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Scripture Reading: S.S. 5:2-16; 6:1-3
In 5:2—6:3 the lover of Christ is called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection. In the heavenly tabernacle (Heb. 8:2; 9:11-12, 24) a veil separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The veil is a figure of our flesh (10:19-20). For us to enter into the Holy of Holies the veil must be rent. This indicates that no matter how much we are in ascension, in our spirit, we are still in the old creation and we still have our flesh. Thus, even after the experience of living in ascension, we still need the experience of the cross.
We should never think that while we are still in the old creation we can attain such a high degree of spirituality that we are no longer in the flesh. Consider the case of the apostle Paul, who surely was a very spiritual person. After God gave Paul high revelations, there was given to him “a thorn in the flesh” to warn him that he still had the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7).
We must never consider that we are a “saint” or an angel. We are proper believers in God’s process of His economy. God’s economy is first to regenerate our spirit and then to transform our soul, but the flesh is still here. We need to be warned that if we are careless with the flesh, we will damage our spiritual life.
Because Christians are often careless concerning the flesh, divisions among believers are common. According to the book of Acts, Barnabas became dissenting with Paul and separated himself from him (15:35-39). This division was caused by Barnabas’s intention to take his cousin John, who was also called Mark, with them on a proposed journey to visit the churches. “Paul did not consider it suitable to take with them this one who withdrew from them in Pamphylia and did not go with them to the work. And there was a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; and Barnabas, taking Mark along, sailed away to Cyprus” (vv. 38-39). Every argument involves something of the flesh. Probably Paul was in the spirit as he was contending, but Barnabas was arguing according to the flesh. This indicates that even with spiritual persons the flesh remains and can cause damage.
We should not think that if we are living in ascension the flesh is no longer with us. No, the flesh is still here. We may be in ascension, but the veil, the flesh, is still present. When Christ was crucified, the veil in the temple was split in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51). With Christ the veil was riven, but our veil still remains. Therefore, we need a stronger call, not merely to remain in ascension but to learn the lessons of the cross and live within the veil. In our experience the veil, the flesh, must be riven, and then we need to pass the riven veil to live in the Holy of Holies. For this, we daily need to learn the lesson of the cross.
Let us now begin to consider the stronger calling of the cross after resurrection and after the lover’s failure (S.S. 5:2—6:3).
In 5:2 we have the Beloved’s calling: “I sleep, but my heart is awake. / A sound! My beloved is knocking: / Open to me, my sister, my love, / My dove, my perfect one; / For my head is full of dew, / My locks with the drops of night.” In His calling of the lover, the Beloved regarded her as His sister. This means that she had the same nature as He. Here the lover realized that her old man, the outward man, was crucified and her new man, the inward man, is living. She heard her Beloved knocking and asking her to open to Him, reminding her of His suffering as He suffered at Gethsemane for His crucifixion. His head being “full of dew” and His locks with “the drops of night” refers to Christ’s suffering at night in Gethsemane before His death.
Verse 3 tells us of her refusal: “I have put off my garment; / How can I put it on again? / I have washed my feet; / How can I dirty them again?” The Beloved called, but she refused His call. Since she had put off the former manner of life of her old man through the dealing of the cross, how could she put it on again, for this would need her Beloved to repeat His suffering for crucifixion? Since she had been cleansed by His redeeming blood, how could she defile herself, since this would need her Beloved to repeat His suffering of death? These were her reasons for refusing the Beloved’s call.
In verses 4 and 5 she opened the door.
“My beloved put his hand into the opening of the door, / And my inner parts yearned for him” (v. 4). Her Beloved showed His pierced hand through her narrow opening so that her inner parts were moved to yearn for Him. From experience we know that, on the one hand, we may reject the Lord, but, on the other hand, we may not close the door entirely. After closing the door, we may leave a little opening through which the Lord can stretch His hand. Here the Beloved’s pierced hand reminded her that He was crucified for her.
“I rose up to open to my beloved; / And my hands dripped with myrrh, / My fingers with liquid myrrh, / Upon the handles of the bolt” (v. 5). She rose up to open the door to her Beloved. Her action showed her Beloved her appreciation of His sweet death.
“I opened to my beloved, / But my beloved had withdrawn; he was gone. / My soul failed when he spoke; / I sought him, but found him not; / I called him — he answered not” (v. 6). She opened to her Beloved, but He had withdrawn and gone. Her soul was discouraged when her Beloved spoke. Then she sought Him, but she did not find Him. She called Him, but He did not answer.
