Scripture Reading: S. S. 1:1-4; 3:9-10; 4:12-16; 6:13
Ⅰ
The name Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon—S. S. 6:13:
A
Solomon typifies the resurrected, glorified, ascended, and enthroned Christ as "the Spirit," and the Shulammite, the queen of Solomon, typifies the church in resurrection as "the bride" reigning in glory and enjoying Him—Rev. 22:17a; Luke 24:26; John 7:37-39; Psa. 45:8-15.
B
The wedding feast of the Lamb will be in the future, but in resurrection we have already been married to Christ, and we are living a marriage life as a miniature of the New Jerusalem in our regenerated and mingled spirit (the marriage union of the divine Spirit with our human spirit to make us His bride, joined to Him to be one spirit)— John 3:6, 15-16, 29-30; 1 Cor. 6:17.
C
The resurrection of Christ was the second birth of our Husband as the firstborn Son of God, who is "the Spirit," and the birth, the regeneration, of "the bride," composed of the regenerated members of Christ as the many sons of God—Rom. 1:3-4; 8:29; 1 Pet. 1:3; Rev. 22:17a; cf. 12:5.
D
The romance in Song of Songs portrays the process through which the seeker of Christ passes in order to become His consummated bride, the Shulammite, the duplication of Solomon and a figure of the New Jerusalem.
Ⅱ
"King Solomon made himself a palanquin / Of the wood of Lebanon. / Its posts he made of silver, / Its bottom, of gold; / Its seat, of purple; / Its midst was inlaid with love / From the daughters of Jerusalem"—S. S. 3:9-10:
A
By the Spirit's transforming work in us, we become the palanquin of Christ, the moving vessel of Christ, the carriage of Christ, the "car" of Christ, for the move of Christ in and for the Body of Christ—cf. 2 Cor. 2:12-17.
B
We are rebuilt with the Divine Trinity so that our external structure is the resurrected and ascended humanity of Jesus and our interior decoration is our love for the Lord—S. S. 3:9-10:
１
It is Christ as our King Solomon who makes us a palanquin for Himself; our responsibility is simply to offer our love to Him and offer ourselves willingly to Him—John 21:15-17; Psa. 110:3.
２
Our inner being should be "inlaid with love" (S. S. 3:10); loving the Lord will keep us in the realm of having Christ as our humanity, safeguarding our humanity in the constraint of His affection (2 Cor. 5:14).
C
Through our loving the Lord in a personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual way, our natural being is torn down, and we are remodeled with Christ's redeeming death (posts made of silver), God's divine nature (base), and Christ's kingship as the life-giving Spirit ruling within us (seat of purple)—S. S. 3:10; cf. Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
Ⅲ
"A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, / A spring shut up, a fountain sealed… / A fountain in gardens, / A well of living water, / And streams from Lebanon"—S. S. 4:12, 15; cf. 1 Cor. 3:9; Gen. 2:15:
A
Here the garden is enclosed, and there is a spring shut up, a fountain sealed, for Christ's private enjoyment, indicating that in experiencing Christ we, the seeking believers, must have something private, hidden, shut up, and sealed that is for Christ alone.
B
The fountain in gardens and the well of living water of the life-giving Spirit are streams from the resurrection and ascension life (Lebanon); the fountain and the spring stream out from the overcomers, flowing out from what they are and from where they are— John 7:37-39.
C
God the Father is the fountain, God the Son is the well, and God the Spirit is the flowing streams so that we may become the New Jerusalem—4:14b.
D
We enjoy Christ for Christ's enjoyment; the Lord is everything to us so that He can enjoy everything out of us—S. S. 1:12-14; 4:12-14; 5:1:
１
Although we belong to the Lord after we have consecrated ourselves to Him, it is a constant consecration that brings the Lord into our garden—4:16b; 5:1; cf. Psa. 110:3; Lev. 6:12.
２
Experienced believers often find that the latter consecration is harder than the first consecration, yet it is more glorious than the first; only this consecration will give the Lord the fruit of His labor—cf. Ezek. 47:1-5.
E
"Awake, O north wind; / And come, O south wind! / Blow upon my garden: / Let its spices flow forth"—S. S. 4:16a:
１
The north wind (cold, harsh, and bitter) and the south wind (warm, gentle, and refreshing) are two different environments that the Lord uses to train the believers to enjoy Him as their secret of sufficiency—Phil. 4:11-13, 6-7.
