Place, er peace to get to soon as possible

Here’s a good quote: “To engender confidence in Him and a healthy distrust of yourself is God’s ultimate reason for every experience He allows into your life.”

“Any growth that ever takes place costs something and what it costs is called suffering; the very fact of the existence of suffering is a part of the necessity for growing,” says Jordan. “The God of all comfort comforts us in our suffering so that we’ll learn the only person who will never let us down is Him.

“The whole issue behind it all is that you learn to trust Him because, when you learn that He’s all you’ve really got, then He’s all you can really trust. And when He’s all you’ve really got to trust, you’ll find out He’s all you really need. And when you realize He’s all you really need, you’ll learn a healthy distrust of yourself: ‘It’s not I but Christ.’

“It’s in the excellency of the power of God’s Word that works in you and teaches you, and the truth of it—otherwise you’re like a blind bat flying backward in a dark cave. You don’t know what the purpose of it is.

“Paul writes in II Timothy 3:15, ‘And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.’

“The salvation there is not salvation from hell because Timothy’s already saved. It’s salvation from the deception and the difficulties you read about in the first 14 verses of the chapter. Where do you find salvation from the perilous times? Where do you find salvation from the persecution and in the afflictions? You find it in God’s Word. That’s what deliverance from those things is.

*****

“One of the more valuable emotions is the emotion of contentment and, surprisingly, it’s one that is learned. It’s that emotional stability that comes from that ‘renewed mind’ depending on Christ as enough. It comes from depending on Him as your life. It’s that deep inner peace, that sense of the supernatural sufficiency of who you are in Christ.

“It’s that stability to live in ALL of life with that understanding of my dependence on Him being enough, being the treasure, being ‘for to me to live is Christ,’ and knowing that to die is just to bring that into ultimate reality.

*****

Paul writes in Philippians 4, [10] But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
[11] Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
[13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
[14] Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

“The Philippians developed personal compassion; they put the needs of others above the wants of themselves,” explains Jordan. “They developed a generous spirit, because when you begin to release the very thing that consumes you—money, in this case; when you let it go you develop the ability to give.

“It destroys the compulsion to get because it’s the opposite of it. That happens when you do what verses 17-18 of Philippians 4 are talking about—you develop an eternal perspective: [17] Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. [18] But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

“You come to the place where you realize your spiritual and financial decisions are literally joined at the hip. And that EVERY decision you make about things, relationships and money and emotions—all of those decisions are really spiritual decisions that have an eternal impact and they can bring honor and praise to God or can destroy your testimony.

“You see, our treasure—the thing we invest our talents, time and money to—reveals and directs our heart. You remember what Jesus said: ‘Where a man’s treasure is there will his heart be also.’ Now that’s a principle anywhere in the Bible.

“I learned a secret about that years ago, if there was an area in my life that I noticed needed attention. Maybe it was a neglected area. I learned that if I would take that area of my life and just begin to focus some of my time and my treasure toward it, whatever it is, you know what, your heart will follow. Because your treasure directs your heart. It’s that powerful a thing!

“We unconsciously tell God what standard of living we’re willing to live at, what standard of relationships we’re willing to have, what standard of emotional life we’re willing to put up with. And then we impose that on this verse 19: [19] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

And I know you because?

Paul testifies in Acts 26:15, “And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”

“Paul, an orthodox rabbinical scholar, knew who Jehovah was and he knew it was the God of the Bible who opened the heavens, so when he says, ‘Who art thou, Lord?’ that question goes back to the Book of Genesis,” explains Jordan.

“When Jacob wrestled with the Lord, he said, ‘Tell me your name!’ Then, in Exodus 3, Moses says to God, ‘Tell me, who am I supposed to say sent me?!’ In the Book of Judges, Gideon’s mom and dad say, ‘Tell us who you are! Who is this guy?’

“God wouldn’t tell any of them. Paul said, ‘I got a question; who are you?’ You know good and well he was thinking, ‘Oh, man!’ because he’d been out killing Christ’s followers.

*****

"King Nebuchadnezzar says to Daniel in Daniel 2:47, 'Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.'

“To me this is one the greatest titles of God in all of the Bible. In verse 29, Daniel had told him, ‘As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.’

“You can’t find God out by searching but you don’t have to because God reveals Himself.

“Isaiah 22:14 says, ‘And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.’

“At camp in California we were discussing some of these guys in the Bible who talk about God talking to them.

“You know how He spoke to Isaiah? It was, ‘HEY, Isaiah!’ It was an audible voice and Isaiah heard Him with his ears. Now God isn’t going to talk to you like that today.

“I Corinthians 2:9-10 says, [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

“You got something better than Jesus Christ appearing to you at the end of the bed and talking to you. You’ve got something that doesn’t disappear; something that doesn’t just rely on your memory of what was said.

"You’ve got something written down on a page that doesn’t change and is always there and always reliable.