“The watchmen who go about the city found me. / They struck me; they wounded me; / The keepers of the walls took my veil from me” (v. 7). The ones who watch over God’s people (Heb. 13:17), not knowing her problem, struck and wounded her, thinking that she would be helped by their striking. The guards of God’s people took away her veil, her covering, shaming her publicly. Sometimes we may think that we can help others by rebuking them. However, instead of helping them, this rebuking wounds them.
“I adjure, O daughters of Jerusalem, / If you find my beloved, / What shall you tell him? / That I am sick with love” (S.S. 5:8). This indicates that because her sense of failure was so deep, she felt that even the younger believers could help her. She charged them to tell her Beloved that she is sick with love, considering that her Beloved may have some concern about her love for Him.
In verse 9 we have the first question of the ones whom she asks concerning her Beloved: “What is your beloved more than some other beloved, / O you most beautiful among women? / What is your beloved more than some other beloved, / That you adjure us so?” Considering that she is the most beautiful among females, they asked her what was so much better about her Beloved than some other beloved that she adjured them so.
In verses 10 through 16 she answered by giving her impression of her Beloved, appraising Him with many excellent and detailed expressions.
“His cheeks are like a bed of spices, / Mounds of sweetly fragrant herbs; / His lips are lilies, / Dripping with liquid myrrh” (v. 13). His countenance is beautiful and sweet through His suffering of people’s smiting and despising, and His mouth is pure, releasing sweet words of grace based upon His redemption.
“His hands are tubes of gold, / Set with beryl; / His belly is an ivory work, / Overlaid with sapphires” (v. 14). His works are full of the divine binding power and are stable for the carrying out of God’s will. His inward parts (Phil. 1:8) are full of deep, tender feelings wrought through His sufferings under a clear heavenly vision (Exo. 24:10).
“His legs are pillars of white marble, / Set upon bases of gold; / His appearance is like Lebanon, / As excellent as the cedars” (S.S. 5:15). His standing and supporting strength is of the righteous standing based upon God’s divine nature, and His expression shows that He is a person who has ascended into heaven and whose excellency transcends all others.
“His mouth is sweetness itself, / And he is altogether desirable” (v. 16a). His taste of divine things is sweet, and He is altogether lovely and desirable.
“This is my beloved, and this is my friend, / O daughters of Jerusalem” (v. 16b). This is the impression of the Beloved as her Friend realized by the lover.
We might also be asked how much better our Christ is than others, that is, why our Christ is so sweet to us. Many of us may not be able to answer this question adequately. If you were to ask me, I would say, “My Christ is the all-inclusive One. His riches are unsearchable (Eph. 3:8). He is the preeminent One, the first in everything (Col. 1:17-18): the first in all creation (v. 17), the first in resurrection (v. 18), and the first in everything in my living. He is also the God-allotted portion to me for my enjoyment (v. 12). My Christ is the Son of God who became a man. He was flesh, but in His resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). Moreover, my Christ has seven eyes, which are the sevenfold intensified Spirit (Rev. 5:6).” We must forget about preaching other things and preach and teach only the all- inclusive Christ.
In Song of Songs 6:1 we have the second question of the ones whom the lover asks concerning her Beloved: “Where has your beloved gone, / O you most beautiful among women? / Where has your beloved turned, / That we may seek him with you?” Still considering that she is the most beautiful among females, they asked her where her Beloved has turned that they may seek Him with her, indicating that they had been attracted by her testimony concerning her Beloved. She was a pursuer after Christ, and her pursuit influenced, affected, and attracted others.
Verses 2 and 3 are her reply.
“My beloved has gone down to his garden, / To the beds of spices, / To feed in the gardens / And gather lilies” (v. 2). After seeking help from others, she realized that her Beloved is within her as His garden and in all other believers as His beds of spices, feeding in her and other believers as His gardens and gathering the pure and trusting ones.
Christ’s garden is in our spirit. In our spirit we grow all the beautiful, spiritual, divine, and heavenly things, which are sweet to His taste. This is possible only if we live in our spirit. The most precious thing for a believer is to live in the spirit. If we live in our spirit, our spirit becomes a garden. The Lord is feeding, shepherding, and pasturing us that we may grow all kinds of spices and fragrances to satisfy Him.
“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; / He pastures His flock among the lilies” (v. 3). She tells them, according to her faith, that she belongs to her Beloved and He to her and that He is now feeding His pure and trusting ones. Her word here indicates that she is now more matured in life than when she spoke the same word in 2:16.
