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Scripture Reading: S. S. 4:6-16; 5:1
The seeking one in the Song of Songs is likened by the Lord at the beginning to a mare. The Lord said to her, “I compare you, my love, / To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots” (1:9). She was a mare, but among Pharaoh’s chariots. In the Bible Pharaoh is related not only to the world but also to Satan. Pharaoh was a type of the prince of the world. The Lord appraised the seeking one, yet He was wise. In His appraisal of her, something was related to the prince of the world. This indicated that the Lord was saying, “My love, you do love Me, yet you are still carrying something of the world; you are still related to the prince of the world. I must liken you to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.”
But in chapter 6 there is much maturity. It seemed that she was completely matured in chapter 4, and this was true to a certain degree. She was indeed matured but not as matured as she is in chapter 6. In chapter 6 the Lord likens her to a city with the name of Jerusalem. “You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, / As lovely as Jerusalem, / As terrible as an army with banners” (v. 4). She is no longer linked with Pharaoh but with Jerusalem. She is no longer related to the prince of this world but to Jerusalem. She is not a mare anymore but a city, and a city with the unique name of Jerusalem. This is the name of a city found both in the Old and New Testaments. It is a name given by God that will remain for eternity.
We know of some people today who do not believe that the Bible was inspired by God. But do you believe King Solomon by himself could compose poetry that is so fitting for today’s church life? Undoubtedly, the Lord Himself inspired this book. This short book has never been so open and understandable to the Lord’s people as it is to us today. Today we are clear that this book describes the love between the Lord and His loved ones.
When we consider all the figures used to describe the seeking one, we marvel: from the mare to the garden, and eventually to the city. And this city is an army. To the Lord she is lovely and beautiful, but to the enemy she is terrible and terrifying. Positively, she is the city to fulfill God’s purpose to express Himself, and negatively, she is the army to fulfill His purpose to deal with His enemy. The city expresses God in His loveliness and beauty, and the army deals with God’s adversary.
May this not simply be a kind of teaching or saying among us! We must all enter into the experience of these things. We need the revelation, the reality, and the real experiences! How could this seeking one grow so much until she becomes a garden to the Lord? We must see how the garden comes into being. Though we may say that we have seen it, we still need to see something more.
The first part of this book shows the first aspect of the Christian life; the last part shows the last aspect of the Christian life. Most Christians only care for the first aspect, which is mainly individual. Very few care for the last aspect, the corporate life. We have seen the Christian life in an individual way in the foregoing eight figures. There were the mare, the doves’ eyes, the lily, the dove, the pillars of smoke, the bed, the palanquin, and the crown — all mainly a portrait describing the individual Christian life.
If most of us could attain to the transformation of a palanquin or a crown to the Lord, we would consider that to be the consummation of our Christian life. How wonderful it would be if we could be a transformed palanquin for the Lord’s move! To become a crown for the Lord’s glory and boast — that would be wonderful! Even the Lord Jesus did not mention any shortcomings in her. The end of chapter 3 shows the appraisal of others. Some asked, “Who is she?” The others answered, “This is Solomon’s bed and Solomon’s palanquin. It is even Solomon with the crown.” Then chapter 4 gives the Lord’s appraisal. In both appraisals no shortcomings are mentioned. She has been perfected in her Christian life.
Yet, even after all these appraisals, she still says, “Until the day dawns and the shadows flee away, / I, for my part, will go to the mountain of myrrh / And to the hill of frankincense” (v. 6). Regardless of how well others appraise her, including the Lord, she still has the feeling that the day is not dawning and some shadows still exist. So even at this stage she still desires to have a deeper, fuller experience of the Lord’s death. Hence, she goes to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. This means that she will stay there until her day dawns and all the shadows flee away.
Why, after such an attainment, are there still shadows and no dawn? Because regardless of how high she has attained, the Lord’s final purpose has not been fulfilled. As to herself, she has satisfaction and maturity. But concerning the Lord’s purpose, nothing has been fulfilled. She has attained to such a high state, yet she still feels that something is lacking. There is still no dawn, and there are still some shadows. So she would take herself to the mountain of the Lord’s death and the hill of His resurrection.
This kind of experience requires a longer period of time to pass through. No one can tell how long she stayed there. Even today with us, no one knows how long it takes. For some it may be five years, for others seven years, and for others it may be twelve years. We all need a longer time to stay at the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. One thing is certain: it could never be accomplished overnight. We cannot read another chapter in the Bible and stay in the Lord’s presence for another half-hour, and then we have it. No, we have to stay there. It takes time.
Sometimes we are too much in haste. We have to learn to slow down. Many times I was desperate in the Lord’s presence, and the Lord told me, “Go to sleep.” I was desperate to tell the Lord so many things, but the Lord simply told me, “Go to sleep. Don’t worry so much.” It takes time. We cannot stretch ourselves on the bed to be a little taller and then expect the next day to have grown half a foot. But if we eat and sleep and exercise, we grow unconsciously, without knowing it. After many years, we will grow into a full-grown man.