*****

“When people talk about translating the Bible, the great translation problem was taken care of long before anybody had to worry about English. If you can translate deity thoughts and deity words into human words, that’s the translation product!

“People talk about language limitation--there’s the language limitation! If you could take the thoughts of the godhead and put them in Hebrew and Greek, anything else taken from one language to another is a snap.

“God revealed it, made it known. He translated His thinking into our thinking. Isaiah 30:8 says, ‘Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.’

“He takes the revelation and commits it to written form, putting words on the page in a book. He writes that revelation down and we call that inspiration.”

More on 17 as the changemaker

In Genesis 17, God changes Abram’s name by inserting the 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet into it to make Abraham.

“He takes that same 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing death to the old life and grace for the new life, and inserts grace into Sarai’s name,” explains Jordan. “This is where, in verse 17, He formalizes His covenant with the nation Israel.

“Here’s God’s new seed line in the earth right here. Now when you have a name change in the Bible, there’s something prophetic about it.

“In Isaiah 62:1, you see a name change associated with Israel’s kingdom: ‘For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.’

“Zion appears only one time in your Bible in the possessive. Every other time it’s just Zion. It occurs 152 times in the singular and one time in the possessive plural. That equals 153.

“You understand you can’t do this with anything but a King James Bible. God is called the God of Israel 203 times in the KJB. You ought to divide that by 17 and see what you come up with.

“Psalm 69:35 says, ‘For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.’

“God’s intention is to take Zion, that part of the city of Jerusalem where the temple was, and make it ‘the city of the great king.’

*****

“When God ratified the covenant with Abraham He put Abraham asleep and they cut the sacrifices up.

“Genesis 15:12 says, ‘And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.’

“The smoking furnace in Deuteronomy 4 is described as the captivity. The burning lamp . . . all through the horror of great darkness they have a guide who takes them to the glory on the other end in the promise of God’s Word to them.

“So when you come back to Isaiah 62, the salvation of Israel is going to be ‘as a lamp that burneth.’ That’s talking about the Abrahamic covenant and God’s salvation to Israel through His promise to Abraham.

“Isaiah 62:2 says, ‘And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.’

“That’s exactly what He does with the Abrahamic covenant. He gives Abraham a new name. This new name is associated with the nation Israel during the tribulation period.

*****

“Revelation 2:17 says, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’

“One of the rewards for the overcoming ‘believing remnant’ is that new name. Now, what verse is that in? Verse 17. Just coincidence, I understand, but fascinating it’s the right verse!

“If you’re looking for another one, go to Acts 2. When the Holy Spirit comes on the apostles here, verse 5 says they were ‘dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.’ They all were heard speaking in their own language and are listed in verses 8-12. Do you know there are 17 different groups listed there?

“Look at verse 17: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’

“What was it we discovered back in Genesis 8? There’s the dove associated with Israel and Israel’s salvation taking them into the kingdom when they have this spiritual status restored through the new covenant and His Spirit put into them.

*****

“You can just keep going and going with this. Seventeen in the Scripture is a number associated with transition from old to new; change from the old to the new. Numerology wise, the numbers 7, 8, 9 and 17 are associated with the number 153.

“With the 9 and the 17, you’ve got that transformation of Israel into that fruit-bearing nation God intended. By the way, 9 is the number of fruit-bearing. In Ephesians 5, Paul says ‘the fruit of the Spirit is . . .’ and proceeds to list how many fruit? Nine.

“In I Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’ That term ‘planted’ is used nine times in your Bible.

“Did you know Titus is the 17^th book in the New Testament? Titus 2:13 says, [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“You know what three times 17 is? 51. I Corinthians 15:51 says, [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

“You know what I Thessalonians 4:17 says? [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

“When you’re caught up together with Him that CHANGE has taken place and the reality of that blessed hope is there, not just a prospect.”

Lesson on 17 to end '17

In the second “miraculous catch of fish,” the apostles aren’t getting any bites fishing in the Sea of Galilee until Jesus tells them to cast the net one more time and Simon Peter draws 153 “great fishes.”

"Large quantities of ink have gone into explaining why there should be 153 fish,” reads one website on hermaneutics. “At the purely historical level, it is unsurprising that someone counted them, either as part of dividing them up amongst the fishermen in preparation for sale, or because one of the men was so dumbfounded by the size of the fish ...”

*****

“There are all kind of different meanings placed on that number 153 and the one most Bible teachers generally give is it represents the number of Gentile nations on earth that go into the kingdom,” says Jordan. “What I think is fascinating is if you take the numbers 1-17 and add them together one by one you get 153.

“E.W. Bullinger explains that 17 is the seventh prime number and 9 times 17 is 153. You’ve got the numbers 9, 17 and 7 associated with it. 17 is 8 plus 9.

