Scripture Reading: S. S. 2:8-14; 8:1-7, 13-14
Ⅰ
The Shulammite is delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross by the power of Christ's resurrection—S. S. 2:8-14; Phil. 3:10:
A
After the Lord's seeker has some success in pursuing Christ for her satisfaction, she falls into introspection, the introspective self, which becomes a seclusion as a wall that keeps her away from the presence of Christ—S. S. 2:9.
B
Introspection means to examine the self by looking into and analyzing the self; the self is constituted with introspection—cf. 1 Cor. 4:3-4.
C
We must exercise our spirit to look away unto Jesus; our self is not worthy to look at—Heb. 12:1-2a; John 3:14-15; 12:31-32; Num. 21:4-9; Matt. 16:24:
１
The Lord's seeker is disappointed by her introspection, but the Lord is calling her into the springtime—S. S. 2:10; cf. Heb. 3:7-8; John 8:58.
２
When she looks into herself, it is the winter of dormancy, but when she looks away to the resurrected Christ, she enters into the stage of spring, the stage of resurrection—S. S. 2:10-13.
D
Christ wants His seeker, His dove, to remain in a crucified condition continually, that is, to remain in Him as "the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the precipice," the secret of the steep places—v. 14; Gal. 2:20; Psa. 91:1.
E
Our being crucified is not by our natural life or strength but by the power of resurrection, by the presence of the mountain-leaping and hill-skipping Christ, typified by the gazelle, the young hart, and "the hind of the dawn"—S. S. 2:8-9; Psa. 22, title; Prov. 4:18.
F
We must die daily, take up our cross daily, being conformed to Christ's death by the Spirit as the power and riches of His resurrection for the sake of His Body— 1 Cor. 15:31, 36; Luke 9:23; Phil. 3:10; cf. Hosea 6:1-3.
G
We must take the way of righteousness by entering into the vision and ministry of the age, recognizing that we are good for nothing but death and burial so that we may enjoy the open heavens, the descending Spirit of God, and the speaking of the Father—Matt. 3:13-17; 21:32; cf. Ezek. 3:1-3.
H
We must enjoy the precious death of Christ with its sweet effectiveness and the precious resurrection of Christ with its repelling power in Christ as the compound Spirit for the church life—Exo. 30:23-25; Phil. 1:19-21a.
I
We must take up the cross, which means to take up the will of God; the cross is God's will, and God's will is our food—Matt. 26:39; Heb. 10:5-10; John 4:34:
１
The one church is God's will, and every brother and sister in the church is God's will; thus, to bear the cross is to bear the church and to bear all the saints so that we would have the genuine oneness—Eph. 4:1-3; 1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:2.
２
The oneness in the divine glory is realized when the self is fully denied and we are Body-centered, not self-centered—John 17:21-23; 1 Cor. 12:24-25.
３
The cross is the will of God in our outward environment and the killing of Jesus in our inward being, which work together to kill our natural man and remodel us with the God of resurrection—2 Cor. 4:10-12; 12:7-10; 13:3-4.
４
To take up the cross for the Body is to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, take the forgiving Lord as our life, receive the Lord's believers, and turn away from those who cause divisions and spread death—Col. 3:12-15; Rom. 15:7; 16:17; Num. 6:6-7; Lev. 5:2.
J
We must enjoy the crucified and resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit, which is the solution to all the problems in the church life—1 Cor. 2:2; 15:45b, 58.
K
We must eat the crucified and resurrected Christ as the tree of life, taking Him as our daily "antibiotic"—Rev. 2:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; John 6:57.
L
We must serve by the Spirit of God for the glory of God and have no confidence in ourselves—Phil. 3:3; 1 Thes. 3:13; 2 Cor. 4:5; 1 Cor. 10:31.
M
We must see a vision of the crucified Christ and apply the cross of Christ to our bitter situations and our bitter being to enjoy the resurrected Christ as our Healer and healing power—Exo. 15:22-27; 1 Pet. 2:24; Rev. 2:7; Matt. 9:12.
N
We must deal with the difficulties of our self, signified by the shaving off of all the hair of the leper, which equals getting rid of the self through the "razor" of the cross—Lev. 14:9:
１
The hair of the head signifies man's glory in self-display.
