Song of Songs - Chapter 7

This has to be one of my favorite episodes so far.  There is so many rich truths in Chapter 7.  I enjoyed recording it immensely.  I hope you enjoy listening!

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Hello everyone. You have found your way back to Jeff's Bible Trek. We have just two chapters left in our study of the Song of Songs. But before I begin in this episode, I'd like to make an important point. You may have wondered how we come up with the interpretations of various objects and things in this study. It's important for you to know that the Word of God interprets itself. We have often brought in other scriptures to help us with the meaning of things in this book. The more mastery of the Word you obtain, the more you'll be able to think of other scriptures that explain further what you're reading. It's a good reason for getting yourself on a read your Bible through in a year plan, and I highly recommend it. I've been on one for almost the entire 50 years of my Christian life. I marvel at how revelation continues to come forth as we grow in our walk. Now both the king and his beloved maiden or bride speak in chapter seven. First up is the king, who speaks in detail about the characteristics of his beloved. Verses one through nine A describe God's workmanship or handiwork in her life, his preparation of her to do his work. Ephesians two ten says, For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Now I simply have to read this verse in the Passion Translation. Here's how it reads, We have become His poetry. A recreated people that will fulfill the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus the anointed one. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it. Now while the NIV uses the word workmanship, the footnote to this verse in the Passion says, quote, the beautiful Greek word used here is translated poem or poetry. Our lives are the beautiful poetry written by God that will speak forth all that he desires in life. That is quite awesome. A lot better than workmanship in my mind, and more accurate too. And so let's dig in, let's begin. Chapter 7, verse 1. The king says, How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter, your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands. Now, in addressing her as O Prince's daughter, it's obvious she has descended from and been born into a royal family. And what's true of the maiden is true of those she represents. You and I have been born into the family of the King of Kings. Her sandal feet correspond to Ephesians 6, 14 and 15, which says, Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Thus, with what God has done in her life, she is now ready to do his work. The work that had been committed to her was as precious jewels. Think about that. Anytime you do something for Jesus, whether it's helping them out with something, saying an encouraging word to them, meeting their needs, whatever it may be, it's like precious jewels. Her legs or thighs, as it says in the King James, symbolize strength and speak of the strength of her witness for Christ with which to do his work. This strength came through time as the result of the Lord's discipline and training. If our legs or thighs are to be like jewels, they must not be as Arnold Schwarzenegger's thighs, or at least the way they used to be, but rather as Jacob's thighs. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, what? Well, do you remember that the socket of Jacob's thigh was struck out of joint by the Lord on the night that they wrestled together at Peniel in Genesis thirty two? This was meant to teach him and us that spiritual strength must forever come not from the strength of the flesh, but from God alone. And his work is always the work of a craftsman's hands, for God Himself is that craftsman. It's interesting that Jacob's new name after this encounter became Israel, which means prince of God, whereas the maiden is referred to in this verse as the prince's daughter, meaning that God has wrought the same work in her, and therefore us as he did in Jacob's life. God has given us models of a godly life in the Word of God, and there is no model for a trouble free Christian life. But there is a model that contains trials and hardship. That's kind of difficult to grasp, but it's true. This, the role of trials in the Christian life, it is a huge subject in the Word of God, and it's too huge to do just to here and now. In verse two, he says, Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. Now these symbols refer to what she is inwardly. The blended wine, quote unquote, speaks of the blood of Jesus. And the mound of wheat, later made into bread and other edible food, represents the flesh or body of Jesus. So she is one who knows the inward satisfaction from having partaken of his body and his blood, and therefore his life in its fullest measure. This is as promised by Jesus in John ten, where he said The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. In verse three he says, Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Now Jesus has said this before in chapter four and verse five, but notice the difference here in seven three, she's not feeding anymore because now she's mature enough to feed