THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Books of Poetry
Message Ten—Song of Songs (2)

Scripture Reading: S. S. 4:6—8:14; Eph. 4:15-16; Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:23; 2 Cor. 5:1-8; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35

Ⅹ. Her Beloved calls her to live in His ascension, as He had called her to remain in His cross—S. S. 4:6-9:

A. After the lover of Christ has experienced Christ in His sweet death and His fragrant resurrection, she determines to stay in the sweet death of Christ (the mountain of myrrh) and His fragrant resurrection (the hill of frankincense) until her Beloved comes back when the day dawns and the shadows flee away—4:6.

B. We cannot separate Christ from His ascension or from the life-giving Spirit; Christ is the life-giving Spirit; we can live in ascension by living in the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the Spirit in our spirit.

Ⅺ. Through her living in Christ’s ascension as the new creation in resurrection, the lover of Christ becomes mature in the riches of the life of Christ so that she becomes a garden to Christ—4:12—5:3:

A. This garden is enclosed with a spring shut up and a fountain sealed for Christ’s private enjoyment—v. 12.

B. Her desire is for her Beloved to come into His garden and eat His choicest fruit (v. 16b); the goal is that she would become a garden to meet her Beloved’s need.

Ⅻ. Through her living in Christ’s ascension, the lover of Christ also becomes the sanctuary of God, signified by Tirzah, and its safeguard, signified by Jerusalem—6:4a:

A. To become a garden to Christ is to be flourishing in the element of Christ’s life with its unsearchable riches; to become the sanctuary of God is to be built up in the growth with the life of Christ with its unsearchable riches—Eph. 4:15-16.

B. In the New Testament this building is the organic Body of Christ; the organic Body of Christ is also Christ’s wife (Eph. 5:25-32); furthermore, the organic Body of Christ consummates, completes, the building of the New Jerusalem.

ⅩIII. Through her living in the ascension of Christ and further living within the veil, experiencing the cross of Christ more strongly, the lover of Christ is transformed into the heavenly bodies—S. S. 6:10:

A. The lover of Christ becoming the moon and the sun indicates that she has become not only wholly spiritual but also absolutely heavenly and signifies that she has become an overcomer.

B. The overcoming believers can be luminaries as the moon reflecting the light of the sun in the church age (Phil. 2:15); the overcoming believers will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom age (Matt. 13:43; Dan. 12:3); the people of God who produce the overcomers (the man-child) are clothed with the sun and have the moon underneath their feet—Rev. 12:1, 5.

ⅩIV. The lover becomes a terrible army with banners and the Shulammite—S. S. 6:4b, 10b, 13:

A. A terrible army signifies that these overcomers of the Lord terrify God’s enemy, Satan, and become terrible in the eyes of God’s people; an army fights the battle for God’s kingdom in the degradation of God’s people to be the overcomers answering the Lord’s call—S. S. 6:4; Rev. 2:7, 11.

B. Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon, indicating that now the overcomers have become the same as Christ; the overcomers were sinners; now, in the maturity of Christ’s life, they have become the same as Christ in life, in nature, in expression, and in function for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy.

ⅩV. Solomon is the lord of many vineyards, and these vineyards require much labor; now the country girl, who has become his Shulammite, must become his co-worker—S. S. 7:1-9a:

A. To share in the Lord’s work, we need to be qualified, and our qualification depends on our being equipped with the attributes of the divine life expressed in human virtues—7:1-9a.

B. Song of Songs 7:9b-13 reveals that the lover works with her Beloved for His Body economy:

1. Wishing that others would enjoy smoothly what she could be—v. 9b.

2. God’s confessing that she belongs to her Beloved for His desire—v. 10.

3. Wanting to carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world—v. 11.

4. She and her Beloved working diligently not for herself but in the churches, in which she renders her love to her Beloved—v. 12.

5. In her working together with her Beloved there being a mutual love giving forth its fragrance between them—v. 13.

ⅩVI. Song of Songs 8 reveals the lover’s hope to be raptured; the Shulammite was matured in life to the extent that she became Solomon in every aspect and from every view, except for the fact that she still had the flesh—8:1-4:

A. The Spirit, speaking through a third person, asks who this lover of Christ is who came up once from the spiritual wilderness by herself (3:6) and now comes up from the fleshly wilderness by her Beloved—v. 5a.

B. The lover admits that by herself she is not able to stand and live in her Beloved until her rapture—v. 6:

1. She asks her Beloved to keep her by His love and His strength—v. 6.

2. His love cannot be quenched by trials nor drowned by persecutions nor replaced by any wealth; if one would replace it, he would be utterly despised—v. 7.

