Song of Solomon 4:1, “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.” (KJV)
Song of Solomon 4:1, “Look at you! You are beautiful, my love. Look at you! You are so beautiful, my love.” (GWT)
God calls you the beautiful one. He calls you His love. He says to look at yourself in the light of His love for you. You must accept His verdict of you. He declares that you are the beautiful one… “Thou art fair; you are beautiful.” Have you taken a look at yourself lately through the eyes of God’s love for you? Can you see what He sees, O beautiful bride of Christ? In this passage, He speaks of the beauty of the inner-man. He is referring to the totality of the beauty of His holiness in your innermost being. This is the beauty of your inward appearance clothed in the very righteousness of God. The Psalmist said, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Why?
Because, sin mars the nature of man but holiness is the beauty of the Spirit. Again, I ask, “How beautiful are you in God’s eyes?” “You are beautiful from head to toe, my dear love, beautiful beyond compare, absolutely flawless.” (S.O.S 4:7 Message) Is this hard for you to believe and accept? Listen to what the Psalms declare: “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.” (Ps. 45:13 KJV) Say with me, I am all glorious within. Listen to what Colossians says, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ.” (Col. 2:10 NLT) His beauty has become your beauty and you are flawless in His flawlessness, O beautiful bride of Christ! May the Holy Spirit reveal this to you as He floods your innermost being with light. Notice that this chapter begins with an overall introduction of the beauty of the Spirit in your inward appearance and you will now see how the love of Christ in the Song of Solomon speaks of the “Law of Noticeability.” When two people are in love, they notice the peculiar features of each other. Often, these features are veiled from all others but themselves.
The first aspect of your being that Christ took notice of is the EYES.
“Thou has doves eyes within thy locks.” (S.O.S 4:1 KJV)
“Your eyes are like doves behind your veil.” (S.O.S 4:1 NLT)
Doves’ eyes speak of the purity of the Spirit of God. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” (Rom. 1:4 KJV) Your eyes are the doorways into your soul, and through those eyes Christ as the groom of the bride, sees straight into her being. In there, He sees the purity of her inward man and what an attractive scene to behold.
The second aspect of your being is the HAIR.
“Thy hair is as a flock of goats.” (S.O.S 4:1 KJV)
“Your hair dances like a flock of goats.” (S.O.S 4:1 GNT)
The hair speaks of the glory of God. In Judges 16:17, it states, “That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” (KJV)
1 Corinthians 11: 6 and 14, speak of the hair of the woman as her glory. The woman is symbolic of the bride of Christ. The glory of God is a direct result of His presence. When the ark of God went missing, the Israelites said, “The glory has departed.”
“And she named the child I-chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken.” (1 Sam. 4:21 KJV)
What beautifies you? In your eyes, it’s His purity and on your hair, it’s His presence. These are the noble qualities of the true bride of Christ. His glory on you flows from His presence and, without His presence, you are absolutely bankrupt. Listen, child of God, His presence is your beauty.
The third aspect of your being is your TEETH.
“Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn.” (S.O.S 4:2 KJV)
“Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed.” (NLT)
The teeth here speaks of the reception and assimilation of the Word of God. The clean teeth represent the washing of the Word – Ephesians 5:26-27. It is the impact of the Word on the human spirit that empowers one to take on the character of the Word. Jeremiah ate the Word – Jer. 15:16. You see, O bride of Christ, that the Word of God beautifies your spirit and your life. Imagine a life void of God’s Word – how empty! How shallow! So far, you see how the holiness, the presence and the Word of God beautifies your inward appearance.
The fourth aspect of your being is your lips.
“Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely.” (S.O.S 4:3 KJV)
“Your red lips are like a bright thread.” (BBE) “How lovely they are when you speak.” (GNT)
The lips like a thread of scarlet speak of both the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ and the purifying fire of the Spirit of God. See Isaiah 6:1-6. The tongue is the most powerful organ of the human body – James 3:1-6, and must be constantly kept under the blood and fire of God. This purification of the tongue is what makes your speech comely. Again, you see how the sprinkling of the blood (1Jn 1:7) and the fire of the Spirit beautifies your inwardness – (Isaiah 4:4).
The fifth aspect of your being is your cheek.
“Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks.” (S.O.S 4:3 KJV)
“ Your cheeks behind your veil are like slices of a pomegranate.” (NCV)
When a pomegranate is sliced in half, it reveals pellucid seeds like crystal tangent with red, typifying the heart adornment of a meek and quiet spirit – 1 Peter 3:4. These represent the attributes of Christ and the values of His kingdom. Remember that the cheeks are parts of the face and the “face” speaks of the heart. “… A veil over his face.” (2 Co. 3:13 KJV), and “a veil upon their heart.” (2 Co. 3:15 KJV)
The heart is adorned or beautified with the values of meekness and quietness, which are the values of Christ himself.