others. Here, as before, the two breasts represent faith and love. See first Thessalonians five eight. And now she has a ministry by which others may be fed. In four A he says, Your neck is like an ivory tower. This is a different picture than in chapter four, where her neck is described as the tower of David, which was a storehouse of weapons. Here, her neck is a tower of ivory and represents further dealings with God. Ivory represents a suffering process. Think of the elephant suffering in the giving up of its tusks. And at this point in her walk with Jesus, she stood as unmovable as a tower. The tower of ivory, then, implies that she is prepared for any cost, even to suffer death in order for the Lord's purpose to be accomplished in her life. In four B, he's still talking about her characteristics. He says, Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabim. Her eyes are not as doves' eyes now, but as the water in a pool. This is different than well water, which is lacking in light. It's dark inside a well. This is also different from the water of a fountain that bubbles up all the time. A pool is open to the light of heaven, which represents a transparent and pure heart. Her heart is entirely at peace and perfectly reflected in the will of God. It's also interesting that people who have stood before Jesus in a near death experience often speak of the eyes of Jesus appearing as blue water. I can't imagine what that looks like, but I'm gonna I'm gonna find out someday. Heshban means clever or understanding. Bath Rabim means a daughter of abundance. So this believer, this maiden, this bride, this child of God seems to be advanced beyond the average believer. And when I hear the phrase average believer, I often think of a sentence written by Watchman Nee in his book The Normal Christian Life. He said the normal Christian life and the average Christian life are not the same thing. Think about that for a minute. In verse 4C, he says, Your nose is like the Tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus. You know, the nose has not been mentioned before. And some say it's because the sense of smell comes more into prominence when things come to ripeness and fullness. It is said that those with a sense of smell in the body of Christ, in a spiritual sense, are few and far between. This sense detects not words heard or actions seen, but inner discernment. You've heard the phrase before, I can smell a fill in the blank, a mile away. It's the ability to distinguish between fragrance and evil odor. It's to distinguish between what is of God and what is not. You may not be able to point out the precise thing about it, but you just know if it's wrong or right. Well, this is a possible meaning of the nose. It's kind of like the sniff test, if you will, and being that it's like the Tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus. This means it's high and pointed and has this unique ability to sniff out the atmosphere. Keep in mind that with every gift, there is an abuse, like sticking your nose in somebody else's business. God give us noses that can not only sniff out the evil from the good, but also buries itself in the Word of God, which will sharpen our ability of discernment. In 5A, he says your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Carmel was the site where Elijah acted for God in a great contest between light and darkness. It was the place where he battled with all that was a Baal and demonstrated the victory of the Lord over everything false and evil. It was where his mighty prayers were heard and answered by fire from heaven. Jesus, in the form of the king in this song, compares her head to all this. Therefore her mind and heart were able to conquer and cleanse themselves of evil. They are winning the battle between light and darkness. Not only that, but she has the knowledge. You remember we're talking about the head where knowledge resides. She has the knowledge to lead wayward people back to God as Elijah did. In five B, he says your hair is like royal tapestry. The king is held captive by its tresses. Again, hair refers to an extraordinary dedication, and it's one thing to be dedicated, but her dedication was so strong that it captivated and held the king in its tresses. The implication is that believers who are represented by this bride can so take hold of Jesus by their dedication that even our prayers cannot lack an answer. When she was younger and less mature, he could not trust her with such power, for perhaps her motives were a little off. But now this trust was made possible and that she was completely delivered from the motivations of selfish interest. It's interesting that when her dedication and devotion had reached maturity, and when her mind had become filled with the thoughts and understanding of her bridegroom's glory, her hair turned purple. Purple in scripture represents royalty or throne authority. Thus the NIV has it as your hair is like royal tapestry. Now this does not mean the king is obligated to fulfill the bride's every wish and whim, but rather that her devotion to him and spiritual affection toward him fulfilled his every desire and promise, and so gave her the desires of her heart. She had now learned to walk in the plans and purposes of