measure of political success amongst a confusion of nations who are themselves plunging into an abyss of political and social chaos, as a sign of Divine favour and a sanction for all they are doing. However far they may advance towards the restoration of Israel's national life through the secret agency of providence, they cannot know life apart from the source of life. That is, life in the knowledge of God, for all who have not the knowledge of God are said to be dead in the works of a fallen nature. That expressions of godly confidence can rise from the hearts of those who have never known God? Or from those who have never referred to Him in their life? If they still refuse the One whom God has made both Lord and Christ, how can they reach His ear? Where grace opens the hearts of the few who look for the deliverance of Israel according to the word of the LORD, they will realize the folly and sin of rejecting the One who spoke as never man spoke, whose testimony was not to glorify Himself but to glorify the Father who sent Him. Every word that came from His mouth, every act that He did glorified God.
The faithful remnant of Israel, who by their faith in the coming of the Messiah will be brought into prominence at the close of this period, must not be confounded with the Church. The remnant of Israel trust in Jewish promises, and hope for an earthly deliverance from their enemies when their Messiah appears. Such a hope is not the expectation of the Church who knows Christ as her Head on high. Reft1J5ed on earth He ascended on high, and God has made Him head over all things to the Church which is His mystic body. This is not the relationship of the King-Messiah to an earthly people, He is not king of the Church. He ·will deliver Israel and come and join Himself in avowed open relationship to a people with national hopes. The Church now knows Him in spiritual union which is real and eternal and cannot be severed, but the world does not understand anything of it. In the world the Church may at times look forsaken, a widow in her desolation, but she knows the love for her that fills the heart of her Beloved; Israel only desires to know the love of the Messiah and cannot realize it until He comes to them.
Jehovah brought Israel openly to Himself and owned before all people the relationship He formed with the nation, but Israel never entered into the blessedness of the bond, and only proved unfaithful. (See Jeremiah 3:31, 32; Hosea.) The LORD says the day is coming when “I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; Yea I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:19, 20). Again He will draw out Israel's heart after Him, and it is in this sense the terms Bridegroom and bride are used in these comments ·when speaking of the King and the spouse, the Beloved and the loved one.
Israel has some memory of a past love which she never valued, nor has she known its surpassing sweet-ness. She was loved and knew that she was, but did not realize its sanctifying power. (See Malachi 1:2.) Only by the understanding of Jehovah's love, and through the confidence that it brings into the heart, will the godly remnant again take hope and express their delight in contemplating the true Son of David. But until He comes amongst them they can only prophetically enter into the joy of the nuptial day, and this gives the love of the remnant the character of desire. They cannot realize union with Christ until He comes and joins them, but their hearts will go out to Him and they will love the thought of His presence.
The desire of love found in the Song is not the manner of love which characterizes the affections of the Church. She is one with Christ in the closeness of a union of which marriage is but a figure the two shall be one flesh. (See Ephesians 5) This is a great mystery, and can only be known by those who are themselves in the bonds of the union which makes the Church one with Christ in heaven. Because the relationship already exists between Christ and the Church by the uniting and in-dissoluble bonds of the Spirit, the Church can always speak of Christ her Head in terms of settled affection. Tier expressions of love go far beyond mere desire; it is a love that has tasted the satisfaction of heart the reality of which union by the Spirit alone can give. Israel cannot know such nearness as that in which the Church is bound. The wonderful union which will bind Christ and Israel is such that man in the flesh and in his earthly circumstances may understand; He will be a Husband to Israel (Isaiah 44:5; 62:4; Hosea 2:16), and the peace and blessing of the relationship will fill their hearts. But the Church already knows what it is to be redeemed, though not yet the full result for the body which will be changed into a glorified state. She stands in the liberty of a present deliverance of heart and soul as not of the world where the enemy rules, though she is still here. She is one with her heavenly Bridegroom by the Spirit, and enters into communion with Him according to the mind of the Spirit. She learns to call all that He has her own, the Spirit teaches her the language of the relationship, and is the witness to the truth of it, for He has formed it. Israel waits to be saved for the day of blessing, and must learn through the expressions of the love of the King that He desires none but her, she is the only one of her mother, and all that He is, is for her.
The Church in the world never had nor will have Christ down here as Israel had Him and will have Him. When He came to Israel they took the hand stretched out to embrace them and nailed it to a cross. The Church was not in existence, save in the mind of God, until Christ took His place as the glorified Man in heaven the Head of a new creation. Though the Church may not have entered into the depths His love, ye the character of His love is most intimate, and it is brought into her heart by the Spirit who forms the bond and establishes the relationship that binds Christ and the Church as one in living unity. The Church waits to have Christ as fully as she knows Him. She waits to be glorified with Him, but the affections of her heart are even now in character those which respond to a well-known and intimate love. A love which not only pleads the greatest of all sacrifices, He gave Himself but which also brings the loved one into the blessedness of a love beyond all understanding. Though divine that love is in the heart of a Man, who having received His loved one, a gift from the Father, nourishes and cherishes her as Himself.
Not only do Christians know this relationship as set objectively before their hearts for the grasp of faith, but it is the present relationship of Christ and His Assembly. They may have to realize it more fully in the communion and joy of the Holy Spirit, but this is the revelation given to them which they have to realize and enjoy when they are together, and anything short of this blessed communion fails to bring the soul into the enjoyment of the relationship itself. Though the members may not realize their place and portion, they cannot break the relationship any more than they can make it. Failing to enter into the blessings and privileges of the Church, Christians withhold from Christ that which His heart desires more than anything from His Church here, the whole undivided attention and unreserved affection of her heart; it is but the answer to His own love. As the Church understands her place, so will she render a testimony to her Head on high, what she does not know and enjoy, she cannot tell to others.
