Date:
Monday, June 8, 2009
Time: 4:57 PM
CWBS - Song of Solomon #2
Faltering Love; Song of Solomon 2:8 - 3:5
Faltering love - i.e. on the way to maturity.
Recall: Shulamite woman = us, the believer.
The beloved is coming with a fresh visitation.
John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice" - note that it does not say my "lamb" hear my voice. This is because only a mature believer, the "sheep" is able to discern His voice.
SOS 2: 8
The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
"mountains" refers to things that separate us from God.
God is coming to the believer and nothing can separate God's love to us! He comes graciously and gracefully, "leaping" and "skipping" because there is nothing too difficult for Him to overcome!
"gazelle" is mentioned in Psalm 22, which is titled "The Deer of the Dawn", referring to the Messiah.
SOS 2:9
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands behind our wall;
He is looking through the windows,
Gazing through the lattice.
"our wall" has brought a separation between Jesus and us instead of protecting us against the world. Our serving comes out of our worship, our relationship with God. We are not to build walls; God wants to bring us out of a comfort zone. The mature believer knows when to balance between serving and between taking a step back into His presence.
"looking through the windows"- the wall shuts out Jesus. The Christian life is about stepping out in faith and obeying God instead of keeping God to ourselves.
SOS 2:10
My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“ Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
"my beloved spoke" - God is asking us to look outside at the spring time which has come. God will not give in to our passiveness; He will call out to us! In Ezekiel 37:1-4, the Bible talks about the Valley of Dry Bones, refering to people who people who have stopped walking with God and when they reached a low, they stayed and died in the valley.
Provb 64:15 - our path as a righteous believer is like the shining sun: is our spiritual walk becoming brighter and brighter? Are we becoming more like Jesus? Our Christian walk has to be progressive!
"come away" with Jesus to do new things and overcome challenges!
Psalm 22 (mentioned above) - the deer of the morning (i.e. beginning) refers to the resurrected Jesus. Let us come with Jesus; look for the resurrection, not death!
1. The power of resurrection life.
2. The abundance (SOS 2:11) of resurrection life.
There is a lot more to our Christian life than challenges! God promises a season of abundance as well! There is so much more in store for us!
Winter
- Building a wall, secluding herself
- Time of testing
- No positive work
We need to overcome winter, for when winter passes, spring time is here! But even though we are in "winter", God does not waste any time!
Ish 55:10
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater
Winter rain is the time to tenderise the soil. When we weep, we are tender in the heart. God uses "winter" to break us and make us more yielded to God. Psalm 65:10 "soft with showers" allows the seed to be sown into the tenderised ground.
What areas of our lives are making us stay indoors?
SOS 2:11-13
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!
Spring
- With every death comes a resurrection - it's God's promise!
- Rain of winter is over and gone
- Time of joy and fruitfulness
- Flowers are a sign that the fruit is coming!
- Time of productivity
- "green figs" remain on the branch even in winter, all the way into spring. I.e. even in our winter period, God is already moving to put fruits in our lives!
3. The call of the cross.
SOS 2:14
"O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely."
"cleft of the rock" - The rock refers to Jesus Christ. The cleft speaks of our brokenness and the death of Jesus (winter).
We grow through the same experiences as Jesus.
Romans 6:56 "likeliness of His death" and "His resurrection".
We identify with Jesus' life: Days of wilderness where He was tempted by the devil; days of bevolence; water baptism; cross carrying; baptism of the Holy Spirit; and at the end of the day, His resurrection!
"my dove" - hiding, afraid of the world.
Romans 6:5 When we have identified with Jesus' crossbearing, we will also experience resurrection!
Romans 6:6 "body of sin", "slaves of sin" - Why do Christians go through the valley? It helps us break the power of sin over our lives. We learn obedience by the things we suffer. It increases our maturity.
- Conversion deals with the penalty of sin - our sins have been forgiven; "saints in Christ"
- Santification deals with the power of sin - ongoing process. hsantification hnearness to God ipower of sin.
