The Song of Solomon

Background

Symbolism in the Song

• Solomon - Jesus
  
• The Shulamite - a young believer who is fervent, but immature; by the end of the story, she is the mature Bride who is full of glory
  
• Daughters of Jerusalem (the virgins) - believers who are not yet awakened to fervency for Jesus; they are genuinely born again, but they never attain the same level of spiritual intimacy as the Shulamite; immature believers
  
• The Watchmen - leaders in the family of God (both good and bad ones)
  
• Mother - family of God
  
• Cheeks and temples - the emotions
  
• Neck - the will
  
• Dove's eyes - singleness of vision (devotion); focus
  
• Lips - speech
  
• Mouth - intimacy
  
• Breasts - the ability to nurture new believers
  
• Myrrh - crucifixion, suffering, and death (His and ours)
  
• Wine - the best that this life has to offer
  
• Shadows - residual darkness in the heart
  
• Day break - Jesus' light in our lives
  
• Vineyard, garden, beds of spices - inner life
  
• Frankincense - prayer, intercession
  
• Perfumes - godly character, fruit
  
• Silver - redemption
  
• Gold - Deity
  
• Wood - humanity
  
• Cedar - Jesus in His humanity
  
• Purple - royalty
  
• Scarlet - redemption
  
• Gazelle - speed
  
• Stag - strength
  
• Teeth - ability to assimilate the Word
  
• Mountains - human and demonic hindrances
  
• Hills - personal difficulties in a believer's life

Ecclesiastes

Religion/Legalism

     Religion is what you are offering sinners when you fail to offer them something better than their sin. The religious spirit says that you are saved to serve Jesus, as opposed to being saved to fall in love with Jesus (service comes out of your love for Him). Religious people hate zeal and passion (that is birthed out of intimacy). Legalism says that our commitment to God produces God's commitment back to us, but in reality the order is reversed. Also, religious demons remind us of "what we should be doing," but the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; it is always necessary to have times of rest and relaxation. And lastly, hobbies can be very important for our emotional health. (Do you think God created waves just for us to look at and not ride, or snow for us to only admire and not to enjoy?)

Introduction - Cultivating Godly Intentions

     The human spirit captivates and moves the heart of God very deeply, and there is nothing you can do to earn His love and affection. God loves us right where we are, right now, and He won't love us any more when we are mature. God doesn't just enjoy us only after we mature spiritually; He enjoys us throughout the process (John 17:23,26).

     Focus on setting the intentions of our hearts on Jesus, rather than on measuring the level of our maturity.

1. If we feel like we are measuring up, we will become proud and compare ourselves with others..
2. If we feel like we are failing to measure up, we will feel ashamed and condemned, and eventually will quit seeking.
3. When we meditate on the beauty of Jesus and set the intentions of our hearts to obey (no matter how much we fail), then He will work in us until we experience spiritual maturity.

     Success doesn't depend on what we've accomplished, but if we are loved by God and are a lover of God, then we have success in the most absolute sense. We so often condemn ourselves because we don't feel as if we are spending enough time with God, but God looks at it differently. When we spend 15 minutes, God never thinks that we should have spent an hour; He is just thankful for the time that we did spend with Him. It is not about the time, but about the content of our relationship. What God's will is for us (our calling) is His problem and not ours; we shouldn't worry about it. As long as we stay focused on loving Him, God will work everything out (Eph 2:10, John 12:50, Pr 16:9).

     God has so designed our hearts that the experience of the love of God is the most enjoyable and pleasurable thing available to us. His love is better than the best that earthly experience has to offer even under God's blessing. In Song of Songs 1:2, the Bride is comparing the Bridegroom (Jesus) with the most exhilarating experiences in life. While there are many different categories of pleasures known to man, there is only one pleasure that is greater than all - it's the pleasure of God's affection. The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

The Kiss of God and the Bride's Life Passion
(Song of Solomon 1:2-4)

     The revelation of verse two should be our driving force for all that we do. Kisses represent spiritual intimacy; the experience of God's manifest love in our hearts; the words that God speaks that tenderizes our hearts. The kisses of God's Word will transform a human life. The Church will never be satisfied apart from the kisses of God's mouth. God's primary way of communicating His kiss to us is through personal meditation on the Word of God. But we can also experience it through the ministry of other people (ie. prayer, songs, testimonies, etc), or through prophetic revelation by the Holy Spirit. The divine kiss will help us culminate a Bridal perspective of the kingdom of God. Humans are created with a longing to always be captivated by something (it's just how we're created), and the divine kiss satisfies this longing. If we are not captivated by the beauty of Jesus, our hearts will automatically go after sin. This divine kiss also releases in us the longing to be wholehearted and passionate ourselves. God wants us to be satisfied in every realm of life, so much so that He risked making Eve, even though she had the potential of taking Adam's heart away from Him.

     The perfume of God speaks of Jesus' lovely personality, especially His passion and pleasure for His people. His fragrance speaks of who He is; His thought life, as well as His emotional beauty. Throughout the Song, perfume is pictured as thoughts and feelings; it expresses the beauty of what is on the inside of one's personality (2 Cor 2:14). Luke 15:20 mentions five verbs expressing Father's personality: saw, ran, felt compassion, embraced, and kissed. There is something about His personality that is like an intoxicating fragrance.

1. "Draw me away!" - This is her heart's cry for deeper intimacy. She is also acknowledging that it takes God to love God, so she is asking Him to draw her (Rom 11:36). This also speaks of the two Great Commandments (Matt 22:37-40).
2. "We will run after You." - This is her heart's cry for partnership in ministry with Jesus. She wants to be a lover of God and a servant of people. Our "running" must come out of a growing intimacy with our Bridegroom. This also speaks of the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20).

