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Scripture Reading: S.S. 1:1-8
At the beginning of this life-study of Song of Songs, I would like to offer a word of appreciation and memorial of and an expression of gratitude to Brother Watchman Nee. The outline with all the headings and subtitles and the interpretation of figures in this present life-study of Song of Songs are based on Brother Nee's particular study with a few co-workers in May 1935, in which I participated as one of not more than ten attendants, in a hotel on the shore of West Lake of the city of Hangchow, close to Shanghai.
The theme of Song of Songs is satisfaction of satisfactions. This book portrays the four stages in the experience of the lover of Christ and can be summarized by the following four sentences:
(1) A lover of Christ should be one who is attracted by His love and drawn by Him in His sweetness to pursue after Him for full satisfaction.
(2) A lover of Christ should be one who is called by Him to be delivered from the self through his oneness with the cross of Christ.
(3) A lover of Christ should be one who is called by Him to live in ascension as the new creation of God in the resurrection of Christ.
(4) A lover of Christ should be one who is called by Him more strongly to live within the veil through His cross after the lover's experience of His resurrection.
In the first stage the lover of Christ is attracted by Christ to follow Him. In the second stage the lover of Christ experiences the cross for the breaking of the self. The cross saves us from the self in order to get us out of ourselves. In the third stage the lover of Christ lives in ascension. To live in ascension is to experience the new creation of God in Christ's resurrection. In the fourth stage the lover of Christ lives within the veil, in the inner chamber of the whole universe, the Holy of Holies. In experience the cross comes first, followed by resurrection and ascension. Yet the experience of ascension is not sufficient. After ascension there is still the need of another following stage — living within the veil through further experience of the cross.
In Song of Songs, a book of poetry, we cannot find the words cross, resurrection, and ascension. Neither do we have the expressions new creation or within the veil. How, then, can we say that this book unveils different stages of the Christian life? If we would answer this question, we need to see that in Song of Songs the stages of the Christian life are revealed, or unveiled, through many different figures. The word cross is not used, but there are figures of the cross. In like manner, instead of the words resurrection and ascension, there are figures of resurrection and ascension. There are also figures signifying the new creation and the life within the veil. In reading this book, the hardest thing is to interpret the figures.
In this message we will first give an introductory word and then begin to consider the first stage — the stage of being drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction.
Song of Songs is a particular book in the holy Scriptures, for it is not a book of history, law, prophecy, or gospel.
This book is a poem of the history of love in an excellent marriage. It is a romance of the highest standard. The entire Bible is a romance, a love story, of God "falling in love" with man.
Song of Songs is a history of the wise King Solomon, the writer of this book, with the Shulammite, a girl of the countryside. In this life-study Solomon is called the beloved and the Shulammite is called the lover (lit., "love" — 1:15; 2:2; 4:1, 7; 6:4). Solomon, in the masculine gender, means "peace," and Shulammite is Solomon in the feminine gender. One is the king in the palace at the capital in Jerusalem, and the other is a girl from the countryside.
In a sense, Solomon and the Shulammite were not a match. Concerning marriage most would agree that two people should match each other. Yet it is difficult to find a husband and wife who are really a match. Two people who are the same may become enemies, but two people who are different may become loving friends. Solomon fell in love with a country girl, and the two of them were joined together. After their union they remained in communion all the time.
In a similar way, God fell in love with man. Since God is great and wise and we are small and unwise, we may find it hard to believe that God could fall in love with us. Yet even though man does not seem to match God, God has nonetheless fallen in love with man.
Song of Songs is a portrait of the love of Christ in His union with His individual believers. The entire New Testament stresses the Body life, not the individual life (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:27). But Song of Songs stresses not the Body corporately but the believer individually. To have the Body life, we must have individual contact with the Lord. Without the individual fellowship with the Lord as a base, we cannot have the proper Body life.
As the record of a divine romance, the Bible first shows us that God loves His elect Israel as a Husband who loves His wife (Isa. 54:5-7; Jer. 2:2; 3:1; Ezek. 16:8; Hosea 2:19-20). Israel was a bride and God Himself was the Bridegroom. Thus, there was a bridal love between God and Israel.
Second, the Bible reveals that Christ loves His church as a Husband loves His wife (Eph. 5:25, 31-32; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9). In Revelation 19 we see that Christ will have His wedding feast with His overcomers as His bride, and His wedding day will be for a thousand years. Then in the new heaven and new earth, all of His believers as the New Jerusalem will be the wife of the Lamb. The New Jerusalem will be the corporate wife of Christ, the Lamb.
