Scripture Reading: S.S. 1:2-4; 2:14; 4:8; 6:4
Song of Songs, although it is a short book, contains a great many figures and is full of important points. In reading this book it is easy for us to lose our way. However, through the writings of those who have gone before us, especially through Brother Nee’s study of this book, Song of Songs has been opened to us. I am thankful that through Brother Nee we can see that Song of Songs is a spiritual life-story of Christian experiences, signified by a romance. In Song of Songs these experiences are in four stages.
In the first stage we are attracted by Christ and drawn by Him to pursue after Him for full satisfaction (1:2—2:7). This stage includes many things: yearning to be kissed by Christ; the fellowship in the inner chamber; entering into the church life by following the footsteps of the flock; being transformed by the remaking of the Spirit; and participating in Christ’s rest and satisfaction.
In this stage a sinner saved by grace is stirred up, attracted by Christ’s love, and charmed by what He is. Song of Songs 1:2 says of Christ, “Your love is better than wine.” Nothing in the whole universe can compare with Him. Verse 3 goes on to speak of Christ’s “anointing oils” and says that His “name is like ointment poured forth.” This ointment, which is actually Christ Himself as the Spirit, is a compound of divinity, humanity, Christ’s death and resurrection, the effectiveness of His death, and the power of His resurrection. The name here signifies Christ’s person, His being, and Christ is this compound Spirit. “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45b). This indicates that Christ’s name as His person is the compound ointment.
The second stage is the call to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (S.S. 2:8-17; 3:1-5). In brief, the second stage is the stage of the experience of the cross. In considering this stage, it is sufficient that we remember just one word — cross. Song of Songs 2:14 says, “My dove, in the clefts of the rock, / In the covert of the precipice, / Let me see your countenance, / Let me hear your voice; / For your voice is sweet, / And your countenance is lovely.” Here “the clefts of the rock” and “the covert of the precipice” are figures of the cross. Christ wants to see His lover’s lovely countenance and hear her sweet voice in her oneness, union, with the cross. The cross is the central stress in this section on deliverance from the self.
When we pursue after Christ and become satisfied with the rest and enjoyment in Christ, we may become very occupied with and concerned about the self and thereby fall into introspection. Thus, we need to experience the denying of the self and the breaking of the self by being one with the cross. We need to stay in the clefts of the rock and remain hidden in the covert of the precipice. This means that we should daily stay at the cross. We should be able to say with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). We — “I,” the self, the natural man, the old man — have been crucified, and now we should stay on the cross. This is to be in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the precipice. How can we reach the clefts and the covert, which are rugged places high up in the mountains? How can we remain there? We can go to the cross and remain there only by the power of Christ’s resurrection (Phil. 3:10).
The third stage is to be called by Christ to live in ascension as the new creation of God in the resurrection of Christ (3:6—5:1). Christ’s death is followed by Christ’s resurrection, and in His resurrection we are a new creation. The new creation is a product of Christ’s resurrection. Anyone who is in Christ and in His resurrection is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The matters of resurrection and a new creation are closely related to Christ’s ascension. Actually, Christ’s resurrection and ascension are one. If we are in His resurrection, we are also in His ascension. When we live in resurrection, we are surely living in ascension.
Proof that the third stage of spiritual experience in Song of Songs is the call to live in ascension is found in 4:8: “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.” As we have pointed out, Amana means “truth,” Senir means “soft armor,” and Hermon means “destruction.” When we live in ascension, we have the truth (signified by Amana) and we have the victory (signified by Senir and Hermon) over the enemy. When we live in ascension, we realize that the war is over, that the victory has been gained, and that the enemy has been destroyed. The lions’ dens and the leopards’ mountains signify Satan and his evil forces. These evil powers are in the air, but when we live in ascension, we are in the heavens, far above them. Furthermore, when we live in ascension, spontaneously we are a new creation of God in the resurrection of Christ. How wonderful!
We may think that the third stage is the highest stage, but according to Song of Songs there is yet another stage. The fourth stage is to be called by Christ more strongly to live within the veil through His cross after the experience of His resurrection (5:2—6:13). In ascension, in the heavens, there is the sanctuary of God, and a veil, which signifies the flesh (Heb. 10:20), divides this heavenly sanctuary into two sections. We should not think that once we have arrived at the heavenly sanctuary, we have already attained the highest point of spiritual experience. We may have come to the highest point, but we may not yet be in the inner chamber of the heavenly sanctuary. This inner chamber is the Holy of Holies — God Himself. The veil separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was split in two at the time of Christ’s crucifixion (Matt. 27:51), but the veil has not been taken away. The veil is still there. After we reach ascension we eventually realize that with the sanctuary in the heavens there is an inner chamber and that we need to enter within the veil and live within the veil, that is, live in God Himself.
We have seen that the veil signifies the flesh, which is worse than the self. After the first stage, the object of our dealing is the self. Later, in the fourth stage, the object of our dealing is the flesh. This requires a further experience of the cross, for we need to enter within the veil through the cross. This means that even after we have experienced resurrection and ascension, we still need the cross in order to live in the Holy of Holies within the veil. We experience the cross in the second stage, but we need to have the deeper experience of the cross in the fourth stage.
Song of Songs 6:4 says, “You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, / As lovely as Jerusalem.” Here the lover of Christ is likened to Tirzah and Jerusalem, indicating that she has become God’s dwelling place. When she was first drawn by the Lord, He likened her to a mare, a horse among Pharaoh’s chariots. Then she was likened to a rose in Sharon, a lily in the valleys and among thorns, a dove, a pillar of smoke, a bed, a palanquin, a garden, and a fountain with a spring. Now she is likened to the heavenly dwelling of God and the heavenly Jerusalem. The word Jerusalem in verse 4 is a sign of the New Jerusalem, indicating that all the lovers of Christ eventually will become the New Jerusalem — the ultimate consummation of the Bible. Here in God’s Holy of Holies we have the highest spiritual experience.
We have seen the four stages of spiritual experience in this book: the stage of pursuit, the stage of the cross, the stage of ascension, and the stage of living in the Holy of Holies. If we have a clear view of these four stages, we will have the proper understanding of Song of Songs. Such an understanding surely is priceless.