The Beginning of the Bride's Spiritual Journey
(Song of Solomon 1:5-11)

     Darkness represents the reality of her weak flesh. God reveals to her the dark areas of her heart, but He also speaks of how lovely she is to Him. Although she finds herself struggling with her flesh, she begins to understand that her willingness to obey Jesus is lovely to the Father. These verses speak of a sincere believer who is struggling with weakness in their life; it is not describing a person who is continually rebelling against God. There is a big difference between Judas' heart of betrayal and the weak flesh of the others. An apostate (a heart of betrayal) is one who flips God off and tells Him they want nothing to do with Him. To consistently grow spiritually requires that we know we are lovely to God, while we are in the process of discovering the darkness of our hearts. It's a real paradox for a young believer to discover their sin, but at the same time discover God's love for them and their beauty in Him.

1. The finished work of the cross - We are lovely in His sight because of His work; not because of what we do (2 Cor 5:21).
2. He has given us a willing spirit through the new birth - The work of the Holy Spirit to produce a "YES!" in our spirit appears beautiful to God.
3. The nature of God's personality - The passions of God's heart determines how God feels toward us.
4. The Bride's destiny before God as His Son's future possession - The certainty of our destiny as an adorned, embraced and enthroned Bride with Jesus is a substantial reality of our beauty.

     Five problems related to her spiritual crisis:

1. Other believers reject her - The angry sons speak of older, carnal believers who may have been angry with her over her misguided zeal. The untempered zeal of young believers sometimes make bored believers upset.
2. She is overworked, and eventually burns out - Leaders that lack discernment in passion for Jesus tend to overwork those who are red hot for God. Embracing burdens outside of God's grace is the place of burnout. Burnout comes from a religious yolk that consists of caring for responsibilities that men give us outside of those that God gives us.
3. She is distracted from her first love for her Bridegroom - She has failed to nurture her personal communion with God.
4. She feels shame from sin - She is aware of her weakness and immaturity, and feels used by others within the family of God.
5. She is serving her Bridegroom at a distance - She describes herself as living at a distance from the Lord.

     The Bridegroom speaks directly to her shame and rejection, saying, "You may despise yourself and appear unlovely in the eyes of other believers, but you are still beautiful to Me." He speaks to her heart and not to her mind. He is helping her to remember His love. He focuses on her loveliness and not her darkness of heart. (Even our emotions are lovely to the Lord). The phrase "fairest of women" speaks of how He looks at her in comparison to the vast majority of the world's population who have no interest in Him. In His three-fold answer, He indicates that He wants her to stay committed to the family of God, to take care of her God-given responsibilities, and to stay submitted to the spiritual authority He has placed over her. When we see the faults of the imperfect leaders that God has put over us, we're tempted to no longer dwell by their "tents." Yet God uses imperfect shepherds to mature us and do deep things in our hearts.

     Her Bridegroom sees her strong desire to follow Him in righteousness, He sees her emotions rekindled again for Him, and He sees her desire to submit to His authority and her resolute will to obey Him.

The Bride's Identity in the Beauty of Jesus (Song of Solomon 1:12-2:7)

     His table is the revelation of the provision of the Cross. He feeds His Bride's spirit on the truths of who He is and what He did for her. He again embraces her at His table, and she partakes of the free gift of redemption.

1:12-14 - The Bride's Response to the King's Provision

     She responds with spontaneous worship, continuous mediation on the Cross, and a declaration of His beauty. The female spirit needs to feel secure in order for her to truly open up physically and emotionally. The more secure and loved we feel by God, the more we will open up to Him.

1:15 - The Revelation of Her Beauty to God

     He convinces her of her beauty even though she is still spiritually immature. God sees weak people as beautiful to Him in the grace of Jesus. Affirmation in marriage is a pattern of God's heart. The woman wants the man to think she is the most beautiful thing alive, and the man also deeply wants the woman to think he is the most handsome guy alive. Affirmation is the key for a husband to lead his wife into her full potential.

1:16-17 - The Bride's Response to God's Affection

     His loveliness penetrates her spirit, and she is overcome with the wonder of His love. When Jesus appears pleasant to the soul of a believer, then full obedience seems so reasonable. When we truly understand the fact that He enjoys us, we will start to enjoy Him. The Bride rests in the love of God because of the abundance of His love.

2:1 - The Bride's Identity as Jesus' Beautiful Inheritance

     She has now become secure in His love and she see herself as a rose being cultivated by His love; she now sees herself as the inheritance that the Father has promised His Son.

2:2 - The Bride's Unique Value and Beauty to Christ

     The Bride is a breath of fresh air to Him as she desires to live a life of purity while living in a world of sin.

2:3 - The Bride's Understanding of Jesus' Unique Value and Beauty

     She is resting in the shade of who He is and what He did for her. She sees Him as the most refreshing personality in existence. She is not trying to motivate God to love her through her good works. Rather, she sits in His shade (resting in His love), relating to Him on the basis of the finished work of the Cross, and not her degree of maturity. Prayer is not a "discipline" or a "duty." Rather it is a passion to be intimate with Father; prayer should flow out of relationship all throughout the day. It's important to get the junk out of our lives once we get saved, but getting rid of stuff will only last so long. We must also replace it with the pleasures of God.

2:4 - The Provision that Leads Her to Rest and Joy

     "The banner of His love over her" means that she can have confidence in God's loving mercy even in her weakness. It is not rejection when she stumbles, but it is love. The banner also enables her to see that her Bridegroom will overrule all the negative circumstances of her life and will eventually turn things around for her ultimate good. And now the banner of His love comforts her instead of the comforts of sin. You will go through seasons when it is just you and Him; He will hem you in by shutting the doors, so that you will focus completely on Him (and not on any work or ministry).

2:5 - The Bride's Cry for a Deeper Experience of Intimacy

     The two forms of lovesickness are:

• Feelings of love - the sense of His presence upon our hearts gives us a greater desire for Him.
• Spiritual hunger pains - unpleasant feelings of desperation as God appears to withhold His tangible, felt presence from us. He withdraws His presence to make us more desperate for Him so that He can come to us in a greater way.

     In response to her cry for more, her Lover is now releasing His embrace upon her. The Lord is sparing her from trouble she is not aware of, with His left arm, and with His right arm, He embraces her and manifests His presence to her.

2:7 - Jesus Guards Her in this Season of Her Experience

     There are seasons in believers' lives when the Lord seeks to establish them in the revelation of His love, and He doesn't want them doing a lot of religious activity. We are not fit for service until we know and are established in the love of God.

