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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 ?
| “...our Beloved sees when His believers respond to the brutal tests of life with adoration and abandoned worship. He is utterly overwhelmed by His Bride’s devotion to Him....’Turn your eyes from me’, our Beloved cries ,’For they have overcome me!’. Think of it! The God of heaven is overwhelmed. No army, no principality, no power in heaven or earth can conquer Him...only one thing can conquer God’s heart: the affectionate love of His people who say yes to Him.’ M.Bickle, ‘Passion For Jesus’, p132. |
Verse
4:
Look at the following words...
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Tirzah
= ‘delight’,
Jerusalem = ‘Possession of peace’, Awesome = ‘frightening, terrifying’, Bannered army = ‘to flaunt, raise a flag’, Banner = Mark of ownership (’Shining from afar’) |
From these description
we see that
she is now seen by him as a mighty army that terrifies the enemy, that declares the manifold wisdom of God to the powers and principalities of darkness! ( Eph 3:10) - this delights His heart as she is now possessing His peace and is showing to the world and to the enemy that she is owned by Him. |
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). |
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'.
| Chariots of Aminadab = ‘Noble Princely People’- these were known for their swiftness and moved quickly at the bidding of their master! |
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 realizies 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...waht must happen to the church today in order to be seen in this light ?