The Bride's Dream

  

Song of Solomon

 

Chapter 3

 

December 26, 2022

 

The Bride's Dream

On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.  I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets, and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves.  I sought him but found him not. The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”  Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves.  I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the doe’s of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,  with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?  Behold, it is the litter of Solomon!  Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night.  King Solomon made himself a carriage from the woods of Lebanon.  He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.  Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.

 

What if the bride of Christ had the same desires as the bride of Solomon?  Could we the Church, have been taken captive as Eve was by the serpent?  In 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, “I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me!  I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.“

 

As I was thinking about the biblical Church, I wondered, how can one go where they are?  You and I refer to a building where the Church assembles as going to Church, but once more it is a world conception.  I’m not all that good at conveying my thoughts, but “Got Question” is, and so I borrowed from them, on the Church and the bride of Christ. “Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not a biblical understanding of the church. The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not that of a building but of people. It is ironic that when you ask people what church they attend, they usually identify a building. Romans 16:5 says, “Greet the church that is in their house.” Paul refers to the church in their house—not a church building, but a body of believers.”

 

“The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the church. The church is comprised of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have received eternal life. Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride (Ephesians 5:25–27).

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice