The Believer’s Walk as Revealed in the Song of Solomon – Chapter 1

This book was written by Solomon to recount his love relationship and marriage to a lovely young Shulamite maiden. It is also a portrait of God’s relationship with Israel. The Song of Solomon is cherished as a guide and an inspiration for the Bride of Christ, the Church, and her relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and seeks to lead the believer toward a closer and more OBEDIENT walk with the Lord. The Song of Solomon became one of the five scrolls of the third part of the Hebrew Bible, each of which was read publicly at one of the annual Jewish Feasts. This one was assigned to be read at the PASSOVER. Passover also marks the beginning of the journey to the Promised Land.

The Proof of DESIRE is in PURSUIT

Climbing the Mountain of Faith

¹The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

By divine record we are informed that King Solomon wrote 1005 songs (I Kings 4:32). However, he entitled this story “The Song of songs”. Just as the inner sanctuary of the temple was the Holy of holies and Christ is King of kings, so this book is indeed “The Song of songs”.

• The story begins with Solomon’s bride speaking.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

The bride’s intense longing is expressed as desiring “The Kisses of His Mouth”. We are all familiar with the kisses on the cheek. Even so, our longing will increase from seeking mere kisses on the cheek, occasional blessings, to pursuing a closer and more intimate relationship with Christ through His Word.

The bride says that His great love is “Better Than Wine”. Many times in Scripture wine represents the joys of the world. Once we have tasted of the kisses of His mouth, the meat of the Word, how far better is the love of God than all the pleasures of the world.

³because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

The virgins love the king because “Thy Name Is As Ointment Poured Forth”. His name has not been kept as bottled ointment but rather as ointment poured forth upon His people who now find new identity and power through the name of Jesus.

⁴Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

The bride says to the king “Draw Me”. As we serve the Lord, we become increasingly aware of the fact that “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Mt.26:41. We not only need to desire Him, but we need to be drawn.

How do the virgins respond? “We Will Run After Thee”. The king takes his running bride “Into His Chambers”. When the king brings us into his chambers, we have entered into the secret place of the Most High, Psalm 91:1.

⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. ⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

The maiden had attended to other vineyards: job, ministry, and etc, but what vineyard had she left unkept? “Her Own Vineyard”; represented by the disregard for her complexion. If we are successful in all other areas of life, but neglect to attend to THE WORD, the source of our spiritual complexion, we have failed to keep the most important vineyard of all. Our vineyard can bring forth much fruit by abiding in the vine, THE WORD, John 15:5-7.

The maiden stated in v5 that “I Am Black”. She recognized that she did not have her own beauty, but through the love of the king she could declare to others “O Ye Daughters of Jerusalem” that she was lovely. The tents of Kedar were dark in appearance but the curtains of Solomon were delicate fine linen.

The closer we draw to the Lord the more conscious we become that we are arrayed in fine linen and made to be glorious, Eph.5:27. In Rev.19:7-8, the Bride of Christ, at the marriage supper of the Lamb, will be wearing “Fine Linen, Clean and White”.

⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou feeds, where thou makes thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of thy companions?

The maiden ask the bridegroom to tell her “Where Do You Graze Your Flock and Where Do You Rest Your Sheep at Noonday?” The maiden specifically requested the place of the noonday feeding. When the ancient shepherds in the east fed their flocks, they took them to the grassy riverbeds and springs when the heat of the noonday came. Therefore, the richest food was to be eaten at noon. We should covet earnestly the finest possible spiritual food, I Cor.12:31.

As lovers of God’s Word we should be in earnest pursuit of the rich grasses of the noonday feeding. For the shepherds of the east it was a difficult journey down the steep mountainside to the cool river valley. Likewise, to feed delicately on spiritual things may require extra labor to obtain the rich valley grass necessary to continue the inner chamber relationship with the Lord.

The maiden ask the bridegroom “Why Should I Be Like One Who Wanders Beside the Flock Of Thy Companions?” Why should the church be like one who wanders outside the blessings of God – the rich grasses of the noonday feeding?

⁸If 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.