The sixth aspect of your being is your NECK
“Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.” (S.O.S 4:4 KJV)
“Your neck is like David’s beautifully-designed tower. A thousand round shields belonging to soldiers are hung on it.” (GWT)
Proverbs 3:22 says, “And grace to thy neck.” See also Pr. 1:9, …Ornament of grace and chains about your neck. The Israelites had a stiffed neck. They were given to mischief and disobedience – Ex.32: 22. However, God gives grace to the humble and the teachable. Humility, therefore, is another value of the kingdom of God, a quality of the Spirit that beautifies the inward-man. God sets Himself against the proud but supplies grace to the humble. Imagine a life without God’s grace. It is a life that God Himself opposes and a life like that doesn’t stand a chance.
CREATED FOR THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD’S LOVE
“How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices. Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey comb: … and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.” (S.O.S 4:10 KJV)
Here, it speaks of the fellowship of the Groom and His bride. He calls her, “my sister”, because He Christ took on the seed of Abraham and is now the firstborn among many brethren. He speaks of a love better than wine because it intoxicates. He speaks of lips dropping honey symbolizing the kisses or exchange of life. Notice that this fellowship with Christ has resulted in the smell of her ointments and the smell of her garments, which speaks of the fragrances of the inner workings of the Spirit of God out-flowing from her heart. These fragrances include:
1) The Spirit of holiness symbolizing the “doves’ eyes.”
2) The Glory of God provoked by the His presence symbolizing the “hair.”
3) The living Word of God symbolized by the “teeth.”
4) The blood of Jesus that cleanses and the purifying fire of the Spirit symbolized by the “lips like scarlet thread.”
5) The value of a meek and quiet spirit symbolized by “Cheeks like slices of a pomegranate.”
6) The value of humility as a means to enjoying a continued flow of grace or supernatural enablement and is symbolized by the “neck.”
GOD COMPARES HIS GLORIOUS BRIDE CLOTHED IN BEAUTIFUL GARMENTS OF THE HOLINESS OF THE SPIRIT TO A GARDEN
“You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.” (S.O.S 4:12 NTL) Notice that she has now become His private garden, a secluded spring filled with never-before-seen fountains. This means that no one else has access to this garden but Christ. This garden speaks of your heart and nothing in this world is to compete with the total lordship of Christ over your heart. He alone must dwell in it and nothing else must be allowed access to Christ’s throne-room.
“You are a paradise that produces pomegranates and the best fruits, henna flowers and nard, nard and saffron, calamus, cinnamon, and all kinds of incense, myrrh, aloes and all the best spices. You are a spring of gardens, a well of living water flowing from Lebanon.” (S.O.S 4:13-15 MESSAGE)
Please, understand the language of God’s spirit in the above passage. This garden, like the garden of Eden, produces two fundamental things:
1) All manner of precious fruits delightful for the groom and His friends and
2) All manner of precious fragrances symbolizing the beauty of the spirit-life out-flowing from within her.
You’ll also notice that this Garden is sourced by a well of living water revealing that the very source of its life and growth and nourishment comes only from the life of the Spirit of God as its force and centre.
“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.” (S.O.S 4:16 KJV)
And now, the wind of the Spirit can work mighty wonders in the earth with a vessel or Garden filled with the BEAUTY OF HIS HOLINESS WHICH IS THE CHARACTER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND THE VERY ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST. The wind can send these precious fragrances to the very ends of the earth.
“I am come into “my garden”, “my sister”, “my spouse:” I have gathered “my myrrh” …”my spice”…”my honey comb” …”my honey” …”my wine” …”my milk” …Eat O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” (Song of Solomon 5:1 KJV)
Finally, you see how Christ takes full possession of His garden, His bride, His Love. Everything in the garden is His. It was created for Him and His pleasure. The Garden exists to serve only Him and His purposes. Now the bride can say, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine – (S.O.S 6:3 KJV). It is His life at work in the Garden that is producing precious fruits and scented trees. Only His life in you can produce His virtues and character in you. He wants you so filled with His fullness, so that, the fruits of His work in and through you can be fed to the lost souls of this world. He wants to say to all of His lost friends, eat and drink abundantly from my beloved Garden. By the mighty work of His Spirit, the fruits and fragrance of my Garden can now be sent to all the nations of the earth. Come O wind and fill the earth with the fragrance of heaven. Blow upon His Garden and send out the aroma of His presence to the ends of the earth. That fragrance is the very life of Jesus Christ flowing in and through you. Only His fruits can satisfy the longing heart for the fruit is the meat of the nations. May God ignite a fresh hunger for fellowship in you. May you behold the very wonders of His person. May you encounter Him in newness of power. May your entire spirit, soul and body be completely possessed by Him. May your heart break in longing for Him. May your whole life become God’s precious Garden bearing fruits and scented trees, Amen!
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