****

“The number 17 turns out to be a fascinating number in Scripture. There’s Revelation 13:17, talking about the Antichrist and the other beast, the false prophet.

“Verses 17-18 say, [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
[18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

“So, if Israel’s going to have wisdom in its stand against the Antichrist, one of the things they have to do is count the number and the number is 666.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to count the 666s in the Bible?’ You ever found the six hundred and sixty-sixth verse? The 666^th chapter in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 7. Verse 25 says, [25] I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.

“By the way, Ecclesiastes is a book written to instruct the ‘little flock’ in the ‘last days’ on how to identify the philosophy carrying the Lie program of the Adversary found in Revelation.

“What did Revelation tell you to do if you wanted to seek wisdom? 'Count the number.' So you come down two verses in Ecclesiastes 7 to 7:27 and it says, ‘Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account.’

“Somebody’s counting ‘one, two, three,’ and when he does, he’s seeking out wisdom. It’s a point of interest in Scripture that counting numbers, and the use of numbers, is something associated with getting some wisdom!

“Now, I realize this is sort of like climbing a tree, getting way out on a limb and giving somebody standing at the trunk a saw and saying, ‘Bet you can’t saw me off.’ They don’t have to; you’re so far out there nobody else wants to go out there with you!

“But what happens is the way you get up the tree and out further and further on that limb is you just keep believing the verses, keep believing the verses, and pretty soon the limb looks like it’s fixing to crack out from under you but it doesn’t. That’s sort of the way it is with these numbers kind of things.

*****

“The No. 17 is associated with change, with transition from the old to the new in the Bible. The first 17 in the Bible is Genesis 1:17: [17] And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

“That’s the 17^th time since the beginning of the Bible that the term 'God' appears. It’s in the same verse.

“In Genesis 6:13 God’s going to bring an end to humanity in the earth save for Noah and his family. There’s going to be an end to the old and a beginning of the new.

“That expression ‘God said’ in verse 13 is the 17^th time the expression occurs in the Bible. Come down to chapter 7 and notice when the change takes place. 7:9 says, [9] There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

“When it says ‘as God had commanded Noah,’ that’s the 17^th  time the name Noah appears in the text, and it appears in connection with the ending of the old world and salvation of life going into the new world.

*****

“Matthew 7:28 says, [28] And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

“That’s the 17^th time the name Jesus appears in the Book of Matthew, the first of the gospels. Now, what did He do? He ended those sayings. When Noah’s name occurs the 17^th time, it’s because God had commanded him. Both are connected with the Scripture.

“In John 2 you see Christ’s first miracle, where He turns the water to the wine, and John 2 happens to be the 70^th chapter in the New Testament. So these connections keep going.

*****

“Genesis 7:11 says, [11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

“The world ended on the 17^th day of the 7^th month; that’s when the rain started. Genesis 8:3-4 says, [3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
[4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

“Like I’ve been saying, 17 is associated with the transition from the old to the new. Now, you’ll notice there’s symbolism that told him the new earth was there. One was a dove. What is a dove a picture of in the Bible? The Holy Spirit.

“When Jesus is baptized, the Father speaks from heaven and the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Well, what’s the olive tree a symbol of in the Bible? The nation Israel. Hosea 14, Romans 11.

“It’s the spiritual life that God the Holy Spirit’s going to give to the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the nation Israel. So what we’re looking at here is how new life is going to be established in the new world. It’s going to be the Holy Spirit working through ultimately the nation Israel. And it’s connecting all of it.

“One of the ways you can help identify the thrust behind the number is the Book of Genesis has 50 chapters. Most of the chapters will kind of clue you into what that number is about and will give you some help and understanding.

“You understand, some of the numbers in Scripture are very clear. Like 13 is the number of rebellion because that’s what Genesis 14 connects it with immediately. Three and seven are divine numbers of perfection and completion. Twelve is Israel’s number. Those numbers are real easy.

“Nine is the number of fruit bearing. Eight is the number of a new beginning. Seventeen is the number of the old passed away, changed to the new.

"So what do you wind up with when you put those numbers together in a sentence? You wind up with a perfect transition of Israel into fruitfulness. You’ve got this perfect new beginning of fruitfulness in the kingdom that comes and you say, ‘Wow! How ’bout that?!’ "

Ferocious love up from the wilderness

When the Shulamite woman’s Beloved, a type of Jesus Christ, knocks on her door in Song of Solomon 5, saying, "Open to me, I want to come in," she responds, "Wait a minute, I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"

“There was a time when He came and said, ‘Open,’ and she didn’t get up. She said, ‘It’s not convenient,’ ” explains Jordan. “In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus Christ comes and says, ‘Here I am.’ In the early Acts period He comes and says, ‘Here I am,’ and they said, ‘No, we’ll not have this man reign over us.’

