«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　John 6:57 ...He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

　　63 ...The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　1 Pet. 2:2 ...Long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation.

　　Psa. 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

　　[John 6:9 speaks of “five barley loaves and two fish.”] Loaves are of the vegetable life and signify the generating aspect of Christ’s life. Fish are of the animal life and signify the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life. As the generating life, Christ grows in the land, the God-created earth; as the redeeming life, He lives in the sea, the Satan-corrupted world. In order to regenerate us, He grew on the God-created earth that He might reproduce; in order to redeem us, He lived in the satanic and sinful world. But He is not sinful, not affected by the world, just as fish live in salt water but are not salty. Barley loaves and fish are small items, signifying Christ’s smallness, through which He can be the life supply to us. Those who sought miracles considered Him the promised Prophet and would have forced Him to be King (John 6:14-15), but He would not seek to be a giant in religion; rather, He preferred to be small loaves and little fish that people might eat Him. (John 6:9, footnote 2)

　　To grow is a matter of life and in life. We received the divine life through regeneration, and we need to grow in this life and with this life by being nourished with the milk conveyed in the word of God. (1 Peter 2:2, footnote 4)

　　Song of Songs 4:11 says, “Your lips drip fresh honey, my bride; / Honey and milk are under your tongue; / And the fragrance of your garments / Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.”... No human or natural smell can be compared to the fragrance that emanates from the maiden. This naturally makes her lips drop as the honeycomb. Honey is sweet, and it restores the stricken ones. But this sweetness is not produced overnight. It comes from a long period of gathering, inward activity, and careful storage. This is the unique possession of one who is taught by God. From the mouth of the maiden issue forth sweet and refreshing words, not gossip, jokes, or rash words. Her words are not outbursts of torrents, but drops of honey from the honeycomb. This is the slowest kind of dripping. Some people have the urge to speak; their words are like the babbling of brooks. Even when they speak about spiritual things, the way they speak shows that they have not passed through the deeper work of grace. In this verse we can notice not only her lips slowly dropping sweet honey, but the things that are stored within her. “Honey and milk are under your tongue.” The top of the tongue is where man takes in food, whereas under the tongue is where man stores food. This means that she has stored up these things; there are riches within her. She has more than enough food. Honey restores the weak ones, whereas milk feeds the immature ones. She has stored so many riches within her that food seems to be under her tongue, and she can dispense to the needy ones at any time. However, she does not reveal all that she has. She is not like many people who exhibit on the outside all that they have inside. Honey and milk are under her tongue; they are not on her lips. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 71-72)

　　He enjoys her word as fresh honey (for restoring the weak), which comes from her lips, and her word as honey and milk (for restoring the weak and feeding the immature ones), which are under her tongue, and the fragrance of her conduct as the fragrance of ascension. (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 32)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” sect. 3; Life-study of Song of Songs, msg. 4