As we have seen in the past chapters, the seeking one in the Song of Songs reached at least four attainments. In chapter two, she reached the first attainment, after which she became contented. Due to this, a discrepancy arose between her and the Lord. The second attainment was reached when she became a crown to the Lord. Yet at that time she herself realized that there were still some shadows and that her day had not yet broken. Hence, she progressed by going to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. By this she was transferred to the top of Lebanon. This was her third attainment, at which she again became contented. The Lord then came to call her from what she had attained. She answered the Lord’s call to reach the fourth attainment by becoming a garden. This is a much further, higher, and deeper attainment. Formerly, she was enjoying the Lord, but now she is producing the Lord. She was a partaker, but now she has become a producer. The poetry here reveals that she now becomes very contented, even more contented than she was in chapter two. Therefore she says, “I sleep, but my heart waketh.” At this juncture the Lord calls her again to leave her attainment.
Thus, we see four attainments in chapters two through five, with at least one in each chapter. The last attainment was reached when she became a producing garden, growing out what she had enjoyed of the Lord. But still the Lord’s purpose had not been accomplished. The garden is not the consummation of the Bible; it is only the beginning.
In these four attainments, we see two main discrepancies between her and the Lord. The first is in chapter two, and the second is in chapter five. These two discrepancies really speak something to us. I must say again, this is not a book of teaching, but a map for our spiritual driving. It reveals all the turns we must make in order to fulfill God’s eternal purpose.
In the discrepancy of chapter two, she heard the voice of the Lord, and she saw the Lord’s countenance. But in the discrepancy of chapter five, the Lord showed her His hand: “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my heart was moved for him” (5:4). When the Lord showed her His countenance, He attracted her by His loveliness and His beauty. His face signifies His beauty. But in the second discrepancy, the Lord did not show her His face, but rather His hand. In the Bible, the hand signifies working and doing.
What was the Lord showing her by this vision? He had already shown her that He was the one under the dew in the night, suffering for God’s purpose. Now He continued by showing her that whatever He did on this earth was not according to His own taste, opinion, or feeling. It was absolutely according to the Father’s will. He worked for the Father, not according to His own desire, but according to His Father’s desire and to fulfill His Father’s purpose. Now it is not a matter of the Lord’s beauty or attractiveness, but a matter of the Lord’s working. By this vision the Lord taught her to take His way of working. If she is to work with Him on this earth, she must learn to work according to the Lord’s way.
Home | First | Prev | Next