Solomon calls her “O Thou Fairest Among Women”. In Deu.32:10; Ps.17:8, God’s people are called “The Apple Of His Eye”, an old English expression referring to the pupil of the eye. The phrase is used symbolically of something cherished, precious, and protected.

The king tells the maiden to “Go Thy Way Forth By The Footsteps Of The Flock”. The footsteps of the flock refer to the pathway trodden by other saints who have also chosen to pick up the Cross and follow Him.

⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.

To what are we compared? “A Company Of Horses In Pharaoh’s Chariots”. The horses of Pharaoh were reputed to be the best in the world. Along with their great beauty, they were strong, swift and courageous in battle!

¹¹We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

“WE” speaks of the trinity of God. “Borders Of Gold With Studs Of Silver” refer to the crown being prepared for us that we will receive when in the eternal presence of God.

¹²While the king sits at his table, my spikenard sends forth the smell thereof.

The maiden perceives that the king could smell “Her Spikenard”. Spikenard was a very costly ointment that was extremely fragrant. It was a plant not native to Israel but imported at great expense. At His great expense, the Lord has planted the Christ life within that makes us lovely and fragrant with a savor far beyond any earthly plant.

¹³A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

The maiden says that her beloved is to her “A Bundle Of Myrrh”. Myrrh was a highly fragrant and costly spice imported to Israel. At great cost, our Savior was imported from afar and is highly fragrant to all who know Him. Myrrh was used to deaden pain, as walking with the Lord comforts us through the heartaches of this life. Myrrh was very bitter to the taste and refers to the cross we must bear as we serve Him, Mt. 10:38. Myrrh was used medicinally and was a cure for many ailments as our great Physician is health and healing to all who believe in Him.

To those who experience these various aspects of the Lord’s character, He is truly a bundle of myrrh; The Balm of Gilead; The Bread of Life; The Lamb of God, Jer.8:22; Gen.37:24-26; Gal.3:13; Is.53:5.

¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.

Hearing her loving evaluation, the king responds wholeheartedly and says of her eyes “Thou Hast Doves’ Eyes”. Eyes are the window of the soul and have always been recognized as the place where character can be seen. The dove is the emblem of simplicity, innocency, and fidelity. We have been washed in the blood of Jesus and made to be innocent and pure like the dove.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedar and our rafters of fir.

Solomon’s bride refers to the beautiful and strong wood to build their home together. When we are living close to the Lord, we too are building a strong and lovely home for His habitation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whjZTug_O-Y

(To be continued…)

The Effects of Sound

Sound and light travel on the same spectrum but at different frequencies.

When “…sound reaches a certain frequency, it becomes light.” Then  anything below the speed of light would fall within the sound spectrum.

Genesis 1:26, “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Then couple that with Genesis 1:3, “And God said…”

The first likeness that we can identify with in God is that He is very sound-oriented.

God created man with five physical senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). The first sense that’s developed in man is the sense of hearing, and that occurs in the seventh month of pregnancy.

• We can find an example of this in Luke 1:30-41 when Gabriel appeared to Mary. In v.36 “…thy cousin Elisabeth, hath conceived: and this is the sixth month with her…” v.39 “And Mary arose and went into a city of Juda.” v.41 “…when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped within her womb.” That was the beginning of the seventh month.

Just as air is necessary to support physical life, sound is necessary to support spiritual life – for sound is a spiritual force.

Before man was created there was no material world or sound as we understand it. I remember B.B. Hankins saying, “…natural, physical  matter is the lowest manifestation of the power of God that exists.”

When we reverse the process and frequencies reaches the speed of light we dematerialize, according to Astronaut Neil Armstrong, and enter the 4th dimension or realm of the spirit.

Shalom

http://youtu.be/2w_fdyLRvmE

Relationships

The first recorded scripture in the Bible which deals with relationships is Gen.2:18, “Its not good that man should be alone.” We have used that as a matrimonial prescription but its application is much broader. If it only applied to matrimony it would eliminate all those who are single.

 Even thought Adam is named first in Gen.1, he is the last creature to receive an identity in Gen.2. After he identifies everything God created, he identifies the woman and then himself. Its only after he is introduced to Eve that he take on his own identity. His identification is connected to his relationship with her.