In the Old Testament there are many pictures of brides, and although the apostle Paul speaks of the Church in such a character in the world, the revelation given to him, and of which he became minister, was of an even more wonderful relationship between Christ and the Church according to the counsels of God. The Church with bridal affection awaits the coming of the Bridegroom to be with Him on high, and in that respect is destined for marriage; but by the Spirit come down the closeness of the union already formed is illustrated by the human body, and marriage is used as a figure of the binding intimacy of the existing relationship. Christians, as a waiting people who are not yet seen in the glory with their Head, should in their collective communion give to the world the clearest testimony of bridal chastity. The revelation of the mystery given to the apostle carries the thoughts beyond human anticipation of marriage, though he uses the figure of a waiting and expectant bride. In Ephesians chapter 5 he speaks of the Church according to the counsels of God and sees it as Christ knows it, and as He will keep it for the day of manifestation. The marriage day for the Church is still to come when the wife will take her place by the side of her Husband, the marriage has yet to be brought about by God, and the Church to be publicly owned as the wedded wife, even the wife of the Lamb. All the redeemed will be united in the resurrection and together they will go into the marriage supper of the Lamb.
When the LORD publicly joins Himself to the nation and acknowledges Israel as the wedded wife on earth, He will rise up in great jealousy and with anger destroy the nations that would oppress and corrupt if possible, the object of His love, the one on earth in whom He delights. Until that time awakened Israel will languish in her longing and grow sick in her desiring. This cannot be the attitude of the Church, though it may describe the feelings of those who do not know the Church's relationship to Christ and who are not in a condition to answer rightly to His love. The Church down here, though often forgetful and unable to rise to the height of the love which is given her has never been cut off for faithlessness. Although the outward state of the Church for which Christians are responsible, may become corrupt and merit the strongest reproof, and the day of its testimony in the world end m the direst 3udgment, nothing can corrupt the work that Christ does in faithfulness and with unfailing care for the true Church, which is the object of His love. He preserves the loved one for whom He gave Himself, and will present her to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. In this respect it is a question of His love for the Church and not of her response.
Christians are responsible to maintain the truth revealed to them and which gives them their place and standing, and it is here we see the work of mere man. Outwardly the day of testimony by man ends in ruin and in judgment. The Lord rejects the testimony of a pretentious light-bearer, who, professing to be clothed with the glory of divine testimony, -is blind to her own nakedness.
The Church which is known to the affections of Christ now shares His rejection and suffers where He suffered. If Christ were now manifesting His power and if the Church were now acknowledged as the wedded wife, who would be allowed to harm her? The Church and Christ have not been seen together, the glory of that manifestation is for heaven and not for earth. The world knows nothing of the relationship, and men can only read it from the chastity of a company that keeps itself wholly for Christ. In ignorance the world may raise its hand against the Church as it did against Christ. When the light of truth shines too strongly upon the activities of men, in anger they may try with violence to extinguish the light. But the Church's cry is never the cry of despair. Her home, for her faith, is above where Christ her Head is sitting, and she awaits the moment of triumph when He will come in person, though unseen by the world, and take her to Himself. Though she may have to endure affliction, she rests in the peace of her relationship; the bond that makes the union real exists already in the power of the Spirit. If the marriage were a present fact Christ would not tolerate the world's scorn, or the presumptuous claims of the false woman who claims the privileges of a wife and has never known a husband, though she has known many lovers. But the Church knows the power of eternal redemption which has taken ·her morally out of the world, and by the Spirit which makes her one with Christ, she may enjoy the love of a known relationship which will not be changed when she reaches the glory to be for ever with her Head and Husband. No present trial can destroy her, nothing can sever her from Christ, nor quench His love for her. The true Church down here keeps herself for the place she knows as hers.
Although Christians may not have enjoyed in communion their most blessed portion, the adversary having been too successful with his distractions, they have not been cut off as Israel has been for these many centuries. Until Christ comes Israel sleeps in blind unbelief. She will be awakened from her slumbers by the voice of the Bridegroom, or more strictly speaking, the remnant will hear the cry, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh”, and it will sow the seed of desire for Him in their hearts. The effect of the thought of His coming is unfolded in the Song of Songs. Assured of His love by the words found there, which will be pressed upon the heart of the awakened bride, and finding in them the expression of the Spirit of the Messiah, she will begin to express her desire for Him, even the King-Messiah. Her love will grow as her heart dwells more and more upon the thought of His approach. Other feelings will be aroused, for it is long since Israel heard His voice and she has experienced many trials.
The Song may be divided into six sections, and the speakers can be clearly separated. The sections are:
- chapter 1 – chapter 2:7;
- chapter 2:8 – chapter 3:5;
- chapter 3:6 – chapter 5:1;
- chapter 5:2 – chapter 6:12
- chapter 6:13 – chapter 7:5;
- chapter 8:5 - end.
Each section has its own distinctive subject and the theme that runs through all develops progressively.
In the Song we can trace the growth of affection in the awakened heart of the bride. As her mind is made to dwell on the approach of the Bridegroom so her desire for His presence grows. (See chapters 2:7 3:5, 8:5) When the bride's affections are first aroused with the thought of His coming, it wells up with the vigour of youthful ardour, and she speaks of the Bridegroom's coming according to the state of her own feelings, He comes leaping upon the mountains. With time and reflection her feelings grow calmer and are sobered by the affliction into which her love brings her, and she sees Him coming up from the wilderness, for without Him the world becomes a wilderness to her. When she at last realizes what she is to Him, and remembers where He found her and out of what He led her, she is prepared to follow where He leads. (Compare with Jeremiah 2.) Thinking once more of her former relationship into which she had not _entered (see Jeremiah 3:14) but now anticipates in her desire, she rests upon His arm and forgets her wilderness experience, save that she is coming up out of it leaning upon the arm of her Beloved.
CHAPTER 1
The first section contains the theme of the Song, and the four following sections unfold its development, the last section is a recapitulation of the whole subject.