“He puts His hand in ‘the hole of the door,’ which is what He does in the Book of Acts. He’s fertilizing it, working on it, putting forth the effort. She realizes, ‘Oh, man, that was Him! I’ve been over here dreaming about Him and that was Him!’

“She runs to the door to open to Him but He’s gone. Too late. No Israeli would read that and fail to understand what they’re reading because He says over and over to them, ‘I’m going to go hide.’

"Song of Solomon 5:6 reads, 'I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.'

“You can go in Micah, Hosea, Daniel, Isaiah, and all the prophets that are coming, and they say, ‘Hey, He’s gone away; He’s hidden Himself,’ and that’s what He does. He ascends back into heaven as a royal exile and they can’t find Him.

“What this Shulamite woman’s doing here is she’s dreaming about what had happened to her and why He’s gone, but she knows He’s going to come back and so she’s going to be faithful and remain there. She says, ‘Boy, if you see Him, you tell Him I’m waiting on Him.’

“The reason this book fits that role in ‘the day of the Lord’ for the ‘believing remnant’ over there in the tribulation is because they had the opportunity, they missed it, He’s gone away, they can’t find Him and they have to wait on Him coming back.

*****

“The only physical description of Jesus Christ in His earthly life in the Bible is this passage in chapter 5: [10] My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
[11] His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
[12] His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
[13] His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
[14] His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
[15] His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
[16] His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

“Songwriters use verse 16 as a title about Him. No question everybody would recognize who that is. You want to compare with it the picture of Him in Revelation 1 as the resurrected glorified Lord. In Solomon is the picture of Him during His earthly ministry and in Revelation 1 you see His heavenly appearance after His resurrection and glorification.

“By the way, in Isaiah 53:1-2, you see how the unsaved apostate Israel viewed Him: [1] Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
[2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

“They said there’s no comeliness in Him but this Shulamite gal says He’s the most beautiful thing; He’s ‘altogether lovely.’

“She can detail everything about Him. You look at this lady’s power of observation of Him in verses 10-16 and it’s obvious she had studied Him closely, carefully, and she’s longing for Him.

“When asked at the start of chapter 6 where He’s gone, she answers, [2] My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
[3] I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.

“She knows where He’s gone. He’s gone back to His garden, back to the Father’s house, but He’s going to come back.

“Now, in the next nine verses is the second attempt by Solomon to seduce her. Just like he did in chapters 1 and 3, now he’s going to try again. This is just as it will be for Israel during the tribulation when they have the seduction of the Antichrist in the first half of the 70^th week and a seduction in the second half of the week. It’s just like when they’re going to have to stand up against the apostate religious system as well as the political onslaughts the Antichrist will put against them.

*****

“In the face of this second attempt, in chapter 7 you see that she once again successfully rejects his advances and remains faithful. Her answer in 7:10-13 is, [10] I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
[11] Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
[12] Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
[13] The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

“What she’s doing is saying, ‘Come and let’s see if there’s any real fruit here in our midst. You’ve been looking for fruit; we’ve got it.’

“The Beloved finally comes in chapter 8 and this is the way the Song of Solomon ends. She’s looking for Him, pleading for Him to come, and so here He comes.

“Chapter 8:5-7 reads, [5] Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
[6] Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
[7] Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

“Notice where He’s coming from— the wilderness. That’s what Solomon did back in chapter 3:6. It was the wrong one then, the right one this time. Where does Christ find the little flock? Revelation 12, Hosea 2. In the wilderness.

“It says she is ‘leaning upon her beloved.’ He’s gone out and got her and is bringing her back into Jerusalem. She’s with Him now.

*****

“That issue in verse 6 there, where she says, ‘Set me as a seal upon thy heart,’ is the same as what she did in chapter 1. She set Him as a seal upon her heart. Isaiah 26 says, [3] Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

“Her family responds and comes with her. Verses 8-9 read, ‘[8] We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
[9] If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

“Then in verse 10: [10] I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.

“She begins to describe how she’s been loyal to Him. In verse 11 to the end of the chapter, finishing the book, she reports, [11] Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
[12] My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
[13] Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
[14] Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

“She’s saying, ‘Solomon’s got His vineyard but I’ve got mine and I’m going to be faithful to my Beloved because He’ll take me to our vineyard and all that stuff Solomon’s got, forget it. So come on back, even so come, Lord Jesus.’

“Just like this lady, this Shulamite woman, a picture of the ‘believing remnant’ in Israel, is a picture of faithfulness and chastity to her Beloved, the Apostle Paul exhorts you and me to loyalty, faithfulness, chastity as we wait for the Lord’s coming for us.

“What you see this woman doing here in Israel’s program is just what Paul in Romans 6, 7, 8 instructs us and teaches us about our Beloved. Paul says, ‘Set your affections on things above,’ and that’s the key for us as well as it was for this woman.

“As soon as she got her mind fixed on all the things she could have if she violated the Word it drew her away and the key was to keep her mind fixed on Christ.