In Gen. chapters 12 & 20, Sarah is identified as Abrahams “sister and wife.” In Gen.26, Rebekah is identified as Isaac’s “sister and wife.” In SOS 4:9,10,12; 5:1, The bride is identified as “my sister, my spouse.” A sister is someone you communicate with. A wife is someone you’re intimate with.

The most powerful tool ever given to man is speech. Communication not only creates relationships but it sustains them, and a wife requires both conversation as well as intimacy. “There are three ways to get a message out: 1] television 2] telephone 3] tell-a-woman.”

A Season of Redefining – From Doubter to Proclaimer

Garris Elkins

Each life is like a photo album that contains snapshots of individual moments in time. No life is fully defined by a single image. We are made up of a composite of our experiences. One snapshot of time does not define our identity. Our identity is in a Person, not in a label created from a single experience.

We all have moments in our lives when, if you caught us in that moment and took a single picture, we would all appear faithless. God never intended our lives to be held hostage to a single moment of failure or unbelief. God invites us to peel off those labels of failure and brokenness that do not reflect His heart and begin, once again, to move forward towards our true destiny.

The Doubting Thomas

In the Scripture Thomas is one of those people who was defined by a single moment in his life when he become universally known as the “Doubting Thomas.” The sad part of this label is that the Church continues to refer to Thomas as a doubter and not the man who interacted with Jesus eight days after His resurrection and trumped his initial unbelief with one of the greatest statements of faith in all of Scripture.

John 20:24-29 describes that interaction:

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” He said. Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and My God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

When the disciples were first gathered in that locked room and the Lord appeared to them on the evening of Resurrection Sunday, only ten of the twelve disciples were present. Judas had killed himself. We are not told why Thomas was not present. To these ten disciples Jesus showed His wounds. They did not need to touch the evidence because the evidence was standing before them.

The disciples who were present when Jesus appeared excitedly said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas did not share their joy because he had missed the occasion of their joy. If I were Thomas I would have felt left out because I would have just missed the most significant event of my lifetime. I would have felt isolated from the joy the other disciples were experiencing. Their words, “We have seen the Lord!” would have produced a sorrow in my heart, like salt in a wound, since there would have been no expectation of ever seeing Jesus again.

Thomas did what many of us have done – he made a vow in his pain. “I won’t believe unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Thomas made a vow out of his pain that aligned him with faithlessness. Jesus said to Thomas, “Don’t be faithless any longer.”

What followed this command was a single word sentence with an exclamation mark – “Believe!” In the Greek language the word “believe” can be translated, “to entrust.” When Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, He was not asking Thomas to comprehend a full package of doctrine or somehow attain a complete understanding of the workings of God’s Kingdom. Jesus was asking Thomas to entrust himself to Him. Believing is entrusting ourselves to the Lord as a Person.

The Proclaiming Thomas

In the moment Thomas was commanded to believe something supernatural took place. Trust rose up in Thomas. As he saw the Lord standing before him without anger and condemnation, fully displaying the evidence of His resurrection, Thomas redefined his life with words that followed the revelation he was experiencing, “My Lord and my God!” The doubt Thomas was living under was now displaced by words of belief. The “Doubting Thomas” had now become the “Proclaiming Thomas.”

“My Lord and my God!” are powerful words. When Thomas declared that Jesus was Lord it meant he understood that someone was now leading his life who could be trusted. God would be faithful to move Thomas forward into the goodness He had planned. Thomas was professing belief in the trustworthy nature of the Leader-Lord.

The “God” part of what Thomas declared meant that Thomas was following Someone who lives in absolute resurrection power. The declaration of Thomas was the acknowledgement that there would be resurrection power available to raise Thomas above the limiting restraints of whatever he encountered as Jesus led him forward in life.

The text in John continues in verses 30-31:

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.

The evidence of Jesus’ life and miracles are given so that you and I would continue to believe. The continuance of belief infers that we can stop believing. In his pain, Thomas had discontinued his belief. Thomas declared that he would stop believing until his demands were met. Jesus doesn’t meet demands – He meets people.