No one knows how long this seeker of the Lord Jesus stayed on the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. But she remained there until she was transferred somewhere else. She said that she would go the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense, but eventually the Lord called her to leave Mount Lebanon. “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; / With me from Lebanon come” (v. 8). Myrrh signifies the Lord’s death, and frankincense signifies the Lord’s resurrection, while Lebanon is a type of the Lord’s ascension. She said that she would go to the mountain of the Lord’s death and the hill of the Lord’s resurrection, but eventually she arrived at the top of the Lord’s ascension. The experience of the Lord’s death and resurrection transferred her to the Lord’s ascension. Now she is on the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension.
There is always the danger that we will be satisfied with what we have attained. In chapter 2 there was the discrepancy between her and the Lord due to her satisfaction with her attainment. In chapter 1 she was seeking the Lord, and she found what she was seeking. When she received the enjoyment and the satisfaction, she was content to stay there. But the Lord would not agree for her to stay. That was the cause of a controversy and discrepancy between her and the Lord. The Lord will never be content with any state of our Christian life. We are so easily satisfied with our attainments, but He is not. How wonderful that she attained to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension! Not only had she experienced so much of the Lord’s death and resurrection, but she had attained to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension.
At this time the Lord gives her a further call. The Lord calls her to leave the mountaintop of Lebanon, which is the mountaintop of His ascension. To leave the house in chapter 2 is right, but it hardly seems right to leave the mountaintop of ascension. It is not easy to get there; so once there, how could we leave? Not to stay in the house is undoubtedly right, but once we have attained to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension, it seems that we should stay there. But because this is still only an individualistic attainment, the Lord called her away.
I do not believe that any one of us would want to leave if we had reached such an attainment, but the Lord called her to leave. However, before this time He had never called her His sister or His bride. Only now does He call her by such names. “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;... / You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride;... / How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!” (vv. 8-10). He called her away from Lebanon to go somewhere else. He called her from the mountaintop of ascension to come back to earth. Without coming down from the mountaintop of ascension, it is impossible to have a garden on earth.
This poetry depicts the Christian in the church life. A garden cannot exist in the heavens. A garden must be on the earth. Not long after the Lord calls her away from the mountaintop of ascension, she is a garden on the earth. “A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, / A spring shut up, a fountain sealed” (v. 12). This garden is not on the mountaintop; it would be difficult to grow so many spices there. The poetry here shows us that shortly after being on the mountaintop, she is on the earth as a garden.
There is only one way to be on the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension, that is, by the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. We must learn to stay continually in the Lord’s death and resurrection. Today many seeking Christians have the wrong concept. They believe that they must fast, weep, pray, and wait on the Lord. In a sense this is good, but we can never force the Lord to help us grow. Growth requires days, months, and even years. To pray for a week is easy; even to fast for a week is easy; but to stay at the mountain of myrrh for five years is not easy. We could all fast and pray for a long time without any sleep, but to stay in the Lord’s death and resurrection for a length of time is not easy. Yet there is no other way to get to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension except by the Lord’s death and resurrection.
Calling on the Lord and exercising our spirit are indeed wonderful, but we all must realize that these spiritual practices are only to help us enter into the death and resurrection of the Lord. The more we call on the Lord, the more we should be entering into the death and resurrection of the Lord. It is only through the experiences of the death and resurrection of Jesus that we will be transferred to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension.
Once we arrive there, however, we cannot stay indefinitely. We would be content to stay, but the Lord would say, “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; / With me from Lebanon come. / Look from the top of Amana, / From the top of Senir and Hermon, / From the lions’ dens, / From the leopards’ mountains.” By this the Lord is telling us that there are still the lions, the leopards, the enemy, and so many needy ones. We would have the satisfaction, but He would not. We would have the rest, yet He would mention the many hungry and thirsty ones. They do not have any rest and satisfaction. So we must go down from the mountaintop of Lebanon to the valley in order to grow a garden.
Before the seeking one became a garden, she never grew anything for the Lord. There was much appreciation, enjoyment, and partaking, but she herself never grew anything. In chapter 1 she appreciated the Lord as a bundle of myrrh and as a cluster of henna flowers. Then in chapter 2 she enjoyed the Lord as the apple tree, and she was brought into the house of wine. She greatly appreciated and enjoyed the Lord. In chapter 3 she was even perfumed with myrrh and frankincense; that is, she was permeated and mingled with the Lord. She appreciated the Lord, she enjoyed the Lord, and she was even permeated with the Lord, but she never grew anything for the Lord. It is not until she becomes a garden that she begins to grow something. “A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride,... / Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates / With choicest fruit; / Henna with spikenard, / Spikenard and saffron; / Calamus and cinnamon, / With all the trees of frankincense; / Myrrh and aloes, / With all the chief spices” (4:12-14).
