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(1) INTRODUCTION:
 

The Bride’s response attracts the attention of the Daughters of Jerusalem (either the responsive unsaved or Christians not awakened to fervency).

‘What is your beloved more than any other beloved, O Fairest among women ?” (NKJV  5:9) they ask. Because her response is so un-natural (she’s not angry at Him for withdrawing His presence and allowing her to suffer at the hands of others), they are amazed. Her response is SUPER NATURAL (Super-Woman!)

This is the kind of testimony we should have - talking about the beauty and greatness of Jesus even in the darkest times! Even when it seems like He has been so unfair to us and allowed us to suffer so much. She is seen to have matured to the place of wise acceptance of the Beloved's ways. Have you got to that place where you can shine forth even in those times where you have been harshly treated by others and seemingly been abandoned by the Lord ?
 

This is the kind of testimony we should have before others of Jesus. It is this powerful testimony that causes others to seek Him.

 The Ten-Fold Description Of Jesus

 Let us look in more detail at her description of the Beloved and interpret this as it relates to Jesus. Notice that in  5:10 and  5:16 we see an overview of this description - All of Him is desirable - He is Fair (lit.radiant,bright) and ruddy (from ‘adam’ - perfect humanity), chief (lit. ‘fish’) among 10,000. Above all, He is now her FRIEND!

When all these desctriptions of Jesus become a reality in our own experience with Him then we have truly entered the POWERFUL LOVE stage in our pilgrimage of love....

SONG OF SONGS 6:1

SONG OF SONGS 6:2-3

He is always with us (omnipresent) but we are not always with Him (where He manifests His presence is a very tangible way).

Jesus’ greatest manifest presence is amongst the harvest. He said, ‘Lo, I will be with you always..’ ( Matt 28:20) in the context of us GOING into the nations, into His purposes first. He is with us in great measure as we follow Him into His will and purposes.

Verse  3: 'I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine' - She has now reversed her previous possessive statement ( Songs 2:16) as she realizes she belongs to Him, to go on His terms! As Jesus becomes BIGGER in our thinking and lives, we too will have this revelation of belonging to Him that will spur us on to do His will.

Notice the two statements 'he  feeds his  flock in the  gardens' and 'among the  lilies' - these are the places where we are fed spiritually. The gardens speak of our areas of calling . As we minister in His will we will be fed by him and those under us will also be nourished . 'Among the lilies' speaks of being in the congregation of the saints.

The Bride Becomes an ARMY (6:4-13):

Because of her revelation of Him and the pain she has endured to follow Him completely, she is seen by Him ( 6:4,10), herself ( 6:12) and others( 6:13) as a mighty  ARMY, a mighty WARRIOR.

What Can Subdue The Heart of God ?
 

Verse  4: Look at the following words...
 

 
‘Beautiful’ and ‘glorious’ are the main characteristics of this end-time  ARMY of believers.

Are we afraid of the enemy or is he afraid of us ? Let us ask Him to deal with us to such an extent that all will agree we are transformed into a warrior for Him. Let Him show us what is required to possess His peace and be fully owned by Him.

Verse  5b-7: This is the same description as Songs  4:1-3 except that this time her eyes are not veiled (the use of veil in verse 7 is not accurate, it should be ' locks'), but are fully revealed and dazzling - they overcome Him - what do we learn from this ?

He only mentions her  hair,  teeth and  temples and misses out her  lips,  neck and  breasts this time. Why do you think ?

This shows that His love and appreciation for her has not diminished since the wedding night! In fact His love and appreciation for her has grown since then. this is true of our relationship with Jesus and should be true of a husband’s love for his wife.

A Unique Army

 Verses  8-9: He assures her that she is totally UNIQUE as His  dove (cf. 5:2), an opinion shared by her  mother and also the other women (this passage may refer to Solomon’s other wives ( Queens) and  concubines at that time).

It is significant that there are 60  queens - the same number of valiant men in  3:7. Queens represent the overcoming saints - they become the 'valiant men'! These are the end-time group of saints that are the most intimate with King Jesus and have the most authority with Him. We become part of their company when we go through waht the Shulamite has been through in this song!

The  Concubines and  Virgins without number also speak of different types of God's people. Look up the meanings and try to identify who they represent.

On seeing the husband and wife reconciled, the women were amazed at her beauty - they praised her and called her blessed! Interpreting this on both levels we see that when we testify about Jesus to others powerfully, in painful times, and emerge as His warrior, others will witness the transormation and be amazed. In a marriage relationship, when the woman extolls her husband's characteristics, even when has hurt her and has been distant from her, she wil be a powerful testimony to others.