As powerful as Thomas’ experience was that day, our belief on this side of Pentecost has a greater potential. Jesus said there was a blessing for those of us who would believe (entrust) in the future without seeing the object of our belief.

Faith is an Action Word

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Like Thomas we can lose our ability to believe if we tie ourselves to demands and vows birthed in painful circumstances when life does not work out like we thought it would. We can miss the promised confidence and assurance of faith if we tie ourselves to the sorrow of feeling left out of from whatever God is doing.

When we come to realize that God is good, and has good thoughts and intentions for us in all circumstances, we can then step into that place where true transformation is possible. In the moment I choose to lay down my demands, judgments, and vows and declare, “My Lord and my God!”, something supernatural is released into my life.

Faith is an action word. We can think faith is an action word that only has implications on this side of eternity based on what we do for God in faith. Faith is much more – it activates something in Heaven. When faith is displayed in the earth it draws on Heaven to assure us that what we just believed for will actually happen.

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Faith gives us something. Every act of our faith contains the gift of assurance that is given when we exercise faith. These gifts of faith come to us carrying the residue of the environment of glory because they come from Heaven. The day Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, this incoming faith-evidence produced in Thomas the words, “My Lord and my God!” The language of Heaven was heard upon the earth and in a moment a man was redefined from doubter to proclaimer.

A Season of Redefining

Today, the Church needs to rethink its image of Thomas. The man who was once a doubter should now be evaluated based on his final words and redefined as a proclaimer of faith. We need to do this because there are many of us, who like Thomas, need to be viewed as a life-album, not a single snapshot. We need to make this adjustment because Thomas is not viewed from Heaven’s perspective as a doubter. Thomas became the very voice of Heaven upon the earth when he made his declaration about Jesus.

God does not want us living in the results of faithless words that do not define His full intent for our lives. Jesus has plans to visit our lives with the evidence of His resurrection power and this visitation will change the way we speak and live.

Where are you living and speaking words of unbelief? Go to that faithless place and begin to believe for His appearing. Let your belief become words of faith declaring the goodness of God. In faith, begin to craft words that reflect God’s heart for you and your circumstance. God has already made up His mind about you and He has nothing but goodness in mind when He thinks of you.

This is a season of redefining. You and I are the ones responsible to speak the redefining words. God is ready to turn Doubters into Proclaimers and He will use the very words of our mouths to redefine our lives.

Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon
Email: prophetichorizons@gmail.com

Our God-given Identity is Who We Really Are

Rob Hotchkin

Before God ever formed us in our mothers’ wombs, He knew us. In other words, before He even brought us forth He had fully determined who we are and established our identity in Him.

One of the most important weapons of warfare we have in any battle is our God-given identity. When we allow God to reveal to us who we truly are, and we choose to believe Him, we can live from that identity and trust God to back it up and bring it about. When we know who we are to God, with God, and for God, we can enter any situation or circumstance confident that we will see victory, because we are walking out the destiny God created us for, called us to, and has empowered us to step into.

The Life of the Son

The Father models this to us in the life of His Son. When Jesus emerged from the waters of His baptism, the Father proclaimed Jesus’ identity. The Father declared that Jesus is a “Beloved Son” in whom the Father is “fully pleased.” Before Jesus stepped into any ministry or any confrontations with the enemy, He knew who He was.

God-given identity is so powerful that the enemy will do all he can to come against it. He tried to attack Jesus’ identity in the wilderness and get Him to question if He really was God’s Son. But Jesus refused to be shaken. He refused to let go of the identity His Father had declared over Him. He was so rooted and grounded in who He was to, for, and with the Father that at times He simply declared His true God-given identity and the enemy was completely overpowered by it (John 18:6).

Jesus was the firstborn of many children (Romans 8:29), and because of the amazing gift of His sacrifice you are now one of those children. Just like He did with His Son Jesus, the Father wants to declare over you, His precious child, who you truly are.

It is critical in this hour that we dig into the Word and posture ourselves before the Father’s heart so that we can allow Him to show us who we truly are. You are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are not who you were. You are who He created you to be. When we know and embrace our God-given identity, we can nullify the lies of the enemy and cast down every temptation and vain imagination that does not line up with who and what God says we truly are.