"As you read through the book and you think about these connections, you’ll see the wonderful example of the all-consuming nature of the ferocious, passionate love of God that pursues us, and you can understand why in I John the writer says ‘we love Him because He first loved us.’ "

Nothing hidden in this Song of Songs

You can have a lot of fun reading many of history’s top theologians eloquently explain away the Song of Solomon, not understanding what it’s really about.

Charles Spurgeon, for one, preached numerous times from the 22^nd book of the Bible and yet look what he writes:

“The Song, from the first verse to the last, will be clear to those who have received an unction from the holy One, and know all things. (1 John 2:20.) You are aware, dear friends, that there are very few commentaries upon the Epistles of John. Where we find fifty commentaries upon any book of St. Paul, you will hardly find one upon John. Why is that? Is the book too difficult?

“The words are very simple; there is hardly a word of four syllables anywhere in John’s Epistles. Ah! but they are so saturated through and through with the spirit of love, which also perfumes this Book of Solomon, that those who are not taught in the school of communion, cry out, ‘We cannot read it, for it is sealed.’

“The Song is a golden casket, of which love is the key rather than learning. Those who have not attained unto heights of affection, those who have not been educated by familiar intercourse with Jesus, cannot come near to this mine of treasure, ‘seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of heaven.’

“ O for the soaring eagle wing of John, and the far-seeing dove’s eyes of Solomon; but the most of us are blind and cannot see afar off. May God be pleased to make us grow in grace, and give us so much of the Holy Spirit, that with feet like hind’s feet we may stand upon the high places of Scripture, and this morning have some near and dear intercourse with Christ Jesus.”

*****

In the last part of his life, King Solomon literally became a type of the Antichrist and it's for that point the Song of Solomon's written. The book functions as a type of the apostate religious system in Israel existing during the Tribulation. The apostate nation will seek to corrupt and woo away the ‘little flock’ from chastity and faithfulness to their Messiah.

“What this song demonstrates is how this Shulamite woman, who is a picture of the 'believing remnant' in Israel, remains faithful to her absent Beloved one and resists the seduction of Solomon,” explains Preacher Richard Jordan. “Her Beloved has gone away, but she knows He’s going to return; she knows He’s coming back. It goes right along with what we’ve been studying in Hebrews through Jude about the seduction policy, where the nation is trying to deceive Believers into apostasy. This lady is a tremendous illustration of that.

“Now, I understand that 9 out of 10, if not 99 out of 100, commentaries on the Song of Solomon don’t teach it the way I just described it to you. They teach that Solomon is a type of Christ and she’s loving him and so forth, but when you study Solomon’s life you begin to see it’s really not that.

“When you see him function in this book, you see him function, not in the way Christ would function, but as a seducer. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a seducer; that’s the Adversary coming and trying to take away what really belongs to another.

*****

“The book begins, [1] The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
[2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
[3] Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

“She’s describing her love for her Beloved one and she’s longing for Him, desiring Him to be there even though He isn’t; He’s gone. Verse 7 says, [7] Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

“She says, ‘Come and show me where you are. Don’t leave me as one who doesn’t know where her betrothed is. Don’t leave me that way.’

“The problem is verse 4: 'Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.'

“The king is Solomon and he's brought her into his chambers. It’s talking literally about his living quarters. It’s like in the White House, you have the West Wing and the Oval Office and then you have the residence where the president lives.

“You’ll see, as we go on in the book, he actually takes her into his bedroom. He’s trying to wow her with all the wealth, the blessing, the position, the title, the glory—all that she could have if she would just come and be his lover; be a part of his harem.

“Now, the dude’s got 700 wives and 300 concubines so you know you wouldn’t be very special, but he’s making it out that way.

*****

“You've got to remember that with the little flock, the seduction in the last days is an attempt to draw them in with the promise of delightful things. That’s what seduction is. You don’t seduce people with a stick; you seduce them with a carrot.

“The seduction that’s going to be laid against Israel in the ‘last days’ is where wealth and power and fame and everything you’ve ever been looking for you can have; ‘Just come trust me to give it to you.’

“That’s literally what Solomon does to her and she does, right here at the beginning of the song, the one thing that the little flock is going to have to do to get through the Tribulation, through the day of the Lord into the Kingdom, without being seduced away.

“She says to her Beloved, ‘I don’t care where he takes me, what he shows me, I’m just thinking about you. I’ve got my mind filled with you and who you are.’

“In fact, you’ll see as she goes on here, when she talks, she talks about Him, and when she sings, she sings about Him. You’ll see that even when she’s dreaming, she’s dreaming about her Beloved one. This is what sustains her against all the enticements put before her.