Challenging the Bride's Comfort Zone
(Song of Solomon 2:8-17)

     Jesus is seen as the King who overcomes human and demonic obstacles.

2:9 - The Bride's Wall of Isolation and Self-Protection

     Initially, Jesus had isolated her behind a wall that shut out the world with its problems, so that she may be nurtured in His love. However, at this point, He is trying to draw her out of her private world of self-concern.

2:10 - The Bride Called Out of Her Comfort Zone to Co-Labor with Him

     Many believers are content to do the work of ministry without continually being drawn into the Divine romance. They serve in a task-oriented way, instead of a love-oriented way. Ministry without intimacy produces burnout. Bridal partnership is totally different. A bride is refreshed as she labors. As we adore the Lord in our obedience and service, we become free from striving. When you find of place of resting in God, you won't minister out of a fear or a task-oriented mentality.

     Romance is often found in the place of silent adoration before God. Be silent and just put your thoughts on the things of God. Don't be under shame if you fall asleep or if your thoughts wander. Just keep pressing on and learning how to "rest" in silent adoration of God. It is better that it take you a year to learn this, than that you never learn it at all.

     As Jesus calls her to arise, she doesn't want to take the risks associated with walking by faith, and she doesn't like the struggles of spiritual warfare. Jesus' actions in wooing her are necessary to bring her to mature partnership.

2:11-13 - The Bride Encouraged by Signs of the Harvest

     Jesus urgently calls to her again to come out of her "comfort zone" in order to experience the coming harvest. We must be rooted and established in love before we can handle the harvest.

2:14 - The Bride Embraced in Her Weakness

     The Lord reveals His tender heart of affection for her even in her struggle with fear. He still calls her His dove even though He knows she is going to give in to fear. He still sees the sincerity of her heart and her devotion for Him. He knows that she is going to compromise for a period, but He also knows that it is because of fear and not rebellion.

2:15 - The Bride's Prayer for Deliverance from Compromise

     She is now beginning to see that these small areas of compromise are important to deal with because they are destructive to her life of deeper intimacy with her Bridegroom.

2:16 - The Bride's Sincere Love Expressed

     She has confidence that she has not lost her place in God's heart. She knows the Lord did not cast her aside because of her struggle. She is committed, yet not fully victorious and mature.

2:17 - The Bride's Painful Compromise

     She tells Him to turn and go to the mountains without her. She is basically saying, "Until I'm more mature, and I've dealt with all the areas of my life that are weak, I don't feel I'm qualified to partner with You in ministry." "Bether" in Hebrew means "separation." The Bride understands the coming sense of separation she'll feel in their relationship because of her unwillingness to follow her Lover to the mountains. She knows that she was made to live on the mountains with Him, but she is not ready to venture out. The price you pay for disobedience is greater than the price you pay for obedience.

Divine Correction
(Song of Solomon 3:1-5)

     The Lord disciplines her by withdrawing His manifest presence as she stays behind the wall of isolation. Jesus refuses to manifest Himself to her until she obeys Him because He loves her too much to leave her in the position she finds herself. The withdrawal of the Lord's presence has nothing to do with the security of her salvation, but rather her ability to discern His nearness to her heart. When the Lord lifts the sense of His presence from our lives, He is humbling us causing us to become aware of our need for Him, He is alerting us to problems in our own hearts, and He awakens in us deeper hunger for Himself.

     The Lord's fiery, passionate love for us compels Him to discipline us (Heb 12:5-12). His affections for us are like a fire that consumes everything in our lives that keeps us from experiencing more of Him.

     In verse one, the bride uses all the proven spiritual principles from her past in order to find Him, but her Lover wants her to find Him by rising up in the midst of the dark season of her life. He wants her to stir herself up, not out of hype or legalism, but out of desperation in order to take hold of Him in a new way. Many Christians believe that they are hopeless hypocrites every time they encounter their weak flesh. But it is important for us to understand that we can still call Him, "the One I love," even before every area of our lives is spiritually mature.

     In verse two, after seeing that prayer alone would not solve her problems, the young Bride adds obedience to her prayers. She finally "rises up" in obedience to the command given her in 2:10 & 13. The disappointment of losing the sense of His presence motivates her to leave her comfort zone to seek help from the family of God. The Bride humbles herself before her leaders and asks them for their help and assistance when she asks, "Have you seen the One I love?" Her humility expressed in recognizing her need of help from others is a new discipline in her life that is quickly rewarded with the return of the sense of His presence.

3:4 - The Lord's Presence Returns in Response to Her Obedience

     As she rises up to seek Him in the city (the place where corporate life and activity occur), the Lord suddenly renews His presence in response to her obedience. She discovers a new holy embrace that results from her painful season of spiritual struggle. God's main purpose in withholding His presence is to ignite a deep fire in her heart. Her obedience now extends to the service of others within the family of God.

3:5 - Jesus Guards Her in this Season of Her Experience

     The Lord's admonition to other believers is to not pressure the Bride to move on until she is prepared. The Lord has each of us on a spiritual course that is tailor made just for who we are and where we are going. Spiritually insensitive and immature people sometimes foolishly talk fervent, young believers into various forms of compromise in the name of grace. They end up distracting these young believers from the work of discipline the Spirit is trying to accomplish in their lives. Jesus is solemnly telling other believers not to disrupt her in this strategic season.

A Revelation of the "Safe" Leadership of Jesus
(Song of Solomon 3:6-11)

     This question highlights the ascension of Jesus after His incarnation and crucifixion. The Bride wants the daughters of Jerusalem (immature believers) to realize that Jesus' incarnation and death prove that He has their good in mind.

     The wilderness can speak of life in this fallen world, times of intense testing, a season of spiritual warfare, or a place of encountering God. Jesus' victory over this fallen world ("the wilderness") makes Him a sympathetic High Priest who understands the temptations of those who belong to Him (Heb 4:15). He feels what we're going through in the wilderness and because He is victorious, we do not have to be afraid of trusting Him. Jesus did everything to secure our eternal safety, and He is presently doing everything necessary to bring us "home" safely. As believers, we're protected by His work on the Cross, as well by His continued intercession.