After her long estrangement from Jehovah, Jerusalem needs to be reassured of His love. He has not changed, but Jerusalem and her daughters are conscious of the long separation and its effect upon them. The remnant, speaking as a bride whose affections are courted by her Beloved, delights in the thought of the King coming to the city He loves, yet she knows that many things have clouded her relationship ·with Him, and now asks for the assurance of His love. She seeks His kisses for they are better to her than all the pleasures the world can offer; and she needs them as the seal of His love. She knows that the Beloved loves her, but wants to know that His love has not changed and that it is all for her. Has her past indifference and the consequent trials which overtook her changed His attitude towards her? Jerusalem, and her daughters the remnant of Israel-desire to be drawn by all that is most gracious in the King. At the moment and until their hearts enjoy the settled peace of His love, they are occupied with all the goodness towards themselves they find in Him. They are not satisfied alone with Him, nor do they know the undisturbed calm of a known and intimate relationship with Him; they will not know it until He reveals to them the unchangeable character and depth of His love. The experience of every heart when it is first engaged in its affections follows the same course; it seeks the satisfaction of newly awakened desires, and to be assured of a love which it does not yet know fully enough to trust implicitly; it seems to be surer of its own love for its object than of the love it receives. With the first awakening of the heart comes the desire to be loved, it cannot measure the love it is offered.
In the first four verses the bride is happy in the assurance of the love in which her heart enfolds itself. When she tastes the sweetness of the Bridegroom's grace she immediately becomes self-conscious, and remembers that the sun of affliction has darkened her countenance, yet she is aware of her comeliness. She has disappointed those who trusted her, and she has not kept her own vineyard; her unfaithfulness to the law and covenant brought her under the rebuke of the other shepherds, and she is driven to seek protection in the love of Him who never fails to find green pasture's for His flock. Why should she wander unknown among the shepherds in Israel, whom she fears? She has no peace of heart, and no boldness through a confidence that an all-embracing known love teaches the heart (ver. 8). The Beloved directs her steps to where the feeblest may find refreshment. In His eyes she is the fairest of all women. He will lavishly adorn her to display her beauty (vers. 9-11).
All the spices of the bride, all her favours are for the Beloved (vers. 12-14). A lovely expression of verse 12 is found in the box of ointment that Mary of Bethany poured upon the head of Jesus. None but He who was the most Beloved understood her act, it was truly expressive of the spirit of the Song of Songs and came from one of the feeble remnant in Israel at the time. How precious to the heart of Christ will be the awakening affections of the remnant of Israel! Grace will turn their hearts to Chris and they will discover how deep is His love for His tried ones. Addressing their speech to others whom they think ought to have the same interest in Him as they have, they will first speak of His excellence, that which their love delights to find in Him. As the knowledge of his love grows more intimate and becomes more their own, they will learn to speak more of the King Himself.
The Beloved speaks directly to the one whom He loves. He does not need to address others, their interest is not necessary to strengthen His; He is not more assured in Himself as they grow to appreciate His love for the bride. He needs no other when His heart is engaged with its object of love, He is sufficient for Himself, as it were, and His love for the loved one is perfect, nothing can add to it. The bride does not feel the same sufficiency in herself or in the volume of her love for the Beloved, she wants others to appreciate Him and add their love so that He may have greater honour. She cannot contain all His love and must share it with others. Her expressions of His most blessed qualities are not so complete that they fully express all He is, or that they fill His heart. She indeed fills His heart, He has made her precious by the love He has given her and by what He has done for her, but her expressions of love only echo the fullness of His love. His love does not grow by telling to others what is in His heart. Her love develops itself as she brings others into its orbit. The loved one in this way, can tell out the fame of her Beloved and unburden her heart for she feels the weight of love, and the very expressions develop with the telling. By the exercise of her heart He sees what she needs and reveals Himself more fully to her, drawing out her heart, not only to speak of His beauty and strength, but to learn that they are all for her; then she finds words to say what He is to her in His own blessed Person.
However the affections may be moved by the kindness of another, what engages the heart most is the discovery of the place that the loved one has in the heart of the Beloved. When the Bridegroom begins to tell the bride what He thinks of her all of all the beauty He finds in her (ver. 15), she quickly responds by presenting herself to Him (vers. 16, 17; 2:1) 1).
CHAPTER 2
With only passing remark about the beauty of the Beloved, the bride turns to speak of herself for she feels His eyes upon her. But the Beloved, using the bride's own thought, can say more expressively how beautiful the bride is compared with others who are only thorns (ver. 2). He quickens her love with such words of favour, and she, in rising appreciation of His love turns to tell others of His over-shadowing goodness. He feeds her affection with food that is most sweet. His house is a dwelling-place of joy, and the banner He spreads over her is His symbol of triumph, it is the victory of His love. How different is this new state from Israel's former state under law! When Israel comes under the banner of the love of the Messiah, there will not be a fresh enactment of law, but mercy and truth will unite, and righteousness and peace will embrace. The glory then revealed will not be the glory of a law that brought with it the dread of death, but it will be the glory of a righteous government into which a guilty people, who have found mercy, have been brought and where they learn the richness of grace. Grace fulfils the promises to which the people by their guilt have forfeited every right.
The anticipation of the Bridegroom's love, and the thought of His nearness, fill the heart of the bride beyond endurance. Not yet satisfied by His presence, her heart is overcome with desire for the Beloved. She anticipates His embrace and now with such thoughts in her heart, desires Him to rest in His love (ver. 7). (Cf. Zephaniah 3:17). But here it is all prophetic and anticipatory; He is not yet present in person.
Every expression here is that of a heart captivated, but not yet in possession of its object. The bride does not possess the Beloved's love as her own; she knows that she interests Him and strengthens her own love by telling others; but the love in her heart is only the reflection of His and she needs to know more of it. The love she has for Him He planted in her heart, He waters it with expressions of love, and it grows by the increasing apprehension of the Beloved Himself. First of His qualities and then of Himself. The godly remnant will learn Christ in this way and they will long for His coming.