*****

“Come to Isaiah 26 and you’ll see why that’s so important for Israel. The chapter starts, [1] In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
[2] Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
[3] Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
[4] Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
[5] For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

“This is what they’re going to be singing in the Kingdom. It’s fascinating that they sing songs. You know that today traditional hymns are considered ‘old’ and you’re ‘supposed’ to sing what they call ‘praise and worship’ songs. Those are songs you sing directly to the Lord where you address the Lord; you don’t sing about God. You don’t sing, ‘Years I spent in vanity and pride caring not my Lord was crucified . . . ’ That’s a song of testimony.

“No, today you’re to sing, ‘Oh Lord, I love you; Oh Lord, I praise you,’ and you address the Lord. Well, I don’t know about you, but when you’re talking to the Lord, there just isn’t a whole lot that you need to say to Him that He doesn’t already know.

“I was in a meeting out-of-state where they were reciting all these different Hebrew names of the Lord. I asked the song leader afterward, ‘Do you know the meaning of those names?’ Turned out he didn’t. I said, ‘Well, can you explain to me how that’s helpful?’ He said, ‘Well, the Lord knows them.’

“The Lord doesn’t just want words; He wants intelligent understanding on your part. He wants to see the information in you, working out through you. All that other stuff becomes real fleshy and it’s all this ‘He touched me’ business. It's senses-oriented, experience-oriented.

“Every time you see Israel singing a song in the Bible, it’s full of doctrine. That’s all the songs are. They are a rehearsal of their understanding of what God is doing or has done for them. When they address the Lord, they don’t just get into this gooey-ooey, ‘Oh, we adore thee,’ business. They say, ‘Lord, you did this, this and this and we praise you for it.’

*****

“Solomon tries to woo her starting in verse 8: [8] If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.
[9] I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
[10] Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
[11] We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

“That passage helps you understand when this book was written, by the way. He knows who Pharaoh is, he has concourse with Pharaoh. At this time Solomon’s taken the daughters of Pharaoh to be a part of his harem and made alliances with Pharaoh. You can go back in I and II Kings and read about it.

“Solomon is saying to her, ‘You don’t know where your Beloved is; He’s left you. Look, come over here and I’ll take care of you and you can have all these things.’ 

“There's the verse in Hebrews about Moses not counting the riches of Egypt, willing to bear the reproach--well, here it is again; that wealth coming in.

*****

“In chapter 2 all the way down to the end of chapter 3, you see this Shulamite woman repel Solomon’s advances and she pushes him away. She begins to brag on the details of who her Lover is. She talks in verses 1-7 about how He loved her and how she loved Him.

“Chapter 2:1-7: [1] I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
[2] As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
[3] 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.
[4] He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
[5] Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
[6] His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
[7] I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

“Starting in verse 8, she begins to describe His coming and, in fact, this is a tremendous passage because there’s a lot of doctrinal aspects with regard to the Second Coming of Christ. It compares with the writing prophets Isaiah-Malachi and the things they talk about taking place when Christ comes.

“She says, ‘I love Him, He loves me, and one day He’s coming for me.’ She talks about her eager anticipation for His coming. Verses 16-17: [16] My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
[17] Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

“We even have a hymn, ‘Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,’ that’s talking about Christ’s coming.

*****

“You go down through the first 4-5 verses of chapter 3 and she’s talking about Him coming. Now Solomon picks up on that and because he sees her anxiety and anticipation for His coming, he comes along in chapter 3:6 and does something: [6] Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

“Who is that? She’s just spent all of chapter 2 and the first part of 3 saying, ‘He’s coming, I’m looking for Him, and when He comes He’s going to come out of the wilderness and He’s going to do all these things for me.’

“So, here comes this guy out of the wilderness and he’s got pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, but it's Solomon.

“You take all these perfumes you read Solomon having and go back into Exodus and you’ll find they are repeatedly associated with the priesthood. What Solomon is doing is trying to present himself as the Messiah.

"She’s looking for the Messiah to come and Solomon tries to fool her into thinking he’s it. He pretends to be like her returning Beloved but she’s not fooled by it.

*****

“Verse 7: [7] Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

“She says, ‘I see who it is, that’s not my Beloved; that’s Solomon! I’m not going to follow him and if you daughters of Jerusalem want to go up and make out like he’s your beloved, go ahead, but count me out! I’m not going.’

“Because she has her mind so fixed on who her Beloved is, she’s not seduced by the counterfeit. Let your eye run down through chapters 4 and 5 and you’ll see she’s absolutely captivated and occupied with what her Beloved had to say and she remembers His words.

“Chapter 4: [1] Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
[2] Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
[3] Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
[4] Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
[5] Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
[6] Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
[7] Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

“She remembers what her Beloved said to her about His love and how He expressed their espousal and the fact that their marriage was at hand. She says in the last verse, ‘[16] Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.'

“She’s just longing for Him to come because she remembers what He says. Again, she’s focusing on His words to her. In chapter 5 it’s the same kind of thing.

“She says in verse 5:2: [2] I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

“Even when she’s asleep she’s dreaming about Him. Absolute total occupation.”

