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2013/11/20

Morning Nourishment-The Experience, Growth, And Ministry Of Life For The Body(W6-5)

WEEK 6 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

S.S. 6:4 "You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem,as terrible as an army     withbanners."

       10 "Who is this woman who looks forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as clear as the sun, as terrible as an army with banners?"

   The contents of Song of Songs are the progressive experience of an individual believer's loving fellowship with Christ. To use Hudson Taylor's expression, this is a book of union and communion with Christ....The sections of Song of Songs, which are according to the intrinsic and spiritual significance of this book, are as follows: drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction (1:2—2:7); called to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (2:8—3:5); called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection (3:6—5:1); called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection (5:2—6:13); sharing in the work of the Lord (7:1-13); and hoping to be raptured (8:1-14). (Life-study of Song of Songs, pp. 4-5)

Today's Reading

   In Song of Songs 4:7-8 the Lord calls His lover to live in ascension as a new creation in resurrection. The new creation is only that which is in ascension in resurrection. Without resurrection, there cannot be a new creation.

   “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; / With me from Lebanon come” (v. 8a). Lebanon is a high mountain, signifying resurrection. In 2:9 the lover was in “our wall” of the introspective self. The wall is down in the self. Her introspection had built a wall which separated her from the Lord. Now He calls her to come with Him to a high mountain, which is the top of resurrection—ascension. Christ died, rose, and then ascended.First we experience resurrection, then ascension. (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 35)

   [One] figure that the Lord uses to describe the seeker is the city of Tirzah (S.S.6:4)....Tirzah was the name of an ancient city where the palace of the king of Israel was located (1 Kings 14:17; 16:17-18). At this stage the seeker is no longer merely a garden but a city. She is a large, stable city that houses the King.

   In Song of Songs 6:4 the Lord also likens the seeking one to Jerusalem,saying that she is “as lovely as Jerusalem.” Tirzah was the place where the king lived, but Jerusalem was the place where God dwelt with man.Revelation 21:2 reveals that the New Jerusalem will be the bride of Christ.This matches the revelation here in Song of Songs. The lover, the bride of the King, is called Jerusalem. From a lily she became a garden, from a garden she became a city where the King dwells, and from a city where the King dwells she became a city where God dwells with man.

   [Another] figure that the Lord uses in speaking of the seeking one is the dawn of the morning. The Lord asks concerning her, “Who is this woman who looks forth like the dawn?” (S.S. 6:10). For the lover to be like the dawn means that with her there is no night; there is only morning. After likening the lover to many figures on the earth, the Lord compares her to the heavenly bodies. She is “as beautiful as the moon” and “as clear as the sun” (v. 10). This reveals that she has become a heavenly person. Christ Himself is called “the Sun of righteousness” in Malachi 4:2. Now His lover has become so much like Him that she is compared to the sun (cf. Matt.13:43). (CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, pp. 551-552)

   Consider the woman in the Song of Songs. It was not until her inner life became bright as the morning, beautiful as the moon, and clear as the sun,that she manifested her majesty and was terrible as an army with banners (S.S. 6:10). If one has not attained to this transcendent and heavenly state and yet claims himself to be experienced and standing in a high position, he is only displaying his own glory and power; it is an ugly display and certainly not reigning. Therefore, reigning is not only a matter of position but also of life. In order to reign, one needs the position and much more, the life. (The Experience of Life, pp. 378-379)

   Further Reading: Life-study of Song of Songs, msg. 5; CWWL, 1963, vol. 3,pp. 543-553

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