According to Paul's word in 2 Corinthians 11:2, the believers have been betrothed to Christ as pure virgins. In this sense, all the believers of Christ are female. Spiritually, we all, brothers and sisters alike, are virgins betrothed to Christ.
The contents of Song of Songs are the progressive experience of an individual believer's loving fellowship with Christ. To use Hudson Taylor's expression, this is a book of union and communion with Christ.
The sections of Song of Songs, which are according to the intrinsic and spiritual significance of this book, are as follows: drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction (1:2—2:7); called to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (2:8—3:5); called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection (3:6—5:1); called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection (5:2—6:13); sharing in the work of the Lord (7:1-13); and hoping to be raptured (8:1-14).
Let us now begin to see how the seeker is drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction (1:2-4a).
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!/For your love is better than wine./Your anointing oils have a pleasant fragrance;/Your name is like ointment poured forth;/Therefore the virgins love you" (vv. 2-3). These verses express the lover's yearning.
The lover of Christ yearns to be kissed by Christ with the kisses of His mouth (v. 2a). The kisses of the mouth are the most intimate kiss. This yearning to be kissed by Christ is a response to Christ's cheering love, which is better than wine (v. 2b), and to His charming name (person), which is like ointment poured forth with the pleasant fragrance of the anointing oils (v. 3a).
Song of Songs is composed of many figures. The first figure is the wine which cheers people up. The wine here signifies Christ's cheering love. When we are down, if we consider Christ's love, we will be cheered. The second figure is ointment. His charming name, which signifies His person, is like ointment poured forth. No one can resist His cheering love and His charming person.
Because of His cheering love and charming name, all the chaste believers love Him (v. 3b). We all would condemn a man who attracts many young women to pursue him. But with Christ it is different. The more chaste lovers of Christ there are, the better.
In verse 4a we have a word concerning the lover's pursuing: "Draw me; we will run after you." In her pursuit of Christ, she asks Him to draw her that she and her companions may run after Him. Everyone who is drawn by Christ will have companions in following Him. Since I was drawn by the Lord, many have followed the Lord with me. Consider the situation with Peter when he, a fisherman, was called by the Lord (Matt. 4:18-20). One day Christ the Beloved came, and Peter was charmed by Him and he left the nets and followed Him. Many followed Christ as Peter's companions. When we are drawn to follow Christ, we become a factor in others' following of Him.
In Song of Songs 1:4b-8 we see that fellowshipping with Christ results in entering into the church life. The church life is indicated by another figure — the flock (vv. 7-8), which signifies the church as a collection of many believers.
The Beloved brings her into her spirit as the Holiest of all (His chambers) for fellowship. The word spirit is not used here, but it is signified by the word chambers in verse 4. Our spirit as Christ's dwelling place (2 Tim. 4:22) becomes His Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:19) for fellowship.
In fellowship with Christ, the lover and her companions extol His love with joy and rejoicing, for rightly do they love Him (v. 4b).
She sees her self that she is sinful in Adam, but she is justified in Christ (vv. 5-6a). Her being sinful in Adam is signified by her being black like the tents of Kedar. Her being justified in Christ is signified by her being lovely like the curtains of Solomon. The tents are under the sunshine, but the curtains are within the inner chamber.
In her fellowship with Christ, she is also instructed by Him in the way to enter into the church life (vv. 6b-8).
She was persecuted by her denominational brothers (her mother's sons — v. 6b), and she was turned away from the church by the flocks of His companions (v. 7b). She was persecuted by her denominational brothers, though they also were born by grace — the same mother (v. 6b) — and she was turned away from the church. This is the situation today.
The Beloved tells her to follow Him on the footsteps of the church (flock) and pasture her spiritual children (young goats) at the local churches (the shepherds' tents), where He pastures His church (vv. 7-8). She prayed, "Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock?" Then Christ answered, "If you yourself do not know,/You fairest among women,/Go forth on the footsteps of the flock." To follow on the footsteps of the flock is to follow the church. We can testify that many times we did not know where Christ was, but as we followed the church, we found Him. When we find the church, we bring all the younger ones, indicated by the young goats, to the church as well.
It is wonderful that the fellowship of the lover with Christ results in the church life.