3:7-8 - The Bride's Further Description of Jesus' Protection

     The sinner may find rest on His "couch" through the finished work of the Cross. The couch is the place where we are seated with Him. Our eternal destination is to sit on Jesus' wedding couch with Him, as His Bride.

3:9-10 - Jesus' Redemption of the Bride

     Our spiritual safety is established in the divinely orchestrated plan of God to accomplish eternal redemption for us through the death of His Son. The seat the Bride is sitting on has been established on the Father's authority. Therefore, she can rest on the Gospel, knowing that nothing can overthrow it. The affections of Jesus are foundational to His redemptive work on the Cross.

3:11 - The Bride's Exhortation to Young Believers

     The Bride speaks prophetically according to who they will become through the grace of God. The revelation of Jesus as a "safe" Savior will always make the difference in the lives of believers. Rev 19:12 says that Jesus is crowned with many crowns, but the crown that He wants more than any other is the crown of the voluntary love of His Bride (Isa 62:3). On the day of His wedding, Jesus is pictured as receiving His Bride with the happiness and joy of a Bridegroom.

The Prophetic Affirmations of the Bridegroom
(Song of Solomon 4:1-8)

     There is nothing more important to our future maturity, security, and encouragement than the revelation of God's lo Father has clothed the Bride with the same beautiful garments that Jesus possesses. The passions of God's heart determine how He feels about us. It is because of His heart that we are beautiful to Him. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

4:1-5 - The Description of the Mature Bride

     Jesus' eight prophetic affirmations of the Bride's character:

1. Dove's eyes - speak of single-mindedness and devotion. A dove has no peripheral vision; it cannot focus on two objects at the same time. The Bride is focused on Him instead of on the things of this world. Also, a dove never mates again after the death of its partner. This depicts her loyalty and faithfulness to her Bridegroom.
2. Hair - speaks of consecration and dedication (Num 6).
3. Teeth - speak of the ability to chew (receive) the meat of God's Word.
4. Lips - speak of the Bride's speech and communication. Her speech is wholesome and edifying to those around her; her words are sweet to God in worship and prayer.
5. Mouth - speaks of the Bride's intimacy and communion with Jesus. Jesus is delighted because of her communion with Him.
6. Temples (cheeks) - speak of her emotions. The Bride's emotions are sweet to God. She is modest, and sensitive to shameful things. Her spiritual life is not just an outward show for others to see (the veil).
7. Neck - speaks of her will. She is resolute in her determination to obey her Lord.
8. Breasts - speak of her ability to feed and nurture others through the milk of the Word, and out of her love for Jesus.

     The Bride determines to continue in her spiritual journey until all compromise is gone. The Bride is willing to embrace the call of the Cross, denying herself "lesser lovers" in order to experience greater intimacy with Jesus. And prayer is what empowers the heart to embrace the demands of the Cross.

4:7 - Jesus Continues to Affirm His Bride

     Jesus sums up the Bride's life as He sees it. The Lord is defining her life in terms of her willingness to obey Him, and not in terms of her weak flesh. Although she is not yet fully mature, she is still lovely to Jesus. He esteems the sincerity and desire of her heart as if there were no flaw in her.

4:8 - The Bridegroom's Call to Spiritual Warfare

     No longer is she just an immature maiden, but she is now beginning to function as a Bride. He affirms her just prior to the two of them partnering in spiritual warfare against the enemy. God is calling us to see things from His perspective. If we only view our circumstances from a natural point of view, we will eventually lose heart. We must look at things from His point of view if we are going to prevail in spiritual warfare.

The Ravished Heart of Jesus
(Song of Solomon 4:9 - 5:1)

     False ideas about the heart and character of God have damaged our intimacy with Him. Greek philosophy (Stoicism) has so infiltrated the Church that many picture God as One who is emotionally distant from them. This philosophy teaches that if God was moved by the human heart, then it would make Him inferior to His creation. Unfortunately, we're often impressed by these "non-emotional" people who pretend like they are not moved at all by emotions.

4:9-10 - Jesus' Extravagant Affection for His Bride

     Jesus reveals how lovely His Bride is to Him. Holy emotion has overwhelmed His heart. No one loves like God loves. He is ravished over weak, foolish, and despised people (Luke 16:20-22). Jesus is overcome by the Bride's heart, and not by her accomplishments. Her desire to love and obey Him is what moves His heart. Just one glance from a sincere believer is irresistible to Jesus. God will not overlook even one act of obedience (Matt 10:42; Heb 6:10). Jesus wants her love even more than her work. He desires love more than sacrifice (Hos 6:6). And lastly Jesus is saying to the Bride, "Your love is more precious to Me than everything My hands have created. I would rather have your love than anything in the universe." (Seriously think about that for a few minutes).

4:10-11 - Jesus Affirms His Pleasure Over Her Character

     The Bride's thought-life releases a sweet aroma before the Lord, and her speech is seasoned with the grace of God - it is balanced, wise, and not excessive.

4:12 - The Bride's Deep Devotion to Jesus

     Her life is a source of pleasure to Jesus. The Bride is described as an enclosed garden. She is "enclosed" in the sense that she continually guards her heart from the defilement and pollution of the world. The purpose of a king's garden was to provide him with a place of enjoyment and rest; its fragrances gave the king extreme pleasure and delight. God is more committed to you then you will ever be to Him.

4:13-14 - A Description of the Bride's Life

     The Bride's life is compared to an orchard filled with all kinds of trees and plants, speaking of a fruitful ministry with great abundance and diversity.

4:15 - A Description of the Bride's Ministry

     The indwelling Christ is the Bride's inward source of supply that enables her to refresh the lives of others. As she draws from her past experiences with the Lord, she is able to provide refreshment to others during their seasons of spiritual dryness. Ministry is an impartation of life; you cannot impart what you have not experienced. To be effective in ministering to the lost, you must be carrying something on you resembling heaven (looks, smells, tastes, etc).