C. Before her rapture she with Christ is concerned for the younger lovers of Christ; she is concerned about how to perfect them to mature in life for the building up of the Body of Christ and to love Christ until they are betrothed to Him in love for the constituting of the bride of Christ.

D. She with her Beloved perfect one who is a wall and one who is a door and test that she is a separating wall with two towers of faith and love—v. 9.

E. The lover of her Beloved asks Him who dwells in the believers as His gardens to let her hear His voice as her companions listen for His voice—v. 13; cf. 4:13—5:1; 6:2.

ⅩVII. As the concluding prayer of this poetic book, the lover of Christ prays that her Beloved would make haste to come back in the power of His resurrection (gazelle and young hart) to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom (mountains of spices), which will fill the whole earth—S. S. 8:14; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE CALL TO LIVE IN ASCENSION

At this juncture her Beloved calls her to live in His ascension, as He had called her to remain in His cross. In 2:14 He called her to be with Him in the clefts of the rock and in the covert of the precipice. Now He calls her again to be with Him in His ascension instead of remaining on the mountain of myrrh and on the hill of frankincense.

To know Christ in His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His bountiful Spirit, we need to see that these four things are one. Death is a condition in which Christ died for us and with us, and resurrection is a condition in which Christ was resurrected by God from the dead to release the divine life. If we have Christ in these conditions, we enjoy Him. It is the same with ascension and the Spirit. We cannot separate Christ from His ascension or from the life-giving Spirit. Christ is the life-giving Spirit. If He were separate from the life-giving Spirit, He would no longer be pneumatic. We can live in ascension by living in the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the Spirit in our spirit. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 8)

BECOMING MATURE IN THE RICHES OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST TO BECOME A GARDEN TO CHRIST FOR CHRIST’S PRIVATE ENJOYMENT

Through her living in Christ’s ascension as the new creation in resurrection, the lover of Christ becomes mature in the riches of the life of Christ so that she becomes a garden to Christ (4:12-15).

This garden is enclosed with a spring shut up and a fountain sealed for Christ’s private enjoyment (v. 12). The spring is the Spirit of life and is seen in Revelation 22:1 as the river of water of life. The fountain is the source of the spring, which is God’s throne. The sealed fountain is for Christ’s private enjoyment. As seeking Christians, in experiencing Christ we must have something private, hidden, shut up, and sealed which is just for Christ. This is different from the practice of Pentecostalism, in which everything is on the surface for open exhibition and hardly anything is sealed. We must have something sealed for the One whom we love the most.

The garden is also full of the choicest fruit and the chief spices with their beauty and fragrance (S.S. 4:13-14). A rich garden grows many kinds of plants, which produce fruit and are full of fragrance and color. This becomes the lover’s beauty to the Lord. Eventually, this holy garden becomes the green bed (1:16b) for the lover and Christ to live together in mutual rest and enjoyment. The lover of Christ is now rich in life, producing fruits to nourish and refresh, giving forth sweet fragrances, and displaying beautiful colors to become a restful bed of green for Christ’s rest and enjoyment.

In the garden are a fountain and a well of living water, which are streams from the resurrection and ascension life (4:15). The fountain and the spring stream out from the overcomers. They flow out from what they are and from where they are. We need to be such people in resurrection and ascension, flowing with the essence, the flavor, the fruit, and the beauty of resurrection and ascension. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 9)

BECOMING THE SANCTUARY OF GOD BY BEING BUILD UP IN THE GROWTH WITH THE LIFE OF CHRIST

To become a garden to Christ is to be flourishing in the element of Christ’s life with its unsearchable riches; to become the sanctuary of God is to be built up (related to the building of the Body of Christ) in the growth with the life of Christ with its unsearchable riches (Eph. 4:15-16). In the Old Testament the building of God is typified by Tirzah and Jerusalem; in the New Testament this building is the organic Body of Christ. The organic Body of Christ is also Christ’s wife (Eph. 5:25-32). Furthermore, the organic Body of Christ consummates, completes, the building of the New Jerusalem. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 10)

TRANSFORMED INTO THE HEAVENLY BODIES

Through her living in the ascension of Christ and further living within the veil, experiencing the cross of Christ more strongly, the lover of Christ is transformed into the heavenly bodies. In chapter one the lover was a horse, but after being transformed and maturing in the life of Christ, she is gradually and progressively transformed into a lily, a garden, a palace, and a city. Eventually, she becomes not only an earthly treasure but also the heavenly bodies.

