I would like to direct your attention, once again, my friends, to the Song of Solomon. I love this small book. Perhaps there is no other discourse within God's Word that pictures our intended relationship with Yeshua, our risen Lord, in such earthy realism; here, this sublime union is described in terms that even the most base among us can clearly understand. He proclaims that the union of Christ with His Bride; His Ecclesia, and her consent to Him, embodies the very celestial forms for the relationship of marriage itself: forever with her Lord, forever like her Lord, forever conscious that His desire is toward her always; she will share alike His heart and His throne. Within this little book, Solomon demonstrates the pattern for every form godly union. It is interesting to notice the contrast between this book and that preceding it. In Ecclesiastes, he shouts that all is vanity; almost as an introductory preface to his Song, which shows the only way in which true blessing and satisfaction can be possessed: receiving Yeshua, Christ, as the Bridegroom of the soul.
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Song of Solomon 2:3 - 4
Our risen Lord is peerless, matchless, in His beauty, in the eyes of a believer's heart ......... His personal excellencies baffle our powers of description.
Here He is compared to a fruit tree in the midst of the thinning trees of the forest, affording comfort, as well as pleasant and refreshing nourishment. The citron (Hebrew scholars say that this is probably the fruit tree translated as an apple tree by the King James translators) is a beautiful evergreen, affording delightful shade as well as refreshing fruit. A humble wild flower herself, she recognizes her Bridegroom as a noble tree, both ornamental and fruitful. Protection, refreshment, and rest, all of these, and more, she finds in Him. What a contrast this is from the early fears and misgivings with which her betrothment began. But our Lord knew full well the cause of all her fears; her distrust sprang from her ignorance of Him, so He took her aside, and in the sweet intimacies of mutual love, her fears and distrust have vanished, like the mists of the morning before the rising sun.
And now the bride replies .......As the apple tree among the trees of the wood ....... So is my Beloved among the sons ....... I sat down under His shadow with great delight ....... And His fruit was sweet to my taste: Her eyes have been opened to behold His beauty, and she now longs for a fuller enjoyment of His love.
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: ....... For Thy love is better than wine ....... But true love cannot be stationary; it must either decline or grow. Despite all the unworthiness of our hearts, Divine love is destined to conquer, and win all. The bride exclaims: ....... Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance ....... Thy name is as ointment poured forth .......
Therefore do the virgins love Thee ....... Draw me: we will run after Thee ....... Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice ....... For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
And His fruit was sweet to my taste:
His fruit ....... what of His fruit, my friends ....... all the promises He has given, and fulfilled ....... the reconciliation He has achieved, and the pardon He bestows ....... the peace He imparts and implants deep in our souls ....... His fellowship with, and His guidance of His lambs (He is after all, the Good Shepherd) ....... the joys of the Holy Spirit; who brings to us the sure hope of eternity and the assurances of His love, as well as open access through Him to the Throne of Heaven and the majestic foretastes of His glory that He bestows there ....... all of these, and many more that I simply don't have the time to list, are His fruits, freely available to His bride ....... and as His Word proclaims: they are sweet and nourishing; both life - giving, and life - sustaining ....... they are in fact, my friends, Life, itself ....... and in the end, it is His Bride, His eternal living lambs, who are His fruit unto Eternity.
There is a sublime joy in seeing that He knows all, and, notwithstanding, loves us still ....... there is an astonishing sweetness of His Spirit offered and bestowed upon all His lambs.
Relaxed, under His shadow ....... sheltered in the storms of life ....... shielded from the assaults of darkness ....... preserved from the encroaching cloud of death ....... and fed with His majestic fruits of salvation ....... the believer is secure ....... and his Savior is precious; lovely, and precious to his soul.
Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. -- Psa 45:2
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? -- Psa 89:6
But now that she has come to know and trust in Him, she receives a higher, more compelling testament of His love. He acknowledges her publicly ...... He proclaims her to be His beloved, before all creation ....... 'He brought me to the banquet house, and adorned me with His robes ....... His banner over me was love'.
To be brought here, my friends, under the drawings and influences of divine grace, is a special privilege given only to His lambs -- His beloved -- it is a distinguishing grace; and shows a great love by Yeshua, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, to take His people by the hand, as it were, and introduce them into His household, so well laid out; and to a table so well spread: it is a vision of His favor and a fresh token of our Lord's exceeding great love for us -- His lambs.
The banquet hall is now as appropriate as the King’s chambers were. Fearlessly and without shame she can sit at His side, His acknowledged spouse, the bride of His choice. Overwhelmed with His love she sighs: His left hand is under my head ....... And His right hand doth embrace me.
Now she finds the blessedness of being possessed ....... My beloved is mine, and I am his ....... No longer her own, His rest, and peace have become both her right and her enjoyment; and this is just as the Bridegroom would have it to be. For there can be no change in His love; He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. To us He promises, “I will never leave thee, never fail thee, nor forsake thee”; and His earnest exhortation and promise is, Abide in Me, and I will abide in you.
Oh my friends, all the longings and visions of this wonderful book are reflected, and fulfilled in the life of Yeshua, in His words, and in the pages of His New Testament -- hear His words, taste and eat, and see that He is good, and true:
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love ....... These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