Before she became a garden, she enjoyed the Lord as the myrrh, the henna flower, and the frankincense. Now she grows what she enjoyed, but it is no longer for her — it is for others. Now the frankincense is not for her satisfaction but for the Lord’s satisfaction. The henna flower is not from the Lord for her appreciation, but it is grown out of her for the Lord’s appreciation. In the first aspect, everything was for her, but now everything is for the Lord and for others. At first it was something of the Lord getting into her; now it is something of the Lord growing out of her, because all these things have been wrought into her, have permeated her, and have become a part of her.
By the time she becomes a garden, it is no longer an individual matter. We can never satisfy others unless we are built up into a corporate Body.
We cannot grow the things we appreciate, enjoy, and with which we are permeated without being fully built up as a garden. This is why we need the second aspect of the Christian life, the corporate Body. This is what the Lord is looking for today. He is not seeking some individually spiritual and mature persons; He is seeking a corporate Body. Christianity has damaged the entire situation. We have all been spoiled by the wrong concepts. This is why we need the eyes of a dove. All the concepts we have received from Christianity need to be changed.
No matter what we received from the past, we must realize that the Christian life is not for the individual. The Christian life is for a corporate Body. Regardless of how high our attainment might be, though it be to the mountaintop of Lebanon, it should never be for ourselves individually. When we arrive there, the Lord will tell us to come down to be a garden on the earth. We cannot stay by ourselves on the mountaintop of ascension. We must go down to the valley to be built up with others and to grow all the things of the Lord with which we have been permeated. We need not only to take in but to grow out. We must be a garden to grow something for the Lord’s satisfaction and be a fountain for others.
In the next chapter we will see another little discrepancy between this seeking one and the Lord. It is really difficult for us to go on with the Lord all the time. We cannot pursue Him day by day without knowing all the turning points. The Song of Songs is a short book, yet it covers all the turning points of our Christian life.
To be a crown with a tower of David is marvelous, but upon arriving at that stage, we immediately need a turn; we cannot stay. We need a turn from that attainment to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. After staying there for a length of time, we need another attainment. Because of the experiences of the Lord’s death and resurrection, we will be transferred into His ascension. We will attain to the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension — an attainment higher than the former one. Then we immediately need another turn. From the mountaintop of the Lord’s ascension, the Lord will call us away to the valley to be a garden. We cannot be a garden on the mountaintop. We must come down to the valley where we can grow something.
Clearly, a garden is for growing things. When the seeking one becomes a garden, she begins to grow all the things that she has previously enjoyed of the Lord, such as myrrh, frankincense, and henna flowers. All these were the very aspects and items of what the Lord was to her. She enjoyed and partook of all these things, and now she is growing them for the Lord’s satisfaction. In the foregoing chapters she enjoyed all these things, but in the garden the Lord Himself comes in to enjoy them. “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; / I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; / I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; / I have drunk my wine with my milk. / Eat, O friends; / Drink, and drink deeply, O beloved ones!” (5:1).
These are the turning points, and they are also a real exercise in the submission of the will. We should never think we are so spiritual that we have no further need of learning to submit our will. We will need the exercise of the submission of our will until we get to the New Jerusalem.
Contentment with our spiritual attainments is a real problem. After arriving at the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense, we are transferred to the mountain of Lebanon, and once there, we want to stay. However, the Lord will never allow us to stay. He will say, “Come with Me to the valley to be a garden.” Our individual spiritual attainment is only for ourselves individually. We must leave our attainment with the Lord in order to become a garden for the Lord and for others. This is the way that the garden comes forth. It is not only by the adequate experiences of the Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension, for after we have reached the mountaintop, we must answer the call from the Lord to leave our attainment and return to the place where the Lord intends to fulfill His purpose. We left the valley to go to the mountaintop of ascension; now we must go back to be a garden to grow many things for the Lord’s satisfaction. It is only there that the Lord can enjoy Himself out of us. He came into us as our enjoyment, but now we grow Him out for His enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. This is the garden.
We need to see these turning points in order to go on. When the Lord brought Peter, James, and John from the valley to the mountaintop, they saw a real vision of Himself. Then Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build some tabernacles and stay here permanently.” But not long after this, the Lord took them from the mountaintop down to the valley. I believe it was after this experience that Peter gradually became a garden.
We need all these turns in our spiritual life. We need to be turning all the time. Many turns are revealed in this book. To understand all the turns is to understand the book. Following the crown is the turn to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Then this will transfer us to the mountaintop of Lebanon. But immediately we need another turn. We must return to the valley to be a garden. The garden grows the myrrh, the frankincense, the henna flower, and all the other spices. In 3:6 she was permeated with the myrrh and frankincense and all the fragrant powders of the merchant. These powders were simply all the other spices. This indicates that all the things of the Lord of which she partook are now growing out of her. They are not for her enjoyment anymore but for the Lord’s enjoyment. The Lord will enjoy Himself grown out of her, and she will be a real supply to others. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may be willing to turn again and again until we become a garden to fulfill His purpose.