Verse 7 completes the first section which gives the theme of the Song. The remnant of the future, awakened by the cry that the King is coming, will immediately think of Israel's shortcomings and her forlorn condition. Conscious of her long neglect of Him through self-interest and occupation with her own sorrows, she begins to realize that the rod of affliction has left its mark on her. Only the certainty of His love will comfort and assure her heart. That He should rest in His love is her highest happiness. All this is unfolded in greater detail in the following sections.
The second section opens with the approach of the Bridegroom (ver. 8), and the bride describes His coming in the terms of her desire. Her heart leaps with the thought of His approach, He has quickened her hopes by His goodness to her. The bride needed the assurance of His love, and when given it led her to desire Him near. Now thoughts of His presence lead her further on in the growth of her affections, and she becomes more occupied with Himself.
The bride can voice the musings of her heart; she knows His appearance, His glance, His voice, but she has Him not in presence. He calls His loved one, the days of sorrow are over, and spring-time has come. She grows confident under His words of comfort and says, “My Beloved is mine.” Surely it is because His love has reached her heart she can make such a claim; but the first comfort for her heart is to know that, where there was once only failure and emptiness, her heart has something most precious it possesses, something its very own – “He is mine.” Here in the Song it is only said prophetically. Who would call her to rise up and come away but He whom she can claim as her own? She is now deaf to all other calls, she hears only the voice of the Beloved, though she still has to learn that she is wholly His. She truly belongs to the Beloved, but the captured heart is first filled with the thought of possessing its object by which it is attracted away from everything else, so she says, He is mine, adding what is equally true but which has not claimed her heart as its first interest, “I am His.”
The Beloved is not yet near, she has Him only in her desire, which brings Him into the possession of her affections, but she seeks His presence.
CHAPTER 3
Alone and in darkness the bride is desolate without the Beloved (ver. 1). This will be the state of the remnant while waiting for the Messiah whom they are learning to love. Their love for Him will bring Him into their affections in the strength of all their desire, and they will long for His presence, He will satisfy them in the day of His “appearing.” In that day He will completely deliver them and bring every blessing for them with His personal presence; they can enjoy nothing without Him.
Not able to find the Beloved, for even her love has not yet brought Him so near, her search takes her into the streets and by-ways at night. Where will the remnant find the King-Messiah? They will not find Him among the nations, they do not know Him in heaven; they do not know where He is whom their souls seek after. From His place of exaltation in heaven above, Christ now speaks to those who receive Him by faith, and these, denying worldly advantage, count it all glory to share in His present rejection. They will hereafter share His heavenly glory. The Jews at the moment do not know where their Messiah is, they are still in the darkness of the night of their unbelief.
The watchmen, whose duty it is to keep order, find the wanderer where her love has brought her. It was, though ardent, not a well settled love grounded upon a known and enjoyed relationship that left no room for doubts or fears. The heart cannot be calm in estrangement when love is real; it cannot rest until it enjoys the fruit of love with the Beloved.
Not waiting for an answer, and with a troubled heart she passes from the watchmen. Without the Beloved she can only desire Him, and there is no peace in desire. Then distressed, love raises its voice, and the Beloved draws near in responding grace. But the agitated heart cannot read His ways in the full light of His grace, it is too self-occupied. She finds Him and leads Him, and brings Him into the place of Israel, her mother's house. But it is still prophetic, as the Spirit of prophecy could say .when ·Naomi found a Redeemer in Ruth's babe, There is a son born to Naomi. And here again the bride desires that the Beloved should rest in His love (ver. 5). This is her happiest and most complacent thought.
The second section closes with the fifth verse. It began with the voice of the Beloved speaking words of comfort and hope (2:8), and the thoughts of the bride became more occupied with the Beloved Himself. In the first section the heart of the bride is arrested, in the second, she in desire seeks the One whose love she has tasted. All her delight is in having the Beloved as her own possession in her affections. But she still seeks Him to have Him present, so her love is led on to bring Him into the place of her first affections her mother’s house – Israel's home, and there again she desires that He be left to rest in His love.
The third section follows with a more sober beginning. It opens with the Bridegroom coming up from the wilderness. He is wonderful in appearance, precious in the fragrance of His person. He rests in His might, and about His bed stand threescore mighty ones who are strong in the secret of His presence, they wield the sword to guard the King when He is: not active in the place of power, His strength is in them. While their Lord is unseen, those who are skilled in war guard the truth in the assembly of God. Now that Christ has overcome the power of the adversary, others can go forth, strong in the Lord and the power of His might, to guard the truth in the night; their weapon is the sword of the Spirit. His place of rest is guarded in truth, His public appearance amongst His own is in power and glory. Those whose hearts are touched pave with love the royal carriage in which the King goes forth. The heart of the believer rejoices when he hears the truth spoken in love, and he delights to refresh those who bear the brunt of the battle, he does so in love for the glory of the name of Christ.
Now the bride calls upon the daughters of Jerusalem to behold the King crowned by Israel. He was once the disowned and rejected One, now in the day of gladness, Israel crowns Him in the new relationship to which they have just awakened. He is the King coming in His glory to tell Israel of His love.
CHAPTER 4
In this section we find more fully declared what the bride is in the eyes of the Bridegroom. Speaking_ directly to her, He makes her realize that she is the only one upon whom His love rests. He does not call another to bear witness to His love, and He spares no language in assuring her that in His eyes she has no imperfections (vers. 1-5). This is great comfort to her and not a testimony to others, who possibly may see only-imperfection.
Verse 6 may be the words of the bride, she thinks of the Bridegroom as she saw Him in chapter 3:6; she would dwell in His preciousness, and cannot refrain from expressing her desire for the Beloved One in whom her soul delighted; He is full of grace. A detailed description of the bride as He sees her shows how deeply His heart is occupied with her, she is all loveliness, and He sees no spot in her (ver. 7). He calls her from the lions' den, from the mountain of the leopards where she has lived in fear and in sorrow. Her trials make His love the more compelling. She is for Him a garden of spices. With her heart moved by the knowledge of His delight -in her, she speaks of that in her which will give Him pleasure, but she says it to others, not to Him. All that is delightful and satisfying in her is for Him who has formed her thoughts and her affections by the expression of His own (ver. 16).
