Morning Light – December 29, 2016 – Song of Solomon 4: Ravished by the King

Morning Light – Song of Solomon 4
Today: [Song of Solomon 4] Ravished by the King. I don’t know if you can handle this one. I don’t know if I can teach it! Song of Solomon chapter four is just too much. If there was every a chapter in the bible that belonged in a brown paper wrapping this is it. If there was ever a passage of scripture so intimate that it warranted a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America this is it. In this chapter the Bridegroom who is Jesus sweeps His bride off her feet and is so taken with her that He proceeds to declare with great passion the delicacies of her beauty from head to toe. I don’t know if I can teach it to you without blushing. You might not be able to handle this chapter – but try anyway. You will get a glimpse however blushing a bride in Christ you may be a part of – of just how much He loves you and can’t take His eyes off of you.
[Sng 4:1-16 KJV] 1 Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth [are] like a flock [of sheep that are even] shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none [is] barren among them. 3 Thy lips [are] like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech [is] comely: thy temples [are] like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 4 Thy neck [is] like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts [are] like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
In chapters 1-3 of Song of Solomon we are seeing the prelude to the romantic encounter between the bride and the Bridegroom that is expounded upon in chapter four. In chapter 3 the bride stirred from her bed because she realizes that her love is not there. You are not going to find the lover of your soul in your comfort zone. You are going to have to get up and get out into an environment of personal risk where only God can come through for you. That is the place where your beloved will lay hold on you and you will be so desperate and dependent you will never let Him go.
The Bridegroom gathers His bride upon in His arms and staring intently in her face He declares passionately:
“Thou art fair, my love; thou art fair – thou has dove’s eyes within thy locks…”
Notice what He is saying – He is looking through her locks of hair that have been tousled by His passionate embrace. I love what the worship leader at the Lakeland outpouring often said “Mess us up Jesus!” But the bridegroom is looking far beyond the cathartic emotional experience we have when He is present in the room and we can do nothing but praise Him. He is looking past her locks (her hair that represents her covering – the covering of the glory). We are looking at the glory – He is looking past the glory at our spiritual eyes and sees in us the same eyes that He saw in the dove when it descended upon Him at His baptism of John at the Jordan. Do you have dove’s eyes? Do you have the eyes of the spirit or do you have eyes that mind natural things. I don’t think you are going to come away from the 24-hour news cycle with dove’s eyes. You aren’t going to spend 30 minutes with Lester Holt, or Fox News or CNN and come away with dove’s eyes. What you spend your time gazing at is what is reflected in your eyes when Jesus looks at you – let it be the fact that you will not take your eyes off of the Holy Spirit in the room.
In verse two the Bridegroom admires His bride’s teeth. He says her teeth are as a flock of goats fresh from the washing and not one of them is missing. Now what spiritual truth can we gain from this? What do we do with teeth? Remember that clean animals were those that chewed the cud and split the hoof. We call that rumination. This is the heart of one who receives the word down in her heart and ruminates it within herself. She brings it up and chews on it and swallows it down again and brings it up and chews on it some more. She does this with a set of teeth where none are missing. What does this mean? That means that you are willing to receive the WHOLE word and not just a part. How many times has someone brought forth an anointed teaching and you watch other believers say “no I can’t hear that – I WON’T hear that….” They have TEETH MISSING. Not very attractive to the bridegroom. Some Christians perhaps you and I need to go to the dental office of the Holy Spirit and get some missing teeth replaced so we can receive the WHOLE word and not just a part. How do you know you are around someone with spiritual teeth missing? They have indigestion. They are always grumbling about the pastor, the teacher. They are always looking for a soft word – something palatable to their disability. Is that you? Then pick up your cell phone and call the Holy Ghost Dental Office for an appointment. Just realize like every other dental office – all necessary repairs are COSTLY – it will COST you everything but the pay off for you is the smile on your BELOVED’S FACE when He sees that lovely smile as a result!
The Bridegroom is overcome with His bride’s loveliness. We are talking about Jesus embracing your soul. He can’t stop talking about you. Have you ever been around someone in love? They can’t take their eyes off one another. They can’t keep their hands off one another. When they are apart all they talk about is each other and you want to say “would you just shut UP?” No they can’t. You want to tell them GET A ROOM! And they smile and reply “what a lovely suggestion!” This is the lover of your soul. This is what compel Jesus to Gethsamane. It wasn’t the nails that held His hands and feet – it was THIS LOVE that Solomon is foreshadowing for us in this lovely passage of scripture.
He says that her lips are like scarlet threads. What does this mean? Remember Rahab was spared death in Jericho because she displayed a scarlet thread outside her house of prostitution? The scarlet thread represents redemption. It represents the blood of Christ. Her lips are as scarlet threads. That means every word out of the bride’s mouth is filtered through the efficacy, grace and mercy demonstrated in the shed blood of Calvary. There is no harshness here. There is no vulgarity or judgmental attitudes. The law of kindness is in her mouth. Mercy flows from her lips in a constant stream. What about the narrative flowing out of your own mouth? Are your lips scarlet? Or are they stained with opinion? Painted with the gaudy shades of man’s way of looking at things, and bitter dispute, argument and rebellion? Let’s stop right now and wipe that junk off our lips and let them be what Jesus died to make possible – pure lips speaking whatsoever is good, pure perfect, lovely and of good report!
This Bridegroom cannot stop talking about His bride. She is blushing but she loves every moment of it. She smiles and says TELL ME MORE! He describes her temples that her locks are framing. They are as a piece of pomegranate. The temples speak of the mind. What is the symbolism of a pomegranate to the mind? Ancient Hebrew tradition believed that the pomegranate held 613 seeds which is the exact number of the individual laws of Moses. In other words the Bridegroom looks into the mind of the bride and sees His law is her meditation. The word pomegranate means “seeded”. Your mind is a seed bed. What seeds are planted there and where do they originate? The bridegroom is looking right through her and sees His own law reflected in her inmost thoughts.
He goes on to glorify seven distinct attributes of the bride: her eyes, hair, teeth, lips, temples, cheeks, neck and breasts. In other words the Bridegroom is saying to His bride “honey – you are the WHOLE PACKAGE….”
7 Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, [my] spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 11 Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb: honey and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments [is] like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden inclosed [is] my sister, [my] spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy plants [are] an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
Because of her loveliness and because the Bridegroom loves her He makes a full examination and declares “THERE IS NO SPOT IN THEE!” Now at this point you might think – this can’t possibly be what all this means. Aren’t you reading into this just a little too much? Go to Eph. 5:27 and you will find Paul speaking of the church and the believer as the bride of Christ in the end time that will be a bride without spot:
[Eph 5:27 KJV] 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Who determines whether the bride is without spot or wrinkle? Is it the watchmen? Is it church leadership or preachers? Can you imagine the watchmen who serve the bridegroom saying “hold on king! We will examine the bride first to see if she is without spot!” No the king would say “hold on boys …. I GOT THIS!” It is the passionate, intense and intimate scrutiny of the Bridegroom drawing you close today and gazing at you so intently that your spirit cannot help but blush because He just won’t stop talking about you that way!!! Are you ready for that kind of love? Are you ready to be RAVISHED by your king? Are you ready to have a love experience with Jesus that is better than the finest vintage you could every taste? That is what Song of Solomon beckons us to today.