God's sovereign throne, which is symbolized by her purple or royal hair. Now I can almost hear the increase in his volume level and his joyous excitement as he calls out in verse six, How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights. As the Lord progressed through his description of her virtues, he suddenly and spontaneously breaks into a pronouncement of his bride's spiritual delights. It's hard to visualize Jesus being so emotional. Sometimes we get discouraged because we're so emotional or because others are so emotional. Well, we have to realize that we are made in God's image. Jesus, who didn't even have a sin nature, displayed emotion, such as sorrow, weeping, joy, and anger. The key, though, is that he is not controlled by them. He controls them. So with joy and exhilaration, he cries out to his bride, That's you, by the way. How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights. I'm telling you, Jesus is a hopeless romantic. Oh verse seven, he says, Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. Now, in the early part of her spiritual experience, there was little progress or maturity, and therefore little spiritual stature to speak of. But now the time of maturity is at hand, and the Lord is able to speak about her stature. The palm tree to which he compares her stature is tall and straight. And of course, the head palm tree, quote unquote, is the Lord Jesus. So the fact that her stature is like the palm tree means that she has, in the words of the Apostle Paul, quote, become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4.13. The roots of the palm tree are in touch with a deep fountain of living waters. And even though the tree is exposed to the hot tropical sunshine, its foliage and fruit grow without hindrance. So we're taught here that even though such believers as this spouse live in a desert world and are subjected to fierce trials and testings, yet there's a hidden union with Christ that causes them to blossom and bear fruit without being affected by worldly influences. Indeed, as Psalm ninety two, twelve and thirteen says, the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Wow, flourish. And with regard to the mention of her breasts, he is again referring to her in large capacity for feeding others. Breasts are not only for the expression of love, but for nursing. In her early Christian development the expression of love was first priority, but there was little capacity to nourish others. Now, in maturity, her ability to feed others is apparent. She's compared to clusters of grapes which are capable of supplying and satisfying the hunger of others. In verses eight and nine A, he says, I said I will climb the palm tree, I will take hold of its fruit. May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. This implies that the Lord has something to take hold of in this mature maiden because she has come to full stature. The Lord wants to have fellowship with believers, and here it appears as though he's in search of Christians like her, rather than she seeking him. Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John four, verses twenty three and twenty four. He said, Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, continuing the quote, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. So having achieved full stature and having fruit on her branches, now she Now he has something to take hold of for fellowship. The passage in John 4 applied to worship, but so does Hebrews 13, 15, which says, quote, Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name. This is quite a contrast from chapter two, where she sat in his shade and enjoyed his fruit. She still has need to eat his fruit as a mature Christian, but there's a huge new twist now. He is eating her fruit.

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Oh to think of that with my Lord Jesus. That is just a phenomenal truth. Three aspects of her maturity stand out in these verses. The first is her capacity to feed others. These words are words of blessing and express the hope of increase so that this capacity to feed others would be enlarged. Secondly, the fragrance of her breath, he said it's like apples. Attention is directed here to the fragrant scent that now exudes from her whole being as a result of her previous contacts and experiences with him. While the Bibles we consulted say apples, the Hebrews the Hebrew word apparently means citrons. A citron is a pale yellow, thick skinned fruit resembling a lemon in shape and texture, but larger and with less acid. It is said that one has to eat a citron if one is to know the sweetness of its aroma. And in this book the citron tree points to Christ, as in chapter two and verse three, like an apple or a citron tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. So she, the maiden, the bride, the believer, and hopefully we have partaken of Christ, now exudes the very fragrance of his life. He's on her breath. When she breathes, it's the fragrance of Christ. When she speaks, it's the fragrance of Christ. When she sings, it's the fragrance of Christ. Her life's breath speaks of him. And the third thing that stands out in these verses is her sense of taste. Her mouth is like the best wine. Now some say this means she had a taste for the age to come, or what we call the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ. The best wine is the millennium to come, as in John 2 10, where it was said to Jesus, You have saved the best wine for last. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 26 and 29, verse 29, I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom. So her mouth has the taste of the age to come, which will be characterized by righteousness, peace, and great joy. The maiden is now going to speak in the remaining verses of chapter seven. The Lord had been speaking to and about her in the first part of chapter seven, and in his last comments he desires three things, just to summarize. Second, that the fragrance of her breath would be like apples or citrons, meaning all she's partaken of Christ would be evident on her breath, in her words, and in her songs. And third, that her mouth would be like the best wine, speaking of the coming age. These things should be the wine that's in her mouth and that flows from it. And while the Lord continues to praise her for her character, the maiden, the bride being in perfect union with him, breaks in, almost interrupting him and says in verse nine B excitedly, May the wine go straight to my lover. In other words, may the fruit of my lips go straight to you, Lord. Her motivation now was not to impress people or to be seen and honored by people for what God had done in her life. Her only desire was to take the fruit and the hymn of praise Jesus had put in her mouth and express it to him and to him alone. It reminds me of Psalm forty, verses one to three. I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. Now stepping out of the quote for a minute, that makes me think of Zacchaeus, whom Jesus had walked right past him as he sat in the fig tree. But Jesus turned to him and heard his cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. As the maiden said, May the wine, or we could say of my mouth go straight to my lover. So part B and C of verse nine together read this way she says, May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. That last phrase is how it's rendered in multiple versions of the Bible, but the Hebrew is quote, flowing gently over lips of sleepers. You may even have a footnote in your own Bible to this verse with this rendering. Sleepers or those that are asleep are those who are slack, limp, and or stale. This is the same word she used of herself in chapter five and verse two, where she was asleep, and Jesus had to come and knock at the door to wake her up and call her outside. Here, the Holy Spirit, through the words of the maiden, seems to be telling us that if we give the Lord the fruit of our lips, letting the breath that speaks of him flow out to him, letting the best wine flow out to him, it will wake up those who are sleeping in our midst. So let the wine, the fruit flow from your lips, blessing Jesus and those around you. Amen. In verse ten, she says, I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. Let me read that again. You need to hear that. I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. You know, he's not looking for an excuse to push us away. His desire is for us. Her attention is now focused on what her lover's pleasure is. She seems to have fully given up her right to herself and the pursuit of selfish interests. What is my lover's desire? Well the answer is his desire is for me. To have me, to possess me. You see, as a younger Christian, she wanted to have him in a carnal way for private satisfaction. Haven't we all been there? I have fifty years ago. We saw Jesus in his name as a way to obtain things, money, possessions, a reputation. But now her desire is to be possessed by him and know what his desire is. This is getting me pretty excited here. In the early stages of her life with him, back in chapter two and verse 16, her main thought was, My lover is mine. And as an afterthought, she added, And I am it, I am his, I suppose. And saying it in that order has a ring of possessing the Lord for personal pleasure. But now, as a result of the Lord's dealings, discipline, and even chastisement, we no longer hear her say, My lover is mine, but rather I belong to my lover. It's no longer my personal pleasure, it is now his desire. I think this says a lot about Christian maturity. To live so as to be desirable to the Lord is the highest purpose of the believer. This is the relationship, folks, between him and us. The question is not how do I feel, or what can I gain, or what service can I render? Although that's good. But it's am I desirable to Jesus personally? As a church, the question is not how many people do we have, how many parking spaces do we have? How much money do we take in? How many tears do we cry? But do we please God? Are we desirable to him? When the maiden had arrived at this place, she was ready to be a co-laborer with her bridegroom, King Jesus. Being filled with the fullness of his spirit, she's now able to begin a work on his behalf. At first it seems that she's initiating a ministry of some kind, but in reality the Spirit of God dwelling inside of her was moving and motivating her to this activity. Her walk with Jesus was such that her works now had his inspiration and