THOU ART BEAUTIFUL
Song 6:1 ¶ Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. 2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. 4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. 5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity (Love), suffereth long, and is kind; 1 John 4:8,16 God is love. One of the characteristics of love is that it is kind! And God, being love, is therefore here seen to be most kind, as he is reflected in Solomon’s words to his fairest among women. For the very last words that we have recorded by him are found in the previous chapter, after she has refused to get out of her comfort zone and let him come in to her out of the dark, damp night. Here is that verse: Song 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
This circumstance is later also seen to be Christ outside the door of organized religion, seeking entrance into any individual’s heart who will open up to him. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
And in our above listed text we have his very next words to her. And the very first thing he says is, Thou art beautiful! What a kind and merciful Lord we have! And here is his own teaching on the matter. Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Even within the verse giving us instruction concerning our seeking his wisdom, he includes a phrase of comfort. James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; (does not reproach, nor find fault), and it shall be given him. For our Lord is not ill-tempered, nor does he become aggravated at our ignorance when we seek his wisdom!
Listen to him as the bride questions him concerning his plan for the day. Song 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. How kind! How patient! For he could never say, “Don’t pester me woman! Quit asking so many questions!” He doesn’t even so much as confirm her ignorance of the appointments of his day. He simply says, IF thou know not, O thou fairest among women.
One of the reasons that religion is so despised in our nation is that it is headed up by aggravated, ill-spirited men, who become angry if one dare question them! And that expression of their character negates the spirit of the gospel they try to exact on souls! Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation (manner of life), be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; What they do speaks so loud, men cannot hear what they say!
For it is her experience with his kindness in her seeking to know where he is that gives her the patient ability to instruct the daughters of Jerusalem when they ask her the very same question! In Song 6:1 they ask, Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. And in Song 6:2 she kindly and patiently answers, My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
The Apostle Paul states that it was the Lord’s comfort to him that set the pattern, and gave the example as how he was to comfort others. 2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For the Christian faith is only passed from one having faith unto another who has been also given the gift of faith! Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Notice that it does not say, “Follow their theories,” but “Follow their faith!”
The very last word recorded in the Old Testament is “curse.” See Malachi 4:6. Then the Lord does not speak again for four hundred years. And what do you imagine are the first words recorded from Him when he does speak again? Here they are listed in Luke 1:13. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: Blessed be God! His first words after so long a silence to his church are, Fear not! And what were his words to the shepherds as he announced the birth of his Son? The very same words are spoken to them. Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
And, dear Reader, just where do you suppose you obtained your love for God? It most assuredly did not come from the natural man. For the natural man is only capable of self love! Here is where we obtained our love to God. 1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 19 We love him, because he first loved us.
Our love TO him comes FROM his love to us! And it is only his love to us that brings overcoming faith into our souls! Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
So why is it so difficult to get today’s believers to perceive the love of God for them? It is because they try to approach it with reason, or feelings. But this love passes such boundaries, and is not to be interpreted from the realm of such carnal places! Yet because we have but dim sight, and the Harlot church has trained us to compensate with reason, in the place of faith’s clearer sight, we cannot imagine the glory of God’s love for us.
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
This was a strong desire of the Apostle Paul for the believer’s in his day. Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
And this is what the Trinity communed about at the very time of the crucifixion. For Calvary was not just about the salvation of men, as we have had ground into our brains by the Harlot system! It was primarily about the glory of God in bringing the Father’s elect into the vastness of the love he had for his Son! John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
In fact, we have learned, since divesting ourselves from the corrupt religious notions of the Harlot church, that we WERE loved in Christ before the foundation of the world! Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Then secondly, the reason for our not being able to fathom the vastness of God’s love for us is found in the immediate phrase after he states, Thou art beautiful, O my love. For he next states that her beauty is to be compared to two cities. The first is Tirzah. And we are not unfamiliar with the church being described as a Bride and a city. For she is said to be a woman. Jeremiah 6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. Numbers 27:1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
And she is said to be a city. Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. For the Lord dwells in oneness with his Bride, just as the husband does with the wife. Ephesians 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
And the church is said to be a city wherein God dwells. Isaiah 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
And in that Numbers 27:1 verse, quoted above, we also see that Tirzah was of the tribe of Manasseh. And we know that Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph. But when Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons, he gives Ephraim the blessing of the firstborn. Therefore Manasseh, who was the first, becomes last. And this is another reason that believers have always had difficulties in a realized awareness of the love of God for them personally! Mark 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. Luke 22:26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
Therefore the realization of God’s love MUST only be had by faith alone! For experiencing constantly the role and position of a servant, impresses one with the concept that he is not loved as a son! But by the eye of faith we come to see that this is not true. 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
It was only by faith’s clear sight that Abel concluded his righteousness! And so shall it be with every individual believer! Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
The Apostles themselves, although being the foundation of the church are said to be as last. 1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 1 Corinthians 4:13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
For those who would reign with Christ must first suffer with him! Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
Pastor Gene Breed
January 13, 2017