An Army Shining Bright
 

Verse  10: What a transformation! She is now seen as clear, fresh and anointed (cf. 2 Sam 23:4) - the result of all that has gone before. The description is of a cloudless, bright morning which speaks of clarity and shining forth with purity (no clouds, no grey areas).This is the quality of God’s End-Time Army (Glorious).

There is a greater degree of glory in her now (cf.  2 Cor 3:18). She ' looks forth as the morning' - the hebrew word for 'looks forth' gives the picture of one leaning fully out of a window and gazing with unhindered vision. Where there had been  lattices blocking and blurring her vision before (the sin that so easily entangles) there is only clarity of unblocked vision before her. She has emerged as an overcomer, having overcome the sin that had so easily entangled her before (insecurity, unworthiness etc..). We must ask the Lord to bring us to this place - we must pay the price and go through the painful process of separation to emerge as the Shulamite does here...a bright, shining , poweful testimony of God's love!

Look up the Hebrew meanings of Morning (Dawn),  Moon and  Sun and think about the image she shines forth now.

Again he calls her 'awesome as an  army with  banners'.

An Army On The Move

 Verse  11: Her response to her Beloved’s words of validation (in the face of ridicule from others), is to go (this is the first time she takes the initiative) to ‘the  garden of  nuts’! - this probably refers to a walnut tree garden which grew most luxuriantly around the Lake of Gennesareth (‘harp’) and speaks spiritually of the harvest fields of this world (where on the outside the people look 'hard' but on the inside they are 'ripe unto harvest'). She becomes an army moving out to where He is working. We see that she goes to the garden with three burdens.....

(i) To Look at the ‘Verdure’ (NKJV) or ‘New growth’ (NIV) in the  Valley. She goes to look for the first signs of spring (new growth) - the first signs of renewal and revival (see  2:11-13). Interpret this in terms of the End-Time Army....(Look up the Hebrew word used for ‘ valley’ also - it speaks of our inheritance.)

God's will is for us to get to the place where we finally move into His place of inheritance (our mission field) for us where we are to look for the first signs of renewal and revival in the place of intercessory prayer.

(ii) To See Whether the  Vine has Budded (or ‘is flourishing’).

  Vine = The Church in abiding realtionship with Jesus - her burden is to see renewal and revival in the Church ( grapes = joy - to see a release of joy).

(iii) To See if the Pomegranates have Bloomed.

  Pomegranates = Love - Has love bloomed in the Church ? Is the Church reaching out in love to a lost world ? (Evangelism / Mission).

This Army’s burden is to see renewal and revival in areas which have no Church, and in the existing Churches for evangelism with love to be a consuming purpose. We are to seek God for which areas He is giving to us as an inheritance wait for His time to launch forth to do the above activities.

Is this your burden ?

A Swift Army

Verse  12: The best translation of this verse is ‘Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal  chariots of my people (chariots of Aminadab)’. She is now truly 'seated as a ruler' . The word 'chariot' here specifically represents the Christian's place of 'sitting in heavenly places with Christ' in a place of overcoming rulership. The previous words for 'Chariots' have slightly differnet meanings - take a look at the words used for  'Chariot'.
 

It is our desire to follow Him that makes us a swift, powerful army! Previously she had been slow and hesitant in following Him, but now she swiftly goes where He goes.

'Before I was even aware' - with her mind she as not aware that she had become such a noble, fast-moving army in a place of power and authority! We will be transformed and move in this anointing even before we fully realize it!

A Delivering Army

Verse  13a: The Daughters of Jerusalem cry four times for her to return to them so that they may see her beauty (her freedom / liberty). The World cries out for the salvation that the End-Time Army will bring in the earth. (See Isa 26:17-18; Isa 66:7-8; Rev 12:1-6 : The ‘Male Child’ here is a mature Son (fully grown), and could refer to the End-Time company of people that the Church will birth to accomlish deliverance in this generation!) - write down your own thought on the above......

A Double Dancing Army

Verse  13b: What is seen in the Bride’s life ? - a company of two armies is evident. In Hebrew the word ‘mahanaim’ (used here) means ‘double camp’ or ‘double army’. It can be seen originally from  Gen 32:2 where Jacob became a natural and spiritual camp (his people make up the natural, the angels make up the spiritual).

This 'double camp' is having a celebratory 'dance'. The word used for 'dance' is interesting as it also means 'to weave together' - this shows that the natural and spiritual armies (human and angelic) are weaved together in a united ,beautifully choreographed dance - the Holy Spirit is the Choreographer and the dance is one of victory.

