What can be said about today?
A day for lovers. Are you a lover?
Who was the greatest lover?
I will give you a hint by taking excerpts from a beautiful poem between a lover and his betrothed...
Lover: My love,...your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with its strings of beads;
We will make you ornaments of gold,studded with silver.
Betrothed:... to me the man I love is a sachet of myrrh,
Lodged between my breasts;
To me the man I love is a spray of henna flowers,
In the vineyards of 'En-Gedi'.
Lover: look at you, my love, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves---
Betrothed: Look at you! So handsome,
So pleasing, my darling! Our bed is the greenery;
Cedars are the beams of our houses, cypresses the rafters.
Lover: Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the other women.
Beloved: Like an apple tree among the other trees in the forest,
Is my darling among other men.
I love to sit in his shadow; his fruit is sweet to my taste,
He brings me to the banquet hall; his banner over me is love.
The voice of the man I loved! Here he comes,
Bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
My darling is like a gazelle or young stag.
There he is standing outside our wall,
Looking through the windows peering through the lattice.
My love says to me...
Lover: Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away!
...My dove, hiding in holes in the rock,
In the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see your face and hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Beloved: My darling is mine, and I am his,
As he pastures his flock among the lilies.
Before the daytime breeze rises and the shadows flee,
Return, my love, like a stag or gazelle on the hills of Beter.
This is the most beautiful poem of love I've ever read. Does it sound familiar to you? It gets even deeper and intimate as it goes along. Yes, you guessed it. Shir-HaShirim (Song of Songs)! If you don't know how to be a lover just try reading this book of the Bible! You are sure to pick up some pointers. Solomon was a great lover, no doubt about it, he had many wives and He loved God. He fulfilled the commission he was given to build the House of the Lord and he was diligent and used the most exquisite of materials. But who is the greatest lover?
Let's take a closer look at this relationship:
He says, Chapter 2:14--Oh my dove...She, in His loving tenderness, is blameless and harmless in His eyes...
Phil 2:15--That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
This is how Yahshua (Jesus) sees his beloved bride! The very character of a dove. The bride has the privilege of access and safety in the "secret of the stairs" (S.S. 2:14) meaning access to His presence.
Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
This poem is a significant key. It is not just talking about the love of a man and a woman, but a much deeper, and higher kind of love, an eternal love. This poem is perfectly describing the love that Jesus has for His Bride the church and body of believers. He is constantly wooing us through the Holy Spirit, pursuing his beloved, caring for, providing for, protecting, covering and loving us. We are the most blessed people on the face of the earth because we have the greatest lover of all times running after us to keep us close to Him! How beautiful is that? He never lets us down, He is always available, never condemning and always wanting the very best for his beloved (the body of believers), considers us beautiful.
Today is a special day for lovers. In the human sense, I guess, people need reminders, so, a specific day was set aside for it. But God feels this way towards you everyday! He wants to be close to you. He waits for you to respond to His love. As you read the entire poem (Song of Songs). Pay close attention to the beloved's responses to her lover. She adores him, she is responsive to his love. He runs after her and she runs after him, looking for his love. As a believer you are His bride, His beloved. Practice responding more intimately to your Lover, the Holy One, who gave up His life for you and is so tender towards you. How are you responding? Are you dull, and monotone in our prayers to him? Prayer, praise and worship is your communication back to Him. Do you do this with your whole heart or is it an old habit like fast food?
As we learn to respond to the love God has for us by speaking words of adoration and love towards Him our love will grow stronger and we will be better able to respond instantly to His unfailing love! There is so much in this poem that can be explored, so many lessons about love here. But this is not a day of deep pontification about love. It is a day to demonstrate the love of God towards others and to realize that it should be a daily occurrence.
Have a wonderful day!
written by,
Rachel Baht Binayah,
Feed My Sheep Ministries &
Messianic House of Prayer
http://www.finding-happiness.org