4:16 - The Bride's Cry for a Greater Anointing

     The Bride is asking for a deeper work to be accomplished in her heart so that her life can continue to be a blessing to others. Her first request is that Jesus would allow the cold north winds of adversity to mature her. There are areas in each of our lives that can only mature as we endure seasons of difficulty (James 1:2-4). The Bride's second request is that her Lover would also send the refreshing south winds of blessing to nurture her. She understands that the north and south winds are both necessary for her to become a fragrant garden for God's pleasure.

5:1 - Jesus Enjoys His Inheritance

     Jesus is celebrating the work His Spirit has done in her life that has enabled her to nourish and strengthen others.

The Two-Fold Test of Maturity
(Song of Solomon 5:2-8)

     Jesus wants His Bride to see Him as the One who endured the agonies of Gethsemane and the sufferings of the Cross. "Knocking" refers to the initiative God takes in bringing His Bride into new dimensions of His Spirit. In this case, the "knock" on the door of her heart is in answer to her prayer for the north winds. Jesus' purpose in knocking is to get her to open up completely to Him. He wants all of her. Jesus uses four powerful affirmations to reinforce His love for her so she can open her heart to the tests that are coming. The greatest motivation Jesus could ever use to lead us into a deeper dimension of His Spirit is His love.

5:3-5 - The Bride's Instant Obedience

     The context here suggests that the Bride is in a place of mature obedience. Her robe (garments) speaks of her own works. She is saying, "I'm not standing before You on my own merits. I've taken off my robe and I've put on Your robe of righteousness." The Bride instantly responds to open the door of her heart to Him so that the Cross will touch every area of her life. This depicts her full obedience.

5:6 - The First Test of Suffering

     The Bride experiences a withdrawal of the Lord's manifest presence while pursuing a deeper obedience. She has never gone through anything like this before. This season is totally different than what she experienced earlier when the Lord withdrew His presence because of her disobedience (3:1-2).

     The Bride's greatest desire has been to experience the presence of her Bridegroom, yet now He hides His face from her. He never leaves her, but the discernable sense of His presence is withheld from her. This is a God-ordained test because of her desire for full maturity. The issue here is whether or not she will fervently obey Him without feeling His presence. Will she be faithful to obey regardless of how difficult the circumstances become? Is she seeking the Lord primarily for her own spiritual pleasure, or will she obey Him for His sake alone? When you're in "the dark night of the soul," don't expect to find any answers; during this season, God doesn't want us to look for answers but to look for Him.

     Her test cannot be cut short by more urgent seeking, nor will more prayer and fasting remove this difficult situation because the Lord (and not the devil) has initiated it. The "silence of the Lord" is part of His training to cause the Bride's heart to become more lovesick. No amount of faith will keep us from going through trials and dryness (unlike what some say). We all too often are willing to settle for too little of God; therefore, God sends trials our way to increase our desperation for Him. Desperation breeds hunger and hunger draws the heart of God to the human spirit. God wants us to be so lovesick that we want absolutely nothing, but Him. The purpose of this season is to make you become so desperate that ministry doesn't even matter any more, and the only thing you want is for God to be real once again. When you're experiencing this dark season, be real and don't give Father your religious clich�s. Take your mask off and express to Father exactly what is in your heart.

5:7 - The Second Test of Suffering

     The Bride encounters rejection and persecution at the hands of her leaders. The language here suggests that some of her leaders had a hidden agenda. They may have been jealous of her intimate relationship with the Lord. Or they may have misinterpreted the season she was in and thought that what she was going through was a result of sin. In either case, they "went about the city" seeking anything they could find to discredit her. And they expose her weakness before the world. She is rejected and unjustly persecuted by the spiritual authorities over her. The people that she committed herself to are now rejecting her; she is experiencing the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. The majority of Jesus' sufferings came from the rejection by others.

5:8 - The Bride's Response of Humility

     The Bride's humility is seen in her commitment to be faithful to both Jesus and His body. Out of deep humility, the Bride asks immature believers to help her find the Lord. She doesn't retreat into bitter isolation. Instead of being offended, the Bride is lovesick for Jesus. She's letting the Lord do a deeper work in her heart during this season of testing. She's not mad at Him for withdrawing His presence and for allowing others to mistreat her. She understands that all of the Lord's dealings with her will eventually reveal His deep love for her.

The Bride's Response to the Two-Fold Test
(Song of Solomon 5:9 - 6:3)

     "What is your beloved more than another beloved?" The immature believers can't understand how the Bride can be so passionate for Jesus even in the midst of her rejection and pain. They are amazed that she can be so devoted to Him when He has seemingly treated her so harshly! They don't know Jesus as intimately as the Bride does. Many people in the Church lack a deep experiential knowledge of Jesus, which affects the way they respond during seasons of testing. They easily become offended at the Lord because they don't understand His heart for them.

     Through the daughter's question, it is quite obvious that they have learned to become somewhat satisfied with other "lovers" (career, money, ministry, hobbies, etc). It is not that they don't love the Lord; they just haven't caught a glimpse of who He really is. Much of the Church today is seduced by prosperity. But before God releases funds, He must capture our hearts so much so that we don't put money before Him. The most prosperous people often end up burned-out and fail to lean on God. The easier it is to live somewhere, the harder it is to serve God - in America we have everything we need, so why would we need God?

5:10-16 - The Bride's First Response (A Description of the Beauty of Jesus)

     Instead of condemning the immature believers, the Bride reveals Jesus to them. Instead of cutting them off, she leads them to the heart of her Lover. Her response focuses on the beauty of Jesus. It is the knowledge of Jesus' beauty that empowers her to be an extravagant worshipper even during severe testing. The Bride is focused on the majestic personality of Jesus instead of being preoccupied with her own problems. It was her knowledge of His personality that enabled her to endure the darkest season of her life. There is nothing more important to the life of a believer than to know the depths of God's personality! Meditating on the splendor of Jesus brings great pleasure and delight to the human heart (Ps 145:5).

     The knowledge of Jesus' beauty enables the Bride to worship Him even in the midst of her "dark night of the soul." Instead of being offended, she responds by magnifying His incomparable superiority over everything this world has to offer. But human language falls short of describing God's personality.