stamp of approval, so she could confidently say what follows in verse 11a, come, my lover, let us go to the countryside. In this going out to the work, she wasn't acting alone, nor was the Lord moving out without her. They were moving together into the work. From here on, you can see a togetherness in their toil for God. And of course, she's been delivered from selfish motivations. So she's not nearly as interested in my meetings, my work, my church, my community, as she is in the total work the Lord is doing in the world. She's a world Christian. The whole field of the Lord's interest has filled her vision, even if it's just in her prayers, and she's one with him in all of it. In verse 11B, she says to him, Let us spend the night in the villages. Notice villages is plural, and this gives her now the nature of a pilgrim, one not living in a permanent dwelling, but intense, like Abraham, ready to move on a moment's notice. So she travels with him looking for lost or maimed sheep. To be a co-laborer with Jesus in this world, we must live the life of an adventurer, a pilgrim, always ready to move to new work, new fields of labor. Now please don't panic. This doesn't mean leaving our town or leaving our country necessarily, but could be just a move into another area of your current church or in your community in which you live. Verse 12a says, Let us go early to the vineyards. Notice her attention here is not just on her own vineyard, but on other vineyards besides. They need to culture their own vineyard. In chapter one, she complained that they made me take care of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have neglected. But now, having cultured her own vineyard, she'd come to spiritual maturity. Now she was capable of caring for other vineyards. Her vision was opening up, and she began to get a burden for other fields and villages. It's kind of like that part of the prayer of Jabez. Are you familiar with the prayer of Jabez? You know, the second part of what he asked God for was that God would enlarge his territory. And that's what is happening here with our with the maiden. The key is learning to care for and cultivate your own vineyard first. Otherwise, you can burn out spreading yourself too thin, right? She said, Let us go early. This this shows how industrious she is. In the kingdom of God, laziness is not a characteristic of spiritual life. The difference between industriousness and slothfulness is in the use of our time. Paul said make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5 16. So this loved maiden now went down with her Lord to the vineyards to, as it says in the next part of verse twelve, quote, see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms, blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom. Their attention was directed towards searching for fruit. Since she'd been delivered from selfish selfish interests, she was concerned with all the Lord's work and the growth of the life of Jesus in other believers as she moves along with her Lord, which is what walking with God is all about. Even the slightest growth was noticed, and people need to hear an encouraging word like that. The most important thing was now how to bring Christ to people. In verse twelve, she says, There I will give you my love. And where is there? Why it's in the vineyards and fields. Wherever the work is, there she will show him her love. In the past, work was a detraction to her love. Service wearied her, as it did Martha in the account of Mary and Martha, and drew her away from the fellowship of love Mary was enjoying at the feet of Jesus. But now she was able to link together the Lord and his work, to join together the Lord and His people, and to make her service to him a labor of love. It was her way of saying, I love you, Lord. In verse 13A, she says, The Mandrakes send out their fragrance. Now in Scripture, the mandrak is a love plant for want of a better term, and signifies the most intimate union between husband and wife. So what this says is that this union between the maiden and her king, or can we say between the Christian and the Lord Jesus gives out a beautiful fragrance. Verse thirteen B, she says continuing on, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old that I have stored up for you, my lover. The word door indicates what is near at hand. Although her interest extended throughout the world because Jesus' does, she doesn't have to leave the country to gather fruit. It's right at the door. Notice that her attention has been drawn to a great variety of fruit. You see, as a younger Christian, selfish as she was, she thought the only fruit there was was the kind she herself was producing. She now sees there are many kings, or kinds rather, of varieties of fruit produced in different lives. She also had enough discernment to see that there was new fruit and old fruit, and she could see the difference. You know, the body of Christ is large and very diverse in terms of the kinds of people. In the same way, there are many kinds of gifts and kinds of fruit produced, and all of it should be stored up not for our own glory or as monuments to our own wonderfulness, but for his glory and for him to eat of when he chooses. And so we bring chapter seven to a close.