２
The beard signifies man's self-assumed honor.
３
The eyebrows signify man's excellencies, merits, and virtues issuing from his natural birth.
４
The hair of the body signifies man's natural strength and ability.
Ⅱ
Because the Shulammite's heart is fully possessed by Christ, she has become mature in the divine life and is filled with a hope to be raptured—S. S. 8:1-4, 14; Psa. 73:25:
A
When her body is transfigured (Phil. 3:21), she and the Lord will be the same (1 John 3:2), and no one will despise her because of her shortage in the flesh (S. S. 8:1).
B
She is hoping to be saved from her groaning for the flesh, indicating that she hopes to be raptured through the redemption of her body—vv. 2-4; Rom. 8:23; 2 Cor. 5:1-8; Eph. 4:30b.
C
The lover of Christ, who came up once from the spiritual wilderness (the worldly environment) by herself (S. S. 3:6), now comes up from the fleshly wilderness (the earthly realm) by leaning on her Beloved, trusting in Him helplessly (8:5):
１
Leaning on her beloved implies her feeling that she is powerless and unable to walk apart from the Lord; she makes herself a burden for her Beloved to carry—cf. 2 Cor. 12:9-10; 13:3-4.
２
Leaning on her beloved implies that, like Jacob, the hollow of her thigh has been touched, and her natural strength has been dealt with by the Lord— Gen. 32:24-25.
３
Leaning on her beloved implies that she seems to find herself pressed beyond measure, and this seems to last until the wilderness journey is over—cf. 2 Cor. 1:8-9.
４
Leaning on her beloved implies that she is fully living according to the principle of the tree of life in utter dependence on the Lord, not on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—Gen. 2:9; cf. Heb. 11:8; 2 Chron. 20:12.
D
As she is waiting for His coming, she is going out with Him to meet Him (cf. Matt. 25:1); by leaning on our Beloved, we constantly enjoy Him as our "goingout" strength to leave the world behind—Gen. 5:22-24; Heb. 11:5-6.
E
She realizes that whether she can endure to the end does not depend on her own endurance but on the Lord's preservation, so she asks the Lord to set her as a seal on His heart (the place of His keeping love), and on His arm (the place of His preserving power)—S. S. 8:6-7; 2 Thes. 3:5; Jude 24.
F
The lover of Christ asks Him who dwells in the believers as His gardens to let her hear His voice while her companions listen for His voice—S. S. 8:13:
１
This indicates that in the work we as the lovers of Christ do for Him as our Beloved, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him, always listening to Him—Luke 10:38-42; Mark 4:16-17, 20, 23-25.
２
Our lives (to become the New Jerusalem) depend on the Lord's words, and our work (to build the New Jerusalem) depends on the Lord's commands; the central point of our prayers should be our longing for the Lord's speaking— Rev. 2:7; 1 Sam. 3:9-10; Acts 22:10:
ａ
The Lord always wants to open our ears to hear His voice so that we may see things according to His economy—Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6.
ｂ
The dull ears need to be circumcised—Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51.
ｃ
The sinners' ears need to be cleansed with the redeeming blood and anointed with the Spirit—Lev. 14:14, 17, 28.
ｄ
To serve the Lord as priests, we must have our ears cleansed with the redeeming blood—Exo. 29:20; Lev. 8:23-24.
３
Without the Lord's words, we will not have any revelation, light, or knowledge; the life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord's speaking— Eph. 5:26-27; John 17:17; Matt. 4:4; cf. 24:45-51.
G
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:
１
Such a prayer portrays the union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, in the way that the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, as the concluding word of the Holy Scriptures, reveals God's eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love—Rev. 22:20, cf. vv. 17a, 21.
２
"Come, Lord Jesus" is the last prayer in the Bible (v. 20); the entire Bible concludes with the desire for the Lord's coming expressed as a prayer.
３
"When He comes, faith will be turned to facts, and praise will replace prayer. Love will consummate in a shadowless perfection, and we will serve Him in the sinless domain. What a day that will be! Lord Jesus, come quickly!" (Watchman Nee, The Song of Songs, p. 126).