5:10 - A General Statement of Christ's Majesty

     Jesus is stunning and dazzling to the Bride, radiant in His splendor (Ps 104:2). 1 Tim 6:16 says that God dwells in unapproachable light. God is unapproachable in the sense that our human capacity is limited in its ability to receive of His fullness. When the Bride says that her Beloved is "ruddy," she's describing the Lord's perfectly balanced personality. All of Jesus' attributes are in healthy balance, working together in harmony; He is the only "whole" person who ever walked the earth. Jesus is distinguished as One who stands out among the masses; He is the most indescribably lovely Person the human heart can experience.

5:11a - His Head - His Sovereign Leadership

     Jesus is sovereign and head over all creation. The head sets the direction for the rest of the body. There is no imperfection or impurity in His leadership.

5:11b - His Locks - His Dedication to His Bride

     The Bride understands that the Lord's dedication to her will always be vibrant and fresh. She is secure, knowing that His commitment to her will never grow old and fade away. Jesus is forever dedicated to His Bride; he will never lose heart for His people.

5:12 - His Eyes - His Faithfulness and Singleness of Vision

     The Lord's eyes speak of His ability to see and discern everything. He has perfect insight into every area of our lives. His perspective is absolutely pure, and His eyes are loyal to His Bride. The Lord has the ability to see things through the purity and innocence of His own heart. He interprets things about our lives through the cleanness of His own heart because His motives are always pure. He knows exactly what we need in order to grow in our love for Him. Even the smallest acts of obedience and mercy don't go unnoticed by the Lord.

5:13a - His Cheeks - His Emotional Make-up

     The cheeks are the windows of the emotions. They enable us to see whether a person is happy or sad. His affections for us are fragrant and refreshing to our hearts. But in order to experience the reality of His affections, we must have a right image of God. We have to understand the passions of His heart for us. Many Christians believe God is perpetually angry with them. But in reality, His emotions toward us are passionate and delightful. And His longing for us is much stronger than our longings for Him will ever be!

5:13b - His Lips - His Word

     As our Bridegroom, Jesus has the ability to speak lovingly and precisely to the needs of our hearts, whether it is through the Scriptures or directly by the Holy Spirit (Ps 45:2; John 6:63; 7:46). His words are tender and sweet like a lily. And His words are motivated by the incredible sacrificial love that He has for His Bride. Everything Jesus says to us comes from a heart of kindness. Even when He corrects us, we must see it as coming from His heart of sacrificial love; loving correction is never to be taken as rejection.

5:14a - His Hands - His Divine Activity

     His hands (arms) refer to the way He accomplishes His work. His hands are skillful in doing everything perfectly. Nothing happens to us by accident. His perfect wisdom is orchestrating every detail of our lives. His promise to us is that everything will eventually work for our good.

5:14b - His Body (Belly) - His Tender Compassion

     So many people are intolerant of the weaknesses of others. But Jesus is so different! He delights in showing mercy toward His people. His mercy and compassion lead us to greater purity and godly wisdom.

5:15a - His Legs - The Administration of His Purposes

     The Lord's plans are always executed with dignity, order and strength. God's plans are enduring and permanent; they will never fail!

5:15b - His Countenance - His Impartation to His People

     When the light of God shines on the human heart, the Lord is imparting His graces upon a person. Only the Lord has the unique ability to leave a godly deposit on the human heart. There is nothing more pleasurable to the human spirit than the countenance (presence) of the Lord.

5:16a - His Mouth - Intimacy with Jesus

     The Lord's mouth speaks of the communication (kisses) of intimacy. Nothing delights the heart of the Bride like spiritual intimacy with her Bridegroom. The Bride is saying, "When You impart Your presence to me, it's the sweetest thing I could ever experience." In times of spiritual dryness, one of the best things we can do is withdraw from all of the activities around us and get alone with the Lord. If we'll give Him time to manifest Himself to us, we'll discover that His mouth is the sweetest thing our hearts could ever imagine.

5:16 - His Comprehensive Beauty

     The Bride clearly indicates that it is impossible to fully comprehend the Lord's matchless beauty. To her, He is the loveliest Person imaginable. The "Jesus" of religion is so different from the "Jesus" that she knows. The Bride wants to present Him as the glorious "Answer" to the question asked by the daughters (in verse 9). She seeks to capture their hearts for Jesus by magnifying His beauty.

6:1 - The Daughters' Second Question

     The Bride's love for Jesus is causing the daughters to seek the Lord with greater passion. The immature believers want to know where they can find Jesus in a more intimate way. They no longer want to serve Him from a distance. The Bride's positive response to her tests provides an opportunity for others around her to grow in the Lord. The daughters see how she has continued to love the Lord in spite of the pain and rejection she has experienced and they want to be like her. Her faithfulness awakens in them a deeper hunger for Jesus and now they want practical instruction on how to seek Him.

6:2-3 - The Bride's Second Answer

     The Bride shows them how to find intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is deeply committed to feeding His people in the midst of the corporate family of God. Everything He does is for the purpose of nurturing them and enlarging their hearts in His love. Jesus is always drawing to Himself those who belong to Him. In 2:16, the Bride was more interested in what He meant to her than what she meant to Him, but now it is reversed. The Bride has matured to such an extent that she now realizes she belongs to Jesus; she sees herself as His inheritance.

Jesus' Affirmation of the Bride After Her Season of Testing
(Song of Solomon 6:4-10)

     The revelation of Jesus' affections for her and her loving obedience to Him in time of testing has enhanced her beauty. Jesus affirms that her beauty would be enough to win both believers and unbelievers to wholehearted love and devotion to Him. She is likened to a victorious army because she has gained victory over her own soul during this time of extreme pain and confusion. She didn't give in to the enemy by blaming her Lover, and she didn't give up on the Lord when everything went wrong. Instead, she responded to Him in love, in the midst of the most difficult test of her life. It was the revelation of God's love for her that strengthened her during her hour of testing. Sin programs us for rejection and not for unconditional love.

