Draw Me Away! – Pt. 2

Chapter 2 Song of Solomon

Chapter 2 starts off with a confession from the Shulamite that reveals her insecurity.

“I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.” (v.1)
Lilies were abundant and ordinary. In essence she was saying that she was but one of many and not very special. The Beloved’s response should give us great encouragement:

“Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.” (v.2) You see, the people of the world bring great sadness and pain to God through sin. But like the Shulamite He has plucked us out of the world and we bring Him great pleasure. We must not brush over the beautiful fact that we bring delight to the heart of God through what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Jesus said of us: “You are the salt of the earth…” (Matthew 5:13a)

Now we begin to see things getting much more serious in their relationship.

“He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love. (v.4)

The “banqueting” house was a house of wine. Among other things in the Bible wine represents being full and influenced by the Holy Spirit. We can call this being brought into the banqueting house as being baptized in the Holy Spirit. In that place the Beloved sets a banner over her to tell the world that she is taken. In Ephesians 1 we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit is a kind of engagement ring.

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…” (Eph 1:13)

Her response still shows self-centeredness.

“Sustain me with cakes of raisins,
Refresh me with apples,
For I am lovesick.” (v.5)

This did not deter the Beloved. He was after one thing and one thing only and that was closeness with the Shulamite. Jesus has not changed. Being close to us is His greatest desire. Listen, the gifts and moves of the Holy Spirit are beautiful and much needed. But our greatest desire must not be the hand of God but the face of God. Now we see the Beloved acting on His greatest desire.

“His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.” (v.6)

He is showing her he in not interested in giving blessing alone. He wants to be very close to her.

At this time in the story (song) we can assume some time has passed and the Beloved has been absent for a time.

“The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands behind our wall;
He is looking through the windows,
Gazing through the lattice.” (vv.8-9)

Sometimes Jesus withdraws from us for a time to increase our hunger for Him. Here we see the Beloved “leaping” and “skipping.” The Shulamite has responded to His calls for intimacy and His spirit is excited.

However, he is still tentative with His love. We see Him “standing behind” and “gazing through the lattice.” Somehow some of us think of Jesus as this robotic God without feelings or reservations even. Remember we have been created in the image of God, sharing the same emotions. So we see a cautious Jesus. He is still this way in 2021. He will often edge closer to us and see how we will respond.

The Beloved steps past the lattice and says to the Shulamite:

“Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!” (vv.10-13)

His call was for her to “rise up and come away.” I hear the same call today. He is calling us out of hiding and into the fields with Him. The “winter” speaks of barrenness and death. It is over. The “flowers” speak of the new life birthed out of the banqueting house with the Holy Spirit. “Singing” is worship that has been born in the heart of the Shulamite. Finally, the “voice of the turtledove” speaks of the operation of the prophetic gift.
The Beloved goes on to solidify His intention toward her.

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.” (v.14)

He not only has drawn her away but he drew her UP. He calls us too – way and up. In the secret place He wants to see our face and hear our voice. Positionally we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

“… and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7b) He continues to call us away and up.

We have seen the Shulamite grow close to the Beloved. We have even seen the fruit of the Spirit. Just like in the garden of Eden the devil comes along to steal what God has done.

“Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes.” (vv.15)

Notice the call was to “catch” the little foxes and not simply scare them away. If you have a fox eating your fruit scaring him will only delay your loss. The enemy must be dealt with swiftly. That is why the scripture says “And the God of peace will swiftly pound Satan to a pulp under your feet!” (Romans 16:20a)

Take note that the foxes are “little.” Sometimes its not the enemy coming as the roaring lion but as the nipping fox. We must be diligent to catch the little foxes in our own lives.

image credit: https://images.app.goo.gl/sf34EX8kgmzJxsa37