The very nearness and intimacy of the relationship with one so blessed teaches her the way of moral perfectness. The Beloved in no faltering terms describes the beauty of His loved one. She, in cultivated moral perfectness, taught by the Beloved in the strength of His love and perfection, feels that she cannot sufficiently express to the Beloved a love to correspond with His own, but she can speak to others of the pleasure she gives Him. Others do not love Him as she does, and they have never heard what has been spoken to 'her heart. Others cannot measure her love, but they can ·be instructed by her love. The love of the Beloved could scarcely be understood by those whose affections were not so engaged with Him; it is all for the bride. Others may know something of His love through her; she knows the love for herself. She delights His heart with the becoming response of true understanding. She has received His love which is occupied with her; though not yet beyond a .certain self-centredness, her response is that the Beloved may find in her all His delight, if this gives Him pleasure.
CHAPTER 5
The Bridegroom now come into His garden of delight upon which the wind has blown to bring out its fragrance, finds sweetness and gladness, joy and strength, and he calls upon His friends to share His delight. Happy are the friends of the Bridegroom who are called to the feast. On this note the third section closes.
The fourth section, though it looks back a little (see chapter 3), presents a new aspect. The loved one discovers that indolence loses all enjoyment of love. The Bridegroom must not be kept waiting. His love never fails, and how unseemly to keep Him waiting with a slow response! When self seeks its own satisfaction it is not weak in its desires; but the heart is naturally slow in understanding what is due to him who claims all that is right in desire. Though the bride slept her heart was awake. Even when there appeared to be little activity of heart, vet the voice of love reached a heart which, though desiring ease, was not wholly at rest while estranged from the Beloved. She hears the voice of Him who has waited in the night (second half verse 2), but in her self-indulgence she tarried too long before opening the door to Him. Even if she were weary with waiting and desired rest, she cannot rest until the Bridegroom is with her. He shows Himself a little and the sight of Him stirs her indolent affections; but she was slow in answering to His knock and He acted according to her mood, and in keeping with what is morally right and becoming in the One who offers His presence. Though her hand dropped fragrance when she opened the door it was too late, the Beloved was gone. He had rightly withdrawn Himself; His love was not to be slighted, and she needed the rebuke. He had waited long, but her love was not yet beyond the state of self-centred desire. Love is not cemented with ease of circumstances and easily won pleasure, but it is strengthened by trial and exercise, and it proves its strength in suffering. If it cannot act in its own strength it has no strength at all. In us love is awakened and cultivated by occupation with its object, but desire long estranged from its object by self-interest, will fade away and die.
The heart is reproved by its loss; and the watchmen who find the one who has lost her Beloved wandering at night and calling Him, add their rebuke. The guardian of morality smite and take away the covering of the one whom they find out of her place. Their ears are not open to a story of love, they look for right moral behaviour in every circumstance. But when the heart is unsatisfied it counts little the wounds it receives from others. The watchmen may take away the veil, for who can plead modesty when the feet are wandering in a strange path and are guided only by a sore heart? Mary Magdalene by night sought the Lord in the garden where He had been buried. It was no place for a woman at night; but where could she rest without her Lord? Perhaps if she had known more she would not have been there; but whose faith at the time rose beyond the hope of resurrection in the last day? Mary of Bethany may have been a little more enlightened, but all were in a mist of uncertainty. Love will go to extraordinary lengths to reach its beloved object. Where there is little understanding there may be much that merits rebuke, but the Lord answers the true desire of the heart that seeks Him. The sickness of the bride (ver. 8) was caused by the strength of her desire; had she stayed at home and been ready for the Bridegroom she would have found more than her heart desired. She would have had none of this heart-searching and these unbearable longings if there had been no failure. There has been failure in Israel, and the remnant will come to realize it. The love that stirs the hearts of the remnant as the coming of the Bridegroom draws near, will make them -consider Israel's long indifference to the secret love of the Messiah.
The virgins, the daughters of Jerusalem, ask the question that brings out the bride's own expressions of affection. She speaks of His wondrous beauty, and tells what He is to her. The bride is open in her expressions, saying fully all that is in her heart, she need hide nothing, and she speaks to those who ought to understand the place Jerusalem held in the affections of the King. She cannot tell all this to the Beloved, for it is but a reproduction of His own way of drawing out her affections. She does not need to draw out His love by her expressions of appreciation. His beauty and His desire for her awaken her love. It is not her appreciative expressions that awaken His affection, she only reflects His love. The bride can tell her companions what she finds in the Beloved, for they too must love Him. Christ in secret pours His love into our hearts, we openly praise Him that all may learn to love Him. He loves the Church, and the Church tells all who will hear how great this love is.
CHAPTER 6
Again the virgins, the daughters of Jerusalem, whose interest is aroused, ask whither the Beloved is gone. The loved one knows His tastes, and now that others inquire about the Beloved she is able to say where He is to be found. The love of the Beloved has sunk deeply into her heart and she can say, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” The realization of His love has overcome her slothfulness. She is His and she can belong to no other. Discipline has done its work and now her Beloved is everything to her. He has waited until His love has sunk deep into her heart, and until she is occupied with Him alone. All His blessedness is for her, there is not another who can be the same to Him; she is His and the Beloved is her very own. His strength and beauty are for her, but better still for her heart He sees not another, she is His. The realization of this has come through a deeper experience than merely having her thoughts of Him satisfied with a testimony of His love she belongs to Him alone. He Himself loves her, not merely as she desired that He should love her, but in a way that reveals Himself and the strength of His love. He has made her the object of His love. Happy in possessing Christ, we are made happier still that we are His very own, and that He finds His joy in us.
