Spirit Chains
Song of Solomon 4:8-12
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
Still flirtatious I see. All the little Song had to do was bat an eyelash and crane her neck for her beloved to follow. Some of you have forgotten what it was like to be seduced, young, and still in love between the five babies and screaming things. It is good to take some time to remember these things again; this time is taken so you do not become like those Jesus accused of forgetting their first love in Revelation 2:4. In fact, some of you should take lessons from your therapist. Instead of fussing and cussing, do those things again which made you fall in love to begin with. See some of you, as time has gone and life has interfered, have ravished your lover's heart. Ravishing can carry the image of a Transylvanian vampire when it sees the lifeblood. That is a wonderful reaction indeed to have in the springtime and summer when love is new. In those times, they saw you and followed you like a little puppy of love. But herein is an issue, a trap if you will. Looks are well and wonderful. But if that was all taken, what stops someone from looking at someone else that way also. Here we see the deeper meaning. Solomon unlike many men of his time cared more for the spiritual than the sensual things of this life. This fact was seen in his chasing after the other gods of his wives and concubines. 1 Kings 11:3-4 tells of this as they led him astray.
More than that, the ravishing spoken of here is of a different sort. It is the sort of love which burns like a forest fire and leaves nothing in its' path. Of these in 1 Corinthians 7:9, Paul says it is better to be married than to burn. This setting ablaze ought to be kept only for your spouse. Otherwise, it can start a fire that burns many. Then I hear a few of the firefighting profession mumbling about how they feel they must put out any home fires in sight. This leads to the on again, off again sort of love; these are as one which leaves what it had at first but must then repent as in Revelation 2:5. Let Jesus do the fixing of such things here. Some of you cannot bear to allow anyone too close to you. He can make that thing new also. God has such care for everything the Song and her Solomon had been through. See, the Song developed a sort of one-eye syndrome sometimes seen in a little chihuahua after a fight with a bigger dog. The one eye possesses just one vision rather than two. When you see everything as God sees it, the eyes of faith allow you to see far indeed. These eyes of Matthew 6:10 see in the territory of Heaven instead of as it is on earth. So also, the one chain was used as a sort of wedding or promise ring of that day to bind each other together. Thus, it is wonderful to have been put together by God. How many of you know that when he builds the house of Psalm 127:1, it will not suffer loss.
How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
See in the prior text, there was only one chain used in the binding. You know, Solomon is far from stupid. He was once called, in 1 Kings 4:30, the wisest man of that day. He knew that the Song was a sensual, soulic, and spiritual being. Being such now, the one chain united the three. Thus, to him she can be both sister and spouse because of the spirit relationship presented here. Now before some of you start complaining about sister wives and strange familial relationships, I do not believe such was the case here. For one, Pharoah's daughter and Pharoah's wife's sister raised along with the children of Pharoah ought to have no connection whatsoever to a king of Israel. So, when Solomon married this Song, daughter of Pharoah, he became the son-in-law of Pharoah himself no matter how far away he wandered. Thus, the brother-in-law married the stepdaughter of Pharoah. I know that makes no sense at all to some of you with smaller families. Thus, this sister wife is still a little strange, but not in the way some of you were thinking. But to suggest that Solomon sneaked into the house before this would be quite silly indeed. Also, I promised to show a spiritual relationship present here. How many of you know that those who do the will of God become his brother and sister of Mark 3:35.
There is a spiritual principle of adoption into his family at work here. It is by this Spirit told of in Romans 8:15, that "we cry Abba Father." This is why I can look at some of those in the church and say 'my brother, my sister' when really, I should not at all. Here her love for him is better than wine. In it, he does not sound like he is given to much drinking. Instead, the family of God dwelling in the unity of Psalm 133:1 is all to him that was needed. We also see a progression from his knowledge of God in prior texts. He compares her ointments to all the spices. Whereas before, the spice bundles were something burned to keep away the night. Be patient with your spouse and with God. It takes a little time for the mustard seed of faith tossed out in the garden to grow. Matthew 13:31-32 said it grew into a great big tree which feeds many. I would really like to discuss the one chain uniting the three here. Like the ointments and spices need a nose to smell, so also the one chain requires some faith to see. You must be patient with the process. These things take some time to grow.