The overcoming believers can be luminaries as the moon reflecting the light of the sun in the church age (Phil. 2:15). The overcoming believers will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom age (Matt. 13:43; Dan. 12:3). The people of God who produce the overcomers (the man-child) are clothed with the sun and have the moon underneath their feet (Rev. 12:1, 5). The woman in Revelation 12 signifies the aggregate of God’s people on this earth. This woman is the mother of the man-child, the overcomers. She is shining with the sun, the moon, and the stars. This view conveys the thought that God’s chosen people should be heavenly and should shine brightly. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 11)

BECOMING A TERRIBLE ARMY

At this point the lover is described as being as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, and as terrible as an army with banners (S.S. 6:4). This indicates that when we become one with God to be God’s dwelling place, we are as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem in the eyes of God. However, to the enemy this lover, this overcomer, is as terrible as an army with banners. Banners indicate a readiness to fight and also mean that the victory is won. An army without banners must be a defeated army. When she becomes as beautiful as the moon and as clear as the sun, she is also as terrible as an army with banners (v. 10).

BECOMING THE SHULAMMITE

Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon, indicating that now the overcomers have become the same as Christ. All the overcomers must be one with God and must be Christ. The Shulammite was a country girl. Now, as a counterpart of Solomon, she has become the same as Solomon in life, in nature, in expression, and in function for the carrying out of God’s economy. In these four things—life, nature, expression, and function—we become the same as God and Christ, but not in Their Godhead. To say that we are the same as God in His Godhead is a great blasphemy, but if we say that we cannot be the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, this is unbelief. The Bible tells us again and again that God wants to be one with us and to make us one with Him. This is God’s intention. (Crystallization-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 12)

WORKING TOGETHER WITH HER BELOVED

At this point it seems that the book should end, yet it continues. Solomon is the lord of many vineyards, and these vineyards require much labor. Now the country girl, who has become his Shulammite, must become his co-worker. This indicates that eventually Christ’s lovers need to share in the work of the Lord. To share in the Lord’s work we need to be qualified, and our qualification depends upon the spiritual equipment, that is, it depends on our being equipped with all the attributes of the divine life.

In Song of Songs we see that to work with the Lord we need the maturity in life, we need to be one with the Lord, and our work must be for His Body. Our Lord is Solomon and we must be the Shulammite; that is, we must be one with the Lord. Actually, to work with Christ we must be Christ. (Life-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 8)

HOPING TO BE RAPTURED

Song of Songs 8 reveals the lover’s hope to be raptured. The Shulammite was matured in life to the extent that she became Solomon in every aspect and from every view, except for the fact that she still had the flesh.

“Set me as a seal on your heart, / As a seal on your arm; / For love is as strong as death, / Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol; / Its flashes are the flashes of fire, / A flame of Jehovah. / Many waters cannot quench love, / Nor do floods drown it. / If a man gave all the substance of his house for love, / It would be utterly despised” (8:6-7). Here we see that when the lover hears what her Beloved spoke in verse 5, she admits that by herself she is not able to stand and live in her Beloved until her rapture. She asks her Beloved to keep her by His love and His strength, for His love is as strong as the unshakable death and His jealousy is as cruel as the unconquerable Sheol, which is like the jealous Jehovah (Exo. 20:5; 2 Cor. 11:2), who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29) that burns up all the negative things that can be burned. His love cannot be quenched by trials nor drowned by persecutions nor replaced by any wealth. If one would replace it, he would be utterly despised.

“Make haste, my beloved, / And be like a gazelle or a young hart / Upon the mountains of spices” (v. 14). The lover of her Beloved prays that He would make haste to come back in the power of His resurrection to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom which will fill the whole earth (Rev. 11:15; Dan. 2:35). Here we should note that the prayer of this lover of her Beloved is the concluding word of this poetic book, portraying the union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, as the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, is the concluding word of the Holy Scripture, revealing God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love (Rev. 22:20).

The poem, as a type, in this poetic book as the story of the love between a king and a country girl is a marvelous and vivid portrait, as the fulfillment, of the bridal love between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as His bride in their mutual enjoyment in the mingling of His divine attributes with the human virtues of His lovers. The correspondence of the progression with its stages on these two sides of the poem and its portrait is the intrinsic revelation of the Holy Word of the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. The progress begins with the first stage of Christ’s lovers’ being drawn to pursue Him for satisfaction, continues through the following stages of (1) their being called to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross, (2) their being called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection, (3) their being called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection, and (4) their sharing in the work of the Lord, and ends with the last stage of their hoping to be raptured. May such a progress with its stages be a landmark to us in the course of our pursuing of Christ for His and our mutual satisfaction! (Life-Study of Song of Songs, msg. 9)