The Bridegroom's expressions of love are simple and straight forward, the loved one is the subject of them. Because of her past indifference and present slothfulness, the bride feels the necessity for self-judgment, and her exercises of heart are varied and complicated. Her expressions reveal these exercises of heart and she is not as simple in her affections as the Beloved. So it is with Christians. Christ loves us; He died to do us good; but before we enter into the fullness of His love and enjoy what He has won for us, we pass through many experiences, and much searching of conscience takes place before we finally and simply rest in His love.
The remnant will learn with growing apprehension the love of the King-Messiah for Israel, the only one of her mother, and until He reveals Himself, first by recalling the testimony of the prophets to the hope of Israel, and then by coming to Jerusalem, Israel will not know the depths of His love. Verse 10 is a general statement that Israel in its blessing will be terrible. In dispersion Israel has been a burdensome stone to all people, in the day in which God begins to bless them they will be a terror to all those who dispute with them, and a fearful power in the earth with which all nations will have to reckon.
The Beloved goes down to the garden and there He looks on His people, immediately He is caught up, as it were upon a chariot, through the readiness of His people. When they are made willing in the day of His power, He will ride as in a chariot of triumph upon their zeal.
The fourth section closes with this picture of fervour and glory. The backwardness of Israel has been met by grace in Him who is full of grace, and grace working in the heart of Israel makes the loved one willing to receive Him, then He waits no longer. Grace has done what law could never do. Beauty and perfection are found in Israel as the result of the work of grace, but the law only brought trial and death.
The virgins, the companions of the bride, now speak of Israel as two camps. Judah and Ephraim appear together in exuberant joy returning to blessing.
CHAPTER 7
The fifth section begins with the sentiments seen in the close of the previous section (6:13). The Bridegroom speaks to the bride of her preciousness to Him. He had already described her beauty, what she is herself, now He adds in each detail what this beauty means to Him. Sweetness and fruit are found in her. All her beauty is a delight, and her graces give Him the greatest pleasure. If the north wind blowing upon the garden brings forth the sweet odours for the Beloved, here now are the fruits of the divine touch which brings out all that is pleasing for the Beloved. He says, “The roof of thy mouth like the best wine,” and the bride answers, “that goeth down smoothly for my beloved” (ver. 9 JND).
Wholly seized of His love she is now able to say, “l am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.” Instead of harbouring a self-centred desire which has sought satisfaction, there is an understanding of what His heart seeks, even the fragrance of the graces which He found in her. His love is everything; not the mere assurance that He loves, but the consciousness that it is in her His love looks for and finds satisfaction. Her response gives Him the greatest delight, which He shows by telling the bride all that He sees in her. Her affections are led on and she responds by saying, as it were, May it be so! She offers the Beloved her company and proffers the fruits she has laid up for Him. He desires only herself, and in her His love finds all that it can desire. She prepares everything, not for her own pleasure, but for His. There is more unalloyed joy more tranquillity in the consciousness that He desires nothing but what she can give. Her love is the answer of His own as He has led her into it.
Little though we may understand why we are so loved by Christ, we do know when we are loved with a love that knows no bounds. There can be no doubts in the heart that rests in His love, it brings us into joy unspeakable, and He adds to it the glory of His grace. Who on earth will love the King-Messiah as the remnant of Israel will love Him? Who but Israel knows Him in such a character so as to love Him in the intimacy of renewed united affection? He is their King, their Messiah, their faithful Deliverer, the Husband of Israel, long forgotten but now appearing amongst His loved ones on earth whom He never ceased to love.
CHAPTER 8
The last chapter goes over all the principles found ii the previous chapters. Verse one looks back to chapter one and expresses the thought that runs through the Song. Verse two is found in chapters 2 and 3; verse three in chapter 2 and verse four in chapters 2 and 3.
The fifth section ends with the bride again expressing the desire that the Beloved take His rest in His love then the loved one is seen coming up from the wilder-ness leaning upon the arm of the Beloved. He found her under the apple tree (ver. 5 and chapter 2), there she was brought forth.
The bride, with true but unsatisfied longing, desires the presence of the Bridegroom. In her ardent desire she longs to prove her love, and who can despise her? Israel, the home of these affections, is where alone such affections could be known, they could only be roused in Israel, no other people ever had like feelings toward Christ, prophetically, in hope, or in desire. At the thought of His embrace, Israel as the bride, again de-sires that He rest in His love. She knows where He can rest, she alone has the secret. With such thoughts the fifth section ends.
The sixth and last section opens with the bride and Bridegroom together, but not yet in the place of rest and therefore only together prophetically. She is seen coming up from the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved. She can now lean upon Him for she has found. Him, and so Israel will have Him in their hearts before they .have Him in person. He found her asleep under the apple tree (ver. 5), there He gave her life. A remnant of Israel will receive life from Christ at the time when they in faith own Him, and He will bring them into His banqueting house under the banner of His love. All the prophets who present the Messiah to the Jews awaken these hopes in the hearts of the faithful.
The remnant will discover that His love is as strong as death, and that its strength has been proved in death; He died to save her. His love cannot tolerate a rival, and judgment will dispel all who oppose His goodness to Israel. The King will come to Israel, His love will triumph over every obstacle. No power of evil could turn Him from the path which led Him .to suffer for them, and nothing can prevent their ultimate blessing. Love cannot be purchased with riches, it is sown by the display of grace to the heart of its object. It leads the thoughts captive, and it is cultivated by occupation with its beloved object, and it is proved by trial and suffering.