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
Some of you might wonder if the brother knows his sister. Indeed, he does for she is his spouse. No, those are not crickets chirping, not now. Remember before, here are spiritual sister and brother in Christ the Father. As I have said, there is growth and progression to be seen here. Like her Solomon is changing, so is also the Song. Even the little Song's speech is changing from rough as the goats to seasoned with milk and honey. This is how young love becomes old love. It takes time, changing seasons, and the Lord. See, the vines have grown, and the trees have borne their fruit as in the middle of summer. Now is the time of the singing bees with their honey and the cows with their milk. God in Deuteronomy 31:20 brought the Israelites into a land once "flowing with milk and honey." They might come from the same area, but the two of them do not go together. If you tried to mix the milk and honey in a dish, the result would be a disaster. This, I am sure, is very bad news for anyone that loves food. It is bad news indeed until you put some different vision on this thing. The cows and the bees live together in the pasture without stepping on each other or stinging the other to death. The cows do not raid the bees' honey; nor do the bees take the cows' milk.
They simply live together with plenty of room to spare and enough food to feed an army. To the Song, her speech is so gracious that she could have enemies and friends in the same house. No one would ever know. Then she could still make dinner for her spouse and have some nice things to say to him also. This is some seasoned speech here; only God can bring it forth. Like some of you would say, 'my, look at them kissing in the kitchen; they must really love each other.' See, Galatians 3:10 knows that righteousness and peace do that because of who God is. From there, the little Song's graciousness goes all the way to the borders of other countries with their diplomatic relations. Sometimes Solomon gets close enough to hold her and get a whiff of her scent. When he smells her, she smells like she has been doing him good in the streets and at the city gates. Proverbs 31:23 tells why he can smell the woods beyond their borders on her. She has been busy finding things to do and to make; then he will sit at the city gates and look proud of her.
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
This is what you should do when you cannot get into the upper room or the garden. Praise him from the hallway of course until he either redirects you or opens the door. Trust God to manage the transition. Then seek him for the result. If you are inside the garden with your spouse, it is good that it is enclosed with walls and gates to keep strangers out. Not everyone needs to know all your business. I once met a man whose lips were quite loose and told many all about whatever happened between us. I quickly found what little feelings I had for him, shriveled, and died when I saw with what little care the garden was tended. Some of you act like you are badly in need of a privacy fence. Solomon's garden is found in his wife enclosed with the Lord. Some of you ought to praise God from the hallway or the courtyard when your spouse is closed off to you and will not let you approach. Some of you have overgrown gardens with no organization or planning shown in them. You might be saying to yourself, 'so what if the garden is overrun by creeping things.' Gardens such as this, just like people, need some careful tending. This is why you must make God your keeper for then he will have you fit for the kingdom.
Not only is the outside like her garden, but also the little Song's inside is a spring. Springs are known in Proverbs 4:23 for what bubbles out of them like words, bitter water, or sometimes nothing at all. This spring discussed here is inside the garden; if the garden is her life, the spring was meant for her Solomon alone. Neither would never thirst again had they water like the woman at the well after she met Jesus. Beneath the spring lies a fountain alone, encased in stone. It is the heart of the garden and the spring its' source. It is sealed allowing not even Solomon inside. But how many of you know that when the living water comes, even that which is dead or lacking will flow again. One day, when the waters of life overflow, the fountain sealed will burst open like the old wineskins of Mark 2:22. See, these had to once be thrown away to allow the new to take their place. It is natural to fear the process. There are wolves and robbers beyond the garden walls. It can be scary for Solomon to look at the garden of his Song in all seasons. Some of you should not fear the transition when it comes. God is "doing a new thing" as in Isaiah 43:19; soon it will spring forth for the perceiving people. My, this is some heavy text, not unlike that of a lover's body even in their absence. I do not know about you, but sometimes I hear the singing of the coyotes and crickets outside my house on dark nights. When I hear those, I feel rather the same as Solomon and his Song in this text here.