(sorry for delay--totatally unexpected day at work)
"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"Song of Solomon 5:6 reads, 'I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.'
"Song of Solomon 5:6 reads, 'I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.'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.
[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.
[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.
[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 70th 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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.’ "
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