6:5a - Jesus' Portrayal of His Passion for His Bride

     Jesus is overwhelmed by the irresistible love of His Bride; He is so deeply moved by her level of love and commitment that He is absolutely overcome. This is one of the most intense passages in all of the Bible. God is overwhelmed by weak people who have a heart to submit to His Spirit. The Bride did not understand the impact that her eyes (devotion and faithfulness) were having on the Lord's heart because she felt little or nothing during her test of faith. Jesus is using love language to illustrate the hold the Bride has upon His heart. Our love for Jesus in the midst of severe testing is more precious to Him than we will ever understand. Nothing in all of God's creation overwhelms His heart like the love and devotion of the Bride. Angels can't even understand the mystery of the Gospel because they were not created in God's image, and the Gospel is not for them.

6:5b-7 - Jesus' Portrayal of the Bride's Maturity

     The character descriptions here are the same as in 4:1-3; however, these same character traits have now come to maturity as a result of the period of testing that she endured.

6:8-9 - The Royal Courts of the Heavenly Bridegroom

     The courts of heaven include a host of glorious attendants, representing various degrees of glory and honor. Yet, He declares to His Bride, "You transcend all of them." The angelic hosts of heaven are inferior in glory in comparison with the Bride. God's ultimate purpose for the Bride is that she would be filled with all the fullness of Christ. The Bride is Jesus' only inheritance, and His magnificent obsession. The hosts of heaven will rejoice as the Bride comes into her eternal position next to her Bridegroom and King.

6:10 - The Bride's Crown of Glory

     God's mercy is the foundation of everything the Bride accomplishes. The mature Church is to be a source of light in a dark and fallen world. The beauty of the Bride comes from the light and glory of Jesus, which is freely imparted to her. The Bride will have His authority, and she will be seated at His side, reflecting His glory throughout eternity! The mature Bride will one day be a majestic army that experiences great victory over the kingdom of darkness. The powers of darkness will be terrified of her because of the authority and glory the Lord has placed upon her. She will be the weapon in God's hand over all His enemies.

The Vindication of the Bride
(Song of Solomon 6:11 - 7:9)

     The Family of God is compared with the garden of nuts. (I just had to emphasize that point . . . Come on! Lighten up! God has a sense of humor as well!)

     The Bride is determined to serve the purposes of God amongst her family. The walnut trees provided shade and refreshing, oil and cleansing, and medicine. The Bride desires to visit the Lord's vineyard in places outside of her own sphere. She's committed to help other believers grow and mature in their love for the Bridegroom. The Bride wants to nurture and embrace those who are not yet mature in the things of God. Do you want to be used by God? Stay low; God loves humility. The big-named ministers will not be the ones closest to Jesus, but rather people like the widow who gave all she had.

6:12 - The Bride's Love for the Family of God

     One of the greatest characteristics of the end-time Bride will be her fiery passion for other believers. The heart of the Bride will be swift to move forward in love and compassion for other parts of the Body of Christ. This will be in answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17.

6:13a - A Positive Response from the Daughters of Jerusalem

     The daughters express their desire to seek the Lord with her. They want to follow her example as she follows her Bridegroom. The daughters loved her ministry because the fragrance of Jesus was with her.

6:13b - A Sarcastic Response from Some of the Bride's Leaders

     "The dance" speaks of a negative interaction (spiritual warfare). Spiritual warfare is often manifested as division between jealous people and godly people. The Lord always uses the jealous people (the Esau's) to train the godly (the Jacob's) in righteousness. God used Saul to prepare David for kingship. Jesus will bring division between the sincere and the insincere (the rebellious). The passionate Bride will always disrupt the agendas of politically motivated leaders. The leaders' jealousy for the Bride's purity and devotion to Jesus will cause them to view her as a troublemaker, implying that she brings division wherever she goes.

7:1-5 - The Bride's Vindication

     The daughters respond to the jealous leaders by affirming ten godly characteristics in the Bride's life:

1. The Bride experienced success in evangelism.
2. The Bride's walk was one of purity and devotion adorned by the grace of God.
3. The Bride's early foundations were good because God nourished her properly, producing in her a balanced and wholesome inner life.
4. The coming harvest will be birthed out of the womb of the Bride.
5. The Bride has the ability to nurture and feed others.
6. The Bride's resolute commitment to her Lover is a powerful protection against the onslaughts of the enemy.
7. The Bride's spiritual insight was incredibly pure and focused.
8. The Bride possessed discernment in matters of spiritual warfare that she might guard the family of God.
9. The wisdom and purity of the Bride's thought-life is likened to a fruitful and beautiful mountain.
10. The work of the Holy Spirit in her enables the Bride to be fully dedicated to her Bridegroom.
11. Her love and obedience (her strong resolve to do the will of God) captivates the heart of her Bridegroom.

     There is nothing more delightful to Jesus than the love that flows from the heart of His Bride. Jesus affirms the Bride's spiritual maturity, and her tremendous perseverance under pressure. He also affirms her incredible ability to nurture others through the Word of God. Then Jesus promises to release His power and presence in and through His Bride. The Bride's inner life is refreshing and delightful to Jesus. The best thing that Jesus can experience in His created order is intimacy with His Bride. This is the most pleasurable thing to Him outside of the Godhead.

The Bride's Mature Partnership with Jesus
(Song of Solomon 7:9 - 8:4)

     The Bride seeks to avoid everything that resists the Spirit's activity in her life. She doesn't want the Lord to have to wrestle with her in order for her to obey Him. She is determined to live a life of instant obedience based on love and not legalism or condemnation. The Spirit uses the Bride to lovingly revive those who are spiritually asleep, so that they may live for the Lord.

7:10 - The Bride's Two-Fold Identity in the Love of God

1. The Bride's obedience is first rooted in her identity as a lover of God. Her identity is defined by Who she loves, and not by what she does.

2. The Bride has incredible insight into her identity as the one whom Jesus desires. This is her greatest revelation, and this is what motivates her to instant obedience. The revelation of God's enjoyment of us, even in our weakness, empowers us to overcome Satan's accusations against us.