Perhaps the little sister referred to in verse 8 is Ephraim or the ten tribes. Christ came to the tribe of Judah, and in Judah the nation is judged. Judah and Jerusalem will be the first awakened and recovered. True affection for Christ will be found in a remnant of Jews, who will learn through the prophecies concerning the Messiah, their true relationship to Christ. The ten tribes will need to be taught and built up in the know ledge of Christ, for they have not seen Him. Judah will instruct them, and they too will enjoy the full blessing of the presence of the Messiah. In verse 8 we have what the virgins say about the rest of Israel, and in verse 9 the bride, or Jerusalem, answers the question concerning the blessing of Israel, when Israel is once more taking her place in the forefront of earthly government and blessing. The bride speaks about herself in verse 10, she it is who fills the heart of the Bridegroom. Then the bride speaks of the vineyard of Solomon. Jehovah's King is the King of kings, the Governor of the nations. The keepers were to bring the fruit of the vineyard to Solomon. But the fruit of the bride's vineyard was hers to dispose of as she chose. The proceeds would be for Solomon and a portion for the keepers, for they too profit in the days of prosperity when King Solomon receives His fruit.
All the blessedness of the coming kingdom and its joys are entered into anticipatively; it is a prophetic picture and the Spirit of prophecy calls on the bride to speak that the Bridegroom may hear her voice. Who will she say? What has His love taught her? Her response is the cry of a longing heart, it is filled with love and desire. She has heard His voice in love, but she does not yet possess all that love can give, she has not Himself. Her heart-felt cry is for the Bridegroom to make haste.
In the most blessed grace, He who is the creator of all that is good, the originator of every holy thought, waits to hear the answer to all that His love has ex-pressed. He turns His ear to hear the echo from the heart of His loved one, and what will He hear? The response comes with the earnestness of desire, “Make haste!” The whole desire of the bride is to have the Beloved Himself in the fragrance of His grace. Her voice, expressing her desire, is the sweetest sound He can hear from the earth as the clay of His crowning draws near.
The last words of the Song remind us of the closing words of the Book of Revelation. The Lord Jesus comforts His waiting people with the assurance of His quick return, “Surely I come quickly,” and the heavenly bride is allowed the final word in response, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). With these words, the last from a waiting people, God closes His word of Revelation that He gives to a travailing and expectant creation.
May the Lord in grace remove from the hearts of His people every cloud that veils the consciousness of His presence. Surely those who have learned to love Christ through discovering something of the depths of His love will respond to His request, “Let Me hear thy voice, and answer from the heart, Come Thyself Lord, we want Thee only. “
Satisfied love could scarcely express the sentiments of the Song of Songs. A known and enjoyed united state produces calmer thoughts, mere desire which has self so much as a centre disappears, and the love of the Beloved who has become everything to the heart is enjoyed for itself. His rich qualities become hers who is loved and she who has such a place of nearness is more than satisfied with the Beloved's excellence as her very own. The glory of a wife is her husband, his position is hers, he is her head, she is what he is, and her life is moulded by his interests.
All Christians may not realize the Church's connection with Christ on high, perhaps none fully, but if only a few are found together in the Spirit, recognizing the relationship, formed by the Spirit come down from Christ on high to dwell in and unite each member to Christ and to one another, they may give to Christ, the blessed Husband of their affections, that character of love which answers truly to His own. They do not think only of the few drawn together, but they have in mind Christ and His beloved Assembly, one with Him in the bond and power of the Spirit. They think of what the Assembly is as one in union with Christ by the Spirit. This union makes her more than a bride in her affections and understanding, though her affections down here may be kept as fresh as a bride's in the hearts of those who think of Him as the beloved Bridegroom, who waits to have His own with Himself to be manifested with Him in glory. When He appears the Church will appear with Him in glory, the heavenly wife of the Lamb.
If but a few give Christ His place and respond to His love, it is not to say that they give Him fully all that He desires, but giving Him the Husband's place in their hearts, their responding love truly bears the character of His own. They enter into His love and they minister to His heart in a way only possible to one to whom He is perfectly revealed, and with whom there is no reserve save in the moral perfection of her response. The individual heart cannot enter into these thoughts alone, nor give to Christ the manner of love He desires from the Church. Such a love can only be realized in union with fellow-members who compose the Assembly. Affections in the Assembly are fostered and developed by the increasing understanding of this most blessed relation-ship between Christ and His Assembly. The heart of the Christian may enter into the sentiments expressed in the Song of Songs as he anticipates the joy of the presence of Christ. Alone he cannot realize the love of union, he knows it with others, for a body is not one member but many, and he sees and knows Christ in His members, and they together know Christ in the midst to whom they are united by the Spirit. The individual believer may express ardent affection for the Lord, and he may use language not at all suited to the relationship that characterizes the affections with which the Church should respond to Christ's. Collectively Christians may express the desire to know more of the love of Christ, and there may not be a full sense of what that love requires, they may be too occupied with their blessings. When ungrieved and unhindered, the Holy Spirit, by whom the bond with Christ is formed, would lead hearts into a deeper understanding of the relationship which He forms. If anything is allowed to intrude between the Church and Christ, the enjoyment of the relationship cannot be maintained, and the Holy Spirit has to remind the negligent ones of their departure. The Holy Spirit will not be taken away from us, but if we grieve Him we are not in a state to enjoy our richest portion in and with Christ, and then we have to know what Christ is for our need, instead of what He is for our most blessed privileges in the grace of God.
As the sentiments of the Song arose in the heart of a saint and are expressive of intense desire for the love of Jehovah's King, the Messiah, all those who love Christ can at some time express, with kindred feelings, their love for Him and their desire to have Him near. Our varying experiences will call out from us varying degrees of appreciation of the love that never fails whatever our state. The more we know of His love the more acute will be our feelings about our state.
These are not the expressions of sons with the Father, but of one who is loved with a love that leads into the mystery of union. The bride of the Song has not yet known wedded affection, either by the Beloved's presence amidst His people Israel, or in union by the Spirit such as the Church knows. It is the heart of a bride developing as she learns the place she has in the affections of the Bridegroom. Even our natural affections follow the same course.
When we first come to know the Saviour we are overjoyed in finding that we have a Saviour, and we can say we love Him; it is a deeper knowledge and a richer joy to the heart to learn what we are to Him, what He has made us in His love. The crowning joy ere we have Him altogether, and He has us wholly to Himself, is to know that He makes us necessary to His joy, and that He can rest in His love amidst His own. In the perfect love of His heart He must have us with Himself to enjoy His fullness.