We are not alone ! Jesus is the Captain of the Hosts ( Josh 5:13-15) - both of the Church and the angelic host. These are both  dancing (i.e. ‘victorious’) armies. As we launch forth into God's inheritance for us we must wait until we are in the place of authority that realizes we will be moving with the very hosts of heaven in our ministry to the lost and unreached. The Church must reach the unreached in God's strength, understanding that as she launches forth into the nations she must believe she is a 'double-camp' and be living in that reality.

Look up the Hebrew word used here for ‘army’ and comment...what must happen to the church today in order to be seen in this light ?

Living For His Pleasure Alone (7:1-10):

 Now comes the description of the Bride, who is now the  ARMY of the Lord. Throughout this description we see that no longer is she living for her own pleasure, but for His pleasure alone....(See verse  6 particularly)

Compare this with the Groom's previous description of the Bride in the Painful Love Stage - how has she developed since that time ?

Verse  10: 'I am my beloved's and His desire is toward me' - This verse shows us that she is no longer possessive of Him, but is living completely for His pleasure because she knows that His desire is towards her. This should be the cry of our hearts!!

How much does He possess your life ? Pray now and ask forgiveness for times when you have tried to possess Him and get Him to go on your terms...speak out to Him your desire to be possessed by Him.

Co-Labourers With Him (7:11-13:)

Previously she went forth on her own initiative just to ‘see’ ( 6:11-13), now she goes forth to demonstrate her love (to ‘do’). She actually says, ‘Come my beloved, let us go forth....’ - her heart has become His heart. Our hearts must become Jesus’ heart which is the Father’s heart - a MISSIONS heart!

Firstly, we see the world through His eyes, we see in faith what He’s calling us to, then we zealously launch out as Co-labourers with Him into the ‘ fields’ (the world’s end-time harvest) and ‘ villages’(not just towns and cities!). The term ' villages' speaks of the harvest field God is calling us to where there will be atonement for the lost.

Again, her burden is to see if the  vine has budded and the  Pomegranate is in bloom. Do you remember the interpretation of these ? (See  6:11)

Our calling must be focused down to 'villages' and we must goes with a united purpose to see communities living in abiding relationship with Jesus, demonstrating His love in the society.

Here she experiences the fullness of love with Him (‘there I will give you my  love.’) - it’s at this stage that we will experience greater depths of His love (obedience is proof of our love to Him ( Jn14:21) and leads us to greater love ( Ex 19:5-6).

NB.  Mandrake = ‘Love-Plant’ (Round, red, apple-like fruit) - used as an aphrodisiac! This speaks of the deeper love they now have which will lead to many lives being 'born' into His purposes.
 

‘All manner old and new’ - see  Matt 13:52 - within us is treasure (old and new) - He’s laid up for us things to experience, old things (already experienced) and also new pleasant things (laid up for us before time ( Isa 64:4). What we have learnt before (old) must remain and be the foundation upon which the new experiences God takes us through can be build upon. Then we will have an abundance , a wealth of 'fruit' to pour out into others.

Song 7:11-13

Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.

Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom-- there I will give you my love.

The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.

(NIV)

Bearing His reproach (8:1-4):

Verse  1: She says, ’I wish you were my little baby brother’. Why ?

In those days it was the duty of the oldest girl in the family to look after her little baby brother. This was totally acceptable by others and much affection could freely be displayed. She was being despised by others due to her relationship with Solomon and she cries out because of this. There is a certain restraint that is necessary (she cannot ' kiss 'in public!!) We will get to a point where we have unbridled affection for Jesus. In public we must be wise - we must show forth this affection but not be 'over the top' so as to stumble the weaker in conscience, but enough the challenge the religious spirits out there!

See  Heb 13:13 and comment in the light of the above...

 As we fall deeply in love with Jesus and start to be expressive of this love in the presence of others we will find some 'religious' people will be offended. They will start to point the finger and try to quench this love. But the quality of love displayed now is unquenchable (as we shall see). We will be as outcasts 'outside the camp' but this is God's leading, so we can be a powerful testimony outside the confines of the Church (a church without walls).

Verse  2: She longs to be big-sister to him ('lead you into the  house of my  mother') so they can be more free in their affection for each other - to experience more joy ( wine) and love ( pomegranates) together. In short, she longs to be MORE INTIMATE with him no matter what others are saying! Is this our desire with Jesus (or with our spouse) ?
 

Verse  4 again has the charge not to  stir up love until it is time. This forms the break into the next section.