     In the midst of revival and harvest, the Bride still stays focused on her intimacy with Jesus. The Bride doesn't want to work in the harvest fields unless her Lover goes with her, and she is willing to embrace inconvenience in laboring in vineyards that are not her own. (It's rare to find leaders or ministries that are willing to invest in the ministries of others). The Bride has patience with the spiritually immature (that are difficult to work with), and she sees the value and potential in each of them.

     The Bride is still an intimate lover of Jesus in the midst of her selfless labors for others. She has fully embraced the call to draw near to Him in intimacy and the call to run with Him in ministry. Many of God's servants lose their intimacy with the Lord and try to find their identity in the ministry, which will eventually lead to burnout. But the Lord's plan is to have a Bride who works with Him as a result of her extravagant love for Him. This romance releases a fragrance as thne of the hardest things for us to do is share the intimate things of the Lord with those we have known for years. We sometimes find ourselves intimidated by their knowledge of our past. But even in the most familiar relationships, the Bride wants to give her best to Jesus. She doesn't want to be intimidated by anything.

8:3-4 - Bridal Partnership Expressed in the Bride's Communion with Jesus

     His left hand represents the invisible work of God in the Bride's life, and His right hand represents the manifestation of the Lord's discernable love. The Lord manifests His embrace to her so she can feel and experience it, and so it might tenderize her heart.

The Bridal Seal of Love
(Song of Solomon 8:5-7)

     The Spirit gives a prophetic proclamation of the Bride's final victory. It's obvious that He sees the mature Bride at the end of history that has persevered and overcome through her trials in this world. The Bride has fully embraced the "weakness" of the Cross and has acknowledged Jesus as the source of her strength. As a result of her testing, she has a deep understanding of her inadequacies and weaknesses (2 Cor 12:7-9). In times of blessing, many people forget the Lord and use His blessings to further their own cause. The human heart is prone to independence. This is why we need to embrace the weakness that comes with the Cross and allow the Lord to remove all pride from our hearts. The Bride is motivated and empowered by the love of her Bridegroom. The revelation of God's love imparted to the human heart is the only way a person will make it through the wilderness of this world.

8:5b - Jesus' Reminder of the Bride's Past Journey

     Jesus reminds the Bride of her beginning, when He awakened her heart by refreshing her with His kindness (Rom 2:4). The Lord is the Great Initiator of love; it is the Lord's loving knock on her heart's door that awakened her to holy passion.

8:6-7 - Jesus, the Bridal Seal of Love

     Jesus wants the Bride to put a seal on her heart (affections) and arm (ministry). Jesus wants to be the protection of her heart to keep her from backsliding, and He also wants to be the protection of the Bride's ministry so she won't experience burnout. Jesus then uses graphic language to convey to the Bride that nothing can overpower His love for her. There is no addiction, no root of bitterness, and no demon that is stronger than the all-encompassing love of God (Rom 8:35-38). Nothing in our lives can escape the unyielding grasp of God's jealous love. God's jealousy is a pure manifestation of His love; God cares intensely about His people. And His jealousy will touch everything in our lives that could potentially prevent us from experiencing a deeper intimacy with Him.

     The Bridal seal is a seal of fire that Jesus puts on the hearts of His people. He inspires fiery love in the heart of His Bride by the sovereign work of His Spirit. God's fire is primarily an expression of His passionate emotion. It's His fiery passion that consumes everything in our lives that would hinder Bridal love. The fire doesn't consume us; it only consumes the dross. The waters of affliction and the floods of persecution can't extinguish the fire of God's love that has been placed in the heart of the Bride. No sacrifice on the Bride's part can compare to Christ's great love for her. She even despises the thought of comparing her sacrifices for Him to His sacrificial love for her. The only reward she wants is His unconditional love.

The Bride's Final Intercession
(Song of Solomon 8:8-14)

     The Bride experiences a strong sense of responsibility to prayerfully nurture and disciple immature believers. Jesus and the Bride will continue to work together with their sister until she is anointed with power to win the lost.

8:10 - The Bride's Maturity Revealed

     The Bride now sees herself as a wall that exists in this world to protect the young believers. She understands her life's purpose in a way she never did before. She has had a revelation of her spiritual maturity, and this has made her extremely confident in her intercession before the Lord. She is now fully connected to her destiny, and she has found peace in the purpose of God for her life.

8:11-12 - The Bride's Understanding of Her Accountability Before God

     The Bride is confident that she has given her full devotion to Jesus. This doesn't mean that she did not make mistakes, but that when she did stumble, she got up and ran into the heart of her Lover. The Bride's confession includes her assurance of complete victory as she stands before her King. All believers will one day give a complete account of what they have done for the Lord (Rom 14:12). The Lord desires fruitfulness from His investment in our lives. He will reward us on the basis of our faithfulness to Him and not on the measure of our giftedness. Even if our talents may appear to be insignificant in comparison to others, the only thing that matters is whether or not we have been faithful in what the Lord has given us. The same Greek word appears in 1Pet 1:7 as in 1Cor 3:13, and it means "a testing for approval" (as opposed to disapproval). What we have done for Him will be tested with the fire of His passion and love and not with His wrath.

8:13 - Jesus' Final Commission to the Bride

     At the end of her journey, the Bride is still vibrantly relating to the people of God. While so many individuals lose heart, the Bride is still wholeheartedly involved in the purposes of God. Throughout her entire journey, the Lord wants to hear her voice. He wants to hear her worship, her prayers, her teaching and proclamation of the truth, and He wants to hear His Bride say, "I love You!"

8:14 - The Bride's Final Intercession for the Lord's Coming

     The Bride instantly responds to the words of her Lover (vs. 13) with worship and intercession. She cries out for a deeper intimacy with the Lord as well as His soon return. The Bride is asking Jesus to come and swiftly and reveal Himself as the Victorious King who triumphs over all His enemies. She is longing for the day when He will take her to the eternal city - to the place where there will be no pain, sorrow or death. For her, it will be a place of unspeakable happiness and pleasure as she enjoys her Bridegroom forever.

*These notes are a summary of SJ Hill's course on "The Song of Solomon," at the FIRE School of Ministry.