Song of Songs is a book depicting the romance between God and man. The way in which Solomon wrote this book is marvelous. It is brief and in a very good sequence. The experience of Christ’s lover is progressive. After the lover of Christ pursued Him for satisfaction and attained it in the first section, the Lord called her to be delivered from her self by experiencing His cross; then He called her further to live in His ascension as the new creation of God in resurrection; and ultimately the Lord called her to live within the veil in the Holy of Holies, in God Himself, to enjoy the consummated God embodied in Christ. The apostle Paul surely was a pattern of one who lived within the veil. When the Lord’s seeker arrives at such a stage she is likened first to a garden enclosed with a spring shut up and a fountain sealed for Christ’s private enjoyment (4:12-15).
From a garden the lover progresses to become two earthly cities, Tirzah and Jerusalem (6:4a). These were two capitals. After the nation of Israel was divided, Jerusalem remained the capital of the kingdom of Judah, and Tirzah became the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 14:17; 15:21; 16:6). Tirzah was the dwelling place of the king, but it was related to a negative situation. But as we have seen, Song of Songs mentions Tirzah in a positive sense by saying that the seeker is as beautiful as Tirzah.
According to God’s design in the Old Testament, the city of Jerusalem was built first, and then, under Solomon, the temple and the palace were built (1 Kings 6:1—7:1). The palace was the king‘s dwelling, and the temple was God’s dwelling. In the Old Testament the palace and the temple were separate. Solomon as the king dwelt in the palace, and God dwelt in the temple. But we have to realize that Solomon’s writing is eternal. In the eternal view the palace should not be separated from the temple, because both are God’s dwelling. According to the reality and the fulfillment of the types in the New Testament, the palace and temple become one because God is the unique Dweller. God dwells in the temple, and as the ruling One, the great King, God resides in the palace. Tirzah is used here for God’s palace. In the book The Song of Songs Brother Nee pointed out that Tirzah, where the king‘s palace was, signifies the heavenly sanctuary, the dwelling of God, and that Jerusalem signifies the heavenly Jerusalem, God’s holy city as the safeguard of His palace.
The beloved likens his lover to a garden, a palace, and a city. All these are on the earth. Then suddenly Solomon jumps in his writing from the earth to the heavens. In 6:10 he likens his lover to the moon and to the sun, two heavenly bodies. In this message we want to see how the lover of Christ becomes an overcomer, typified by the heavenly bodies.
Through her living in the ascension of Christ and further living within the veil, experiencing the cross of Christ more strongly, the lover of Christ is transformed into the heavenly bodies. In chapter one the lover was a horse, but after being transformed and maturing in the life of Christ, she is gradually and progressively transformed into a lily, a garden, a palace, and a city. Eventually, she becomes not only an earthly treasure but also the heavenly bodies.
The overcoming believers can be luminaries as the moon reflecting the light of the sun in the church age (Phil. 2:15). The overcoming believers will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom age (Matt. 13:43; Dan. 12:3). The people of God who produce the overcomers (the man-child) are clothed with the sun and have the moon underneath their feet (Rev. 12:1, 5). The woman in Revelation 12 signifies the aggregate of God’s people on this earth. This woman is the mother of the man-child, the overcomers. She is shining with the sun, the moon, and the stars. This view conveys the thought that God’s chosen people should be heavenly and should shine brightly.