(to be continued…) 

None can be nearer, fairer, dearer

When Psalm 45:2 says Jesus Christ “art fairer than the children of men,” that’s His person; that’s who He is.

Jordan says, “Some people suggest Christ wasn’t really a fair-looking, handsome guy. They argue that to call Him ‘Fairest Lord Jesus,’ as the old hymn goes, wouldn’t be a good way to describe Him and point to Isaiah 52:13 for their idea He’s not somebody good to look at.

“Isaiah 53:2 reads, ‘For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.’

“People say, ‘Well, his physical visage was not attractive to people,’ but, you know, there are two things about that. First, this passage in Isaiah 53, when it says he had ‘no form or comeliness,' it’s talking about Him being despised and rejected among men. That’s what Isaiah 52:14 is talking about.

“He didn’t start out marred and no beauty in Him! When did that happen? That’s the Cross. You see Him being 'so marred more than any man.' The brutalities described in Matthew 26 and 27 that were heaped upon Him produced this horrible picture.

“Song of Solomon has the only physical description of the Lord Jesus Christ and it says He had hair that was bushy and black like a raven. He was brown-eyed and had black hair.

“When the psalmist says ‘thou art fairer than the children of men,’ that means He’s the prototype man. He’s the hero. He’s what God wanted man to be. Psalm 45 is describing the Lord in resurrection; describing glorified humanity.

“Of course, His personage would be more than His physical appearance—it would be in the nature He had and in the way He dealt with people; in the virtue His character would display.

“I love that verse that talks about the woman who touched the hem of His garment. It’s a strange verse. It says ‘virtue went out of him.’ Would anybody ever say that about you?

“The healing power that went out of Him into that woman and healed her, the Scripture calls that ‘virtue’ and that’s exactly the right translation, by the way. In other words, there was a virtue that just overflowed out of Him, and in His person He was fairer—‘He was fairer than the sons of men,’ as the verse says.

“So when the Bible describes Him it says, ‘He was altogether lovely. He was the lily of the valley.’ There’s a song like that: ‘Bright and morning star and he’s the altogether lovely to my soul.’

*****

If you want to see glorified humanity in the Bible, it’s summed up in Matthew 17: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”

Likewise, Luke reports in Luke 9, “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

[29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”

Jordan explains, “The glory of God was in the Lord Jesus Christ and was manifested through Him. ‘Altered’ means ‘transformed.’ There He is and His body inside of His clothes is transformed and the glory of God begins to shine out of it as the sun and it made His raiment glisten; kind of sparkle.

“You understand, folks, what the difference is between that spotlight up there shining down on my face and reflecting out? My face is shining like the moon shines--reflected light. To shine like the sun is to shine like a light bulb shines. It’s to have the light INSIDE of you and the light shines out.

“Did you ever notice that verse over there in Isaiah where God says, ‘I created the light and I created darkness?’ You know, God had to create darkness. What do you and I have to create? Light.

“You ever had any trouble creating darkness? No, you have to dispel darkness, don’t you? You don’t get along so good in the dark. If you’re in the dark it debilitates you.

“Before the light bulb we had kerosene lamps and different kind of torches, and before that you went to bed before the sun went down because you couldn’t see much and it forced restricted activity. You and I don’t have to create darkness; it’s natural in our world.

“We need a light source that creates light, but God’s the other way. God is naturally in the light. ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.’ And He had to literally create places where He wasn’t so there would be some darkness.

“Well, in the passage it’s talking about His glory coming to reside inside a person so there’s no darkness. Literally, our future body’s going to be a repository of the glory of God and that glory is going to shine out through you. It’s going to be inherently and innately present inside of you because of who He is and you’re going to share in His glorification.”

Yielding to the Voice is how you know

In a tract written by Bible scholar E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913), he reasons that the greatest need of a Christian—one most aren’t aware they’re lacking in—is to know God: who He is, how He thinks, what His plans are, what does He want in our relationship to Him, etc.

The need to internalize more and more of Him—His essence, His being, His character, on and on—is an inexhaustibly deep process that can ONLY be done through faithful study of His Word, applying it to life in the sincere believing of its truth.

As Bullinger points out, “Unbelievers and Christians who don’t know God’s Word can rely only on their imaginations and thoughts to tell them who God is. God is therefore based on their own tastes. How boring and useless is that!”

*****

Errant preachers will tell you that if you want to know God and His will for your life, you must carefully scrutinize your circumstances and listen for Him to interpret events and give directives through an “inner spiritual voice.”

Jordan argues, “If circumstances or inner impressions were the means of divine revelation, then what is the Bible? Chopped liver?! You say, ‘Well, the Bible’s the primary means, but. . .’ No, it’s the only means! Because anything God is communicating and revealing to you outside of the Bible is extra-biblical.”