Knowing your God-given identity is a key weapon for victory in this hour.

There is Victory in Identity!

When David went into battle against Goliath he confidently carried a weapon that was key to his victory. More than the sling in his hand, more than the five stones in his pouch, the weapon David wielded was his God-given identity.

In 1 Samuel 17, when David showed up at the battlefield to take on Goliath, no one thought of him as a warrior. At that point he was really only known to the world as a musician in Saul’s court. But David did not let the world determine his identity. He knew the Lord had anointed him to be a leader, victor, and protector of Israel. He knew that God had been training him for war while he had been caring for the sheep of his father’s flock (1 Samuel 17:34-37). It didn’t matter if the world knew who he was at this point. David knew who he was – because he chose to believe what God had declared over him. That’s why he was ready for the battle and able to step into the victory.

When his older brother belittled him, telling him he had no business being amongst the warriors since he was just an insignificant little shepherd (1 Samuel 17:28), David held tightly to who God had told him he was. When King Saul dismissed him as “only a boy” (1 Samuel 17:33), David clung to his God-given identity. And when the enemy tried to humiliate and intimidate him, David confidently declared who his God was and reiterated who he was with his God. He battled from his God-given identity, a key to stepping into victory!

When the world tried to tell David who he was, he didn’t pay attention. When the people around him tried to tell him who he was, he ignored them. And when the enemy tried to tell him who he was, he corrected him. David was confident in who he was, because he was confident in his God who had declared his identity to him. David knew and trusted the Lord, so he knew he could trust what the Lord had told him about himself.

David’s identity was not determined by his circumstances, by others, and certainly not by the enemy. It was determined by God. If we truly trust our God, we will truly trust that we are who He says we are. We will live from that identity, and we will see victory.

Don’t Limit Yourself!

In addition to the voices of the world, people around you, and the enemy, there is one other voice that can come against your God-given identity. You! Sometimes it is our own voice inside our heads that tries to convince us we are not who God says we are. Think of Gideon in Judges 6. The Lord declared to Gideon that he was a “mighty man of valor” and that he would be the rescuer of his people. Gideon’s initial response was, “Not me!”

He then went on to list all the reasons he could not possibly be a mighty man or a hero amongst his people. Gideon had been so beaten down by the Midianites (the enemy) over the years that he could not bring himself to believe what the Lord told him about who he was. But God is so faithful, so loving, so kind, and so good at declaring to us who we really are; He took Gideon past his own doubts and empowered him to step into his true God-given identity. He can do the same for each of us.

Who You Really Are!

The world will try to tell you who you are. People around you will try to tell you who you are. The enemy will try to tell you who you are. They might even cite facts about your past or your present to try to convince you that they’re right. Don’t listen to any of it. Don’t listen to any voice that tries to tell you that you are anything other than who God says you are.

Before God formed you in your mother’s womb He knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). God knows all about you, but He wants you to know, too. He wants to share with you who you truly are so that you can cast off any remnant of false identity the world, others, or the enemy have placed upon you, and start to live from your God-given identity.

Take time this month to get with God and let Him speak to you about you. Ask Him who you are. Ask Him how He sees you. Ask Him what He created you for. Ask Him to declare over you your God-given identity. You are going to be amazed by who you really are!

Robert Hotchkin
Extreme Prophetic
Email: rob@xpmedia.com

About Rob Hotchkin: Rob ministers with Patricia King and Extreme Prophetic. He fervently believes every Christian is a miracle-working explosion of the Kingdom waiting to happen. His preaching, teaching, and ministry inspires Believers to grab hold of their restored relationship with the Father through the finished work of the Cross and walk the earth as Jesus did – destroying every work of darkness everywhere they go! Rob is a passionate lover of Jesus Christ and that passion is truly contagious! He ministers with strong faith, releasing revelation, prophetic decrees, healings, miracles, and the love of God. He is a true carrier of the glory and revival. People have been healed, refreshed, set free, and empowered through his life. He believes for Heaven to impact lives and regions everywhere he goes.