- Glorification deals with the presence of sin - ipower of sin but our old man is still in us. But when we are in heaven, we are void of sin!
Gal 5:19-20 "works of the flesh"
Gal 5:21 "those who practice such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God"
Gal 5:24 "crucified the flesh" - allow the Holy Spirit to woo and convict you!
"secret places of the cliff" - the cliff = stairs (Hebrew). Victory over flesh is often done in secret. Period of moving from glory to glory usually done in steps.
When we are in down periods, keep showing up in cg, in service etc! God wants to see our dependibility and build our character. Things that we do in secret, no one knows, but God sees!
4. The removal of hinderances.
SOS 2:15
Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes.
When fruits begin to grow, foxes will come!
"little foxes" mature into big foxes. "the foxes" refers to the bad habits that we do not deal with that will destroy the life we have in God.
John 15:5 "bears much fruit" - Before God can increase fruits in our lives, He wants us to be able to deal with the foxes! Or else, even if God blesses us with lots of fruits, foxes will still eat it up!
"tender grapes" - fruits are not ripe yet. Do not let pride, wrath, etc. get in the way when little fruits appear.
Ecc 10:1 "dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment", "a little folly". Stay humble before God; do not think that we know it all!
1 Cor 5:6 "do you not know that a leaven leavens the whole lump?"
1 Cor 7:8 "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth"
At the Passover table, Jesus first fellowshipped with His disciples before washing their feel.
The order must be right! (1) Fellowship; (2) Cleansing.
SOS 2:16
My beloved is mine, and I am his.
He feeds his flock among the lilies.
Repetition of SOS 6:3 but look at the order -
SOS 2:16 "My beloved is mine, and I am his" - is more self-centred; Jesus is my saviour, my provider.
SOS 6:3 "I am my beloved's; And my beloved is mine" - transforming love. Phil 2:13 "for His pleasure". I am a servant to Jesus! No longer my will, but Your will be done!
"lilies" = purity. Jesus feeds His people when there is hunger and purity. Crucificition of flesh to get our purity.
SOS 2:17
And the shadows flee away,
Turn, my beloved,
And be like a gazelle
Or a young stag
Upon the mountains of Bether.
God understands and He knows when we are not ready.
"Bether" = separation.
Jesus wants us to be separated from our old life of sin.
Abraham was separated from:
- Lot - the things we love
- Ishmael - past failures and mistakes
- Issac - greatest pride and joy. Would you give up God's greatest blessing for Him?
SOS 3:1
By night on my bed I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
Lovesick for God.
SOS 3:2
“ And go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I will seek the one I love.”
I sought him, but I did not find him.
"about the city" - a type of kingdom of God. We have to find God via kingdom methods - prayer, fasting, reading His word.
SOS 3:3
The watchmen who go about the city found me;
I said, “ Have you seen the one I love?”
"watchmen" are leaders of God's kingdom. Some times, it needs to be our own personal walk with God. It is how much you love and want Him!
SOS 3:4
Scarcely had I passed by them,
When I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go,
Until I had brought him to the house of my mother,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.
God allowed her to find Him. You draw to Him, He draws near to you! However, the Shulamite woman did not get it - her deep appreciation of Him was shown by bringing God back to the confines of her home.
SOS 3:5
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.
SOS 2:7. God knows and understands when you are not ready - "According to your faith, let it be done unto you".
Faltering love talks about a inner struggle to depend on the Holy Spirit.
Romans 7:24 - Spirit is willing, flesh is weak.
Phil 3:10 Fellowship + suffering + resurrection. Ginosko (Greek) = experience.
Jesus went through every extreme so that we could identify with His experiences:
- Pain of discipline - praying etc.
- Pain of separation from friends
- Pain of disappointment
- Pain of obedience
- Pain of accusations
2 Tim 2:11-12 "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him".
Labels: CWBS, Faltering love, Song of Solomon