*****

Paul says in I Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

“In other words, left to yourself you’re never going to find out things on your own. God reveals them to you. It’s revealed truth. He reveals them through His Spirit speaking through His Word.

“I got a real wicked email from a person this past week, and they just went on and on and on, calling me all kinds of terrible invectives, telling me what kind of a heretic I am because I tell people (they’d heard me on the TV program) that the Spirit of God speaks through His Word, and that He doesn’t speak outside of His Word; He’s not communicating to any of us through circumstances, inner impressions, events, physical things, etc. He uses words.

“Oh, this man was just as mad as could be. He said, ‘You’re limiting God! God speaks into your heart and He doesn’t just speak with the cold letter of His Word; He talks to you and He leads you.’

“I simply wrote back, ‘This just isn’t how God says He communicates, and every contact you have with Jesus Christ outside of the Word of God is on an inner subjective level inside of you, so how do you know that communication—that feeling, that impression, that thought, that word—you get in your spirit is from the God of the Bible and not from the devil?’

“ ‘Well, I just feel’. . .  Listen, every Mormon who ever lived, the way he got converted was he got the ‘burning in the bosom’ and he feels that way. Every Muslim you know, they went and got the feeling.

“I had plenty of  feelings about God talking to me before I ever got saved. Religion does that. That’s what it’s based on! Religion is designed to satisfy the lusts of your flesh and your flesh lusts for feeling.

*****

“So how do you know that the contact you have is the God who created all things and not some evil spirit? Well, you need some objective standard outside of your own intuition to know that.

“That’s why Paul writes, ‘Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.’ (I Cor. 2:13)

“Where do you find the words that the Holy Ghost teaches? That’s what the Book is! ‘Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God.’ ‘The Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David.’ ‘The Holy Ghost spoke by the prophet Esaias.’ The Bible’s full of that!

“So when the Holy Spirit wants to speak, He speaks through WORDS and those words are recorded on the pages of God’s Word. I Corinthians 2:10 says, ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.’

“When it says ‘for the Spirit searcheth the deep things,’ God the Holy Spirt knows the mind of the Godhead. Verse 11 says, ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.’

“That’s a verse you don’t want to read over too quickly. ‘What man knoweth the things of a man.’ You have a spirit that gives you a capacity to know things beyond simply the physical world around you. You have a spirit of man within you. I’ve got the spirit of man within me.

“And when I speak words, those words come out of my mouth. They tell you what’s inside of me in my spirit. Those words are a spiritual medium of communication that go into your ear and are translated . . . somewhere in the mystery of your makeup it’s translated into words that your spirit hears. And words—the communication we engage in—is really a spiritual thing.

“When we talk back and forth (as Believers), there’s a spiritual ministry going on. Now, when what we’re speaking is the Word of God, there’s more than a spiritual medium being transpired as with when we’re just communicating human viewpoint. We’re really communicating the things of God!

*****

“If you read verse 12, it says, ‘Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.’

“As the teaching ministry communicates godly edifying to you, there’s a spiritual ministry that’s developed inside of you, and you literally store up the capacity in your inner man and are built up.

“In Galatians 4:19, Paul talks about Christ being ‘formed in you.’ There’s a form of sound doctrine built up in your inner man.

“The preacher’s purpose is to take some godly edification—some sound doctrine based on our identity as members of the Body of Christ in the dispensation of grace—and impart that information into your inner man so that it builds up that edifice of sound doctrine inside of you, and your frame of reference (your thinking, your conscience, your inner man, all of the processes that go on inside of you) is renewed.

“The shorthand terminology in Romans 12 is the ‘renewing of your mind,’ that you might be ‘transformed by the spirit of God from glory to glory.’

“II Corinthians 3:18 says, ‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ There’s this inner-man transformation and it’s the Spirit.”

*****

In worldwide evangelist Oscar Woodall’s 1993 book, My Journey from Law to Grace, he tells of how when he’d frequently ask the question, “What’s most important to God?”, individual responses typically included, "souls, love, family, truth, justice, righteousness."

Woodall writes, "Most important to God is His inspired, preserved Word(s) written on pages of a book we can hold in our hand.”

*****

In her expository book on the Song of Solomon, Christ and His Bride, Cora Harris MacIlravy writes, “As she yields to His voice, He points out all that must be done, and deeper thoughts and yearnings are planted in her heart; new plants of adoration toward Him, of obedience and separation.

“As she abides with Him, submissive and yielded to every dealing, no matter how keen the pain, or how low she is brought, she finds that the pomegranate (a symbol of humility) is in flower and giving promise of abundance of fruit. It is for this that the Lord has chosen us to go out and bear fruit, and that our fruit should abide, and that it may be treasured and preserved for our Beloved.

“With the individual soul, there is the cry in the heart, that the Lord shall go forth and make manifest the true condition of the life; that He will stir us up to greater zeal in carrying out His will, and give greater strength to live for His glory alone.”