２
The Lord's seeker realizes that all problems come from within and not from without; she knows that as long as she is filled with the Spirit as the presence of the Triune God, she can happily live and express Christ in any environment—1:19-21a.
Ⅳ
In the maturity of Christ's life, the lover of Christ becomes the victorious Shulammite, signifying that she has become the reproduction and duplication of Christ to match Him for their marriage—S. S. 6:13:
A
The Shulammite is likened to the dance of two camps, or two armies (Heb. mahanaim), in the sight of God; after Jacob saw the angels of God, the two armies of God, he named the place where he was Mahanaim and divided his wives, children, and possessions into "two armies"—v. 13; Gen. 32:1-10.
B
The spiritual significance of the two armies is the strong testimony that we more than conquer, we "super-overcome," through Him who loved us, according to the principle of the Body of Christ—Rom. 8:37; 12:5; Deut. 32:30.
C
God does not want those who are strong in themselves; He wants only the feeble ones, the weaker ones, the women and children—cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-28; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; 13:3-5.
D
God needs a people who are one with Him, a people who are submissive to Him, signified by the plaited hair (S. S. 1:11), and obedient to Him with a flexible will, signified by the neck with strings of jewels (v. 10).
E
Those who are counted worthy to be overcomers will be the weaker and utterly helpless ones who totally depend on the Lord—Eph. 3:8; Rev. 3:8; Gal. 2:20.
F
When we consider how to arrive at the high peak of the divine revelation, we should not trust in ourselves but depend on the Lord as love, power, and mercy to make us vessels of mercy, honor, and glory—Rom. 9:16, 21-23; S. S. 8:5-6.
Ⅴ
The way to become the processed and consummated tripartite Shulammite is by having a personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual relationship with the Lord— 1:1-4:
A
Draw me indicates a personal relationship with the Lord—v. 4a:
１
Paul did everything in the presence of Christ, living and acting according to the index of Christ's whole person expressed in His eyes—2 Cor. 2:10.
２
Paul lived in the closest and most intimate contact with Christ, taking Christ as his living, pattern, goal, power, and secret—Phil. 1:19-21a; 2:5-11; 3:8-14; 4:4-6, 11-13.
B
Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth indicates an affectionate relationship with the Lord—S. S. 1:2a:
１
Paul loved Christ to the uttermost in incorruptibility to know Christ as the depths of God—Eph. 6:24; 1 Cor. 2:9-10.
２
Paul realized that our loving God makes us those who are blessed of God to share the divine blessings that He has prepared for us, which are beyond our apprehension, and that our not loving God makes us those who are accursed, set apart to a curse—v. 9; cf. 16:22.
３
Paul was constrained by the love of Christ to no longer live to himself but to Christ, the One who died for him and has been raised—2 Cor. 5:14-15.
C
The King has brought me into his chambers indicates a private relationship with the Lord—S. S. 1:4b; cf. Psa. 27:5; 31:20; 83:3; 91:1; 110:3:
１
"And rising very early in the morning, while it was still night, He went out and went away to a deserted place, and there He prayed"—Mark 1:35.
２
"But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you"—Matt. 6:6.
３
"And immediately He compelled the disciples to step into the boat and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. And after He sent the crowds away, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. And when night fell, He was there alone"—14:22-23.
D
His chambers indicates a spiritual relationship with the Lord—S. S. 1:4b:
１
Christ visits us spiritually because He is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit; our spirit is the Holy of Holies, the chambers of the pneumatic Christ as the Song of songs, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings—vv. 1-2; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; cf. 2 Cor. 5:16-17.
２
In 2 Corinthians Paul was a man in Christ (12:2) and in his spirit (2:13) who enjoyed the anointing Spirit, the pledging Spirit, the sealing Spirit (1:21-22), the writing Spirit (3:3), the life-giving Spirit (v. 6), the ministering Spirit (v. 8), the liberating Spirit (v. 17), the transforming Spirit (v. 18), and the transmitting Spirit (13:14) for the Body of Christ.
３
In order to contact Christ and enjoy Christ for the Body of Christ, we must know, we must use, we must care for, and we must exercise our mingled spirit—Eph. 1:17; 2:22; 3:5, 16; 4:23; 5:18; 6:18; cf. Jude 19.