The hope of the coming of the Lord is often the first and brightest truth that fills the heart of a young believer; thoughts that dwell on the coming of Christ bring Him near to the heart. The Lord delights to satisfy the longing heart that desires Him to rest in His love, and by coming in hope as the Day-star, arising in the heart (2 Peter 1:19), He becomes a present possession. The heart gets what it wants, a present realization of the presence of Christ; and then to be with Him is the confident expectation of the soul, and the perfect result of having Him already in the heart. His own love for us sows these seeds of desire, and He comes Himself to more than satisfy them.
Israel's love has not only been dormant, but they forsook the LORD and now fear the result, even the godly will tremble as they see the judgment-day approaching and wickedness prevailing on every side. The affections of the remnant will not only need strengthening but will have to be won and be assured by the surpassing grace of the LORD. Painful discipline must do its necessary work to break down the hindering elements of self-occupation, indolence and indifference, even when desire is awakened in their hearts. The faults of which the bride becomes conscious are not caused by the love of the Bridegroom; but the very strength, purity, and constancy of the love of the Beloved makes her conscious of what there is in her that robs her of the full enjoyment of His love, and keeps Him at a distance from her heart. Were He to appear as a judge, and she to think only of her state as guilt, she would fly from Him, or be bowed in consuming sorrow in the sense of her unworthiness and of the consciousness of having slighted His love. But she cannot separate her love and desire from His loving and even her slothfulness will be overcome by the desolation she feels at the loss of Him, whom, to be happy, she must” find. Israel will learn how Christendom has slighted Christ, and the remnant will experience more and more blessing as they enter into the thoughts of the love that Christ bears towards them this will help to give a true character to their own affections for the Bridegroom-King.
The very strength of the love lavished upon us makes us feel that, though our hearts may be roused to a pitch of earnest expectation, we have never risen to the heights of His love. Our hearts, vessels of a love beyond all understanding, cannot contain all that is poured into them; we love because we are first loved, but it is not in any way comparable with the love we are given. We dwell too much in our own longing and do not love enough. True love is not occupied with self; in its most blessed character love is active in doing good to those who have nothing to give in return but what love itself produces.
As a wife beloved is clothed with the dignity of her husband, so the Assembly of Christ should wear the spiritual graces of her beloved Head, and knowing her place keep herself for it. It is her duty as well as her privilege and her glory to do so. She has no other glory but His to whom she belongs, and her love ought to be the true reflection of His. She was made for Him, to receive His love and to fill His heart. While Christ is rejected by the world, the Church shares His rejection, but this makes no difference to His love nor to what she is to Him it adds sweetness to the manner in which His love is now manifested, and makes the Assembly's response very precious to Christ; He is comforted in the day of His rejection. Love in the Assembly now reveals itself by the way the members of Christ yearn over one another, that together they all may know and realize the unity of the Spirit, and the bonds of love with which they are bound in Christ. It is their desire that all be filled with that manner of love which is inherent in the relationship that makes Christ and the Church one. Not only one in heart and interest, but in life and in being one, so that what is in Christ is expressed in His Assembly.
A Christian's journey through the world begins at the cross it is there he is first separated from the world, and only by keeping to the narrow path of separation from the world while journeying can he enjoy, by the power of the Spirit in his soul the things he hears concerning Christ. Christians may get all the moral value of the Song for their encouragement in their wilderness journey, as they look on to the day when they will be with the· Lord and see Him as He is, it will quicken their steps. But in its particular and primary application the Song is descriptive of the remnant of Israel, yet to be called out from the nation to herald the coming of the King-Messiah. It is the love side of His relation-· ship with Israel that the nation has not hitherto enjoyed. The Beloved Himself must be present for their full understanding of the relationship, for it is then He will unite Himself to Israel. A Christian has not reached full Christian standing until Christ is established in his heart, without raising an accusing thought, and until He is there without a rival. Such a sense of relationship is only possible by the presence and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who forms it and is the power for its realization. The remnant will not have the Messiah, even in their affections, until in grace He awakens their desire for Him by a testimony to His own love for them, and then they only desire His presence and love until He is known in their midst. Israel has long lived in unbelief, but they will know the Messiah when they see Him coming as their Saviour and Deliverer. Then He will unite Himself to a believing generation and be the Husband of Israel, and the nation will enter into the earthly intimacy and glory of the relationship (Isaiah 62:4; Hosea 2:16). The world will see and understand and acknowledge Israel's intimate connection with the King.
While the Church waits for Christ her love is kept fresh with the bright hope of soon being with Him in the glory. She will indeed learn then that she has been always loved. It will be the joy of His heart to manifest her before the wondering hosts of heaven and earth in her rightful place according to the counsels and wisdom of God. Nothing that has happened in the waiting-time has intruded to cast its shadow upon His love, but many trials and sorrows by the way, and the advancing tide of evil, have of times turned her thoughts to her own perilous position and hindered her heart from entering into the fullness of His love. Often the Church has tried to rest on the way, but found it impossible. The difficulties have only made His love and care more precious. The Church, though long loved, nourished and cherished by Christ, keeps her bridal affections, and she longs for the day when she may drink fully of the cup of joy with the Beloved without distraction and without restraint.
May our hearts be awakened from their pre-occupation with the things that so naturally claim our attention, and with the Day-star already shining brightly in our hearts, may we go forth with fervent bridal affection quickening our steps, to meet the Bridegroom. His coming will drive away every cloud and satisfy every longing desire. It will be the dawn of blessing for this war-torn earth and sorrowful world, when Israel can proclaim to the nations that the One who alone can bring peace and joy to man has come and is in the midst of His people making known His love to them.
Israel as a nation has yet to be awakened to the need and presence of the Messiah. The nation will not be converted by the Church, but the King-Messiah Himself will come and draw the hearts of His stricken people after Him, and He will fill their repentant hearts with the joy of His presence.
