The Church in Union with Her Shepherd Lover

Editorial Introduction 

B. Michael Bigg 

The Song of Songs, otherwise known as the Song of Solomon, is a book whose tale depicts the proper and pure love between a man and a woman, between a husband and his wife. A love which is unquenching, unrelenting, and absolute in devotion to each other. Such pure love produces a longing to see each other and to both delight, and pleasure, in that union, but also in the fidelity, the faithfulness, to each other – which proves their love to be true and pure. 

Song of Songs is voiced by four main characters, though there are others, and if you read the book in New King James version you will notice that the translators include character name headings (which are not in the original Hebrew) to help the reader know when there is change in speaker. These main characters are: the [Shepherd] Lover (the man/husband), the Beloved (the woman/wife), the Beloved’s Friends (the woman’s companions) and King Solomon.

Though the story recounts and portrays the marriage between the man and the woman, between a king and his queen (even if that king and queen’s kingdom is merely their own household), with the Biblical and cultural expectation of real intimacy and an anticipated outcome of fruitfulness (i.e. children); it also includes the protagonist king – played by Solomon – who seeks to woo and seduce the woman away from her beloved shepherd king. This story also paints a broader spiritual story of the love Yahweh has for Israel, and Jesus, the Shepherd King, has for his bride, the Church; a love which is pure, a love which is intimate, a love for those who truly are His People, a relationship and intimacy one can only experience in the faithful union of covenant. As we see the day of Christ’s return approach, the true church needs to draw nearer to their Shepherd King and not be lured and swayed by the seductive voice of a worldly king and kingdom. The true Bride of Christ, those who are truly His, have a covenant with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He is True and Faithful.

Message preached by Philip L. Powell — Kyabram, Victoria. September 1982 — Part of a series entitled, “The Song of Songs.”

Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? 

I raised you up under the apple tree: there your mother brought you forth: there she brought you forth that bare you. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. 

Song of Solomon 8:5-7 (KJV - modernised) 

And then in Romans 8:35-39: 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness? In Chapter 6:4 to 7:9 – we have Solomon’s last attempt to seduce the Shulamite. In 6:3 the Shulamite protests her love – the genuineness of her attachment to her Shepherd Lover. She says, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. He feeds among the lilies.” In other words, in spite of the fact of our separation, and in spite of all the attempts of Solomon to seduce me, I am The Church in Union with Her Shepherd Lover Message preached by Philip L. Powell — Kyabram, Victoria. September 1982 — Part of a series entitled, “The Song of Songs.” real intimacy and an anticipated outcome of fruitfulness (i.e. children); it also includes the protagonist king – played by Solomon2 – who seeks to woo and seduce the woman away from her beloved shepherd king. This story also paints a broader spiritual story of the love Yahweh has for Israel, and Jesus, the Shepherd King, has for his bride, the Church; a love which is pure, a love which is intimate, a love for those who truly are His People, a relationship and intimacy one can only experience in the faithful union of covenant. As we see the day of Christ’s return approach, the true church needs to draw nearer to their Shepherd King and not be lured and swayed by the seductive voice of a worldly king and kingdom. The true Bride of Christ, those who are truly His, have a covenant with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He is True and Faithful. my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. My beloved feeds among the lilies… And of course we have seen the significance of that – the lily being a pure white flower, represents purity and holiness, and righteousness. And she says, “He feeds only in that area.” Not in the area of sin and depravity and all of those things, but He loves that which is righteous. And she says, “I belong to Him, and He belongs to me.” And immediately after she has protested her attachment to the Shepherd Lover, there comes the seductive voice of Solomon once more. In verse 4, “You are beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as comely as Jerusalem, terrible [awesome] as an army with banners.” And down through that attempt at seduction, it climaxes in a recognition of who this Shulamite really represents. She represents the Church. Chapter 6 verse 10 – “Who is she that looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible [awesome] as an army with banners?”

And then (v12) he describes the occasion of their first meeting – Solomon here – “Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.” And you will notice that in the margin that the word “Amminadab” is rendered (in the KJV) ‘set me on the chariots of my willing people.’ For the term ‘Amminadab’ could be rendered ‘the people is liberal’. I would like to say that anybody, who rides on a chariot of the popular liberality of people, will have a shaky ride. 

We must, as God’s men, always establish our ministry upon Jesus Christ, and the Word of Jesus Christ. And preach the truth; whether it hurts, or whether it doesn’t. He who rides on the chariot of Amminadab will most certainly have a shaky ride. But here of course, Solomon is describing how he felt when he saw this Shulamite. He said, ‘My legs smote together, and I became like a person ‘knocked for six’, as I saw her beauty. And immediately she captured my heart.’ He says [in 6:13], as she turns to go there from the garden, “Return, return O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee.” And she turns and says, “What will you see (then Solomon) in the Shulamite?” And of course she gives her own answer, “As it were the company of two armies.” Now again, that word in the original is very interesting. 

Apart from the spiritual interpretation of this book, it makes no sense. It has certain references to an ordinary human story, undoubtedly, but, some of the expressions and phrases would just be meaningless if they were interpreted in that light. Why should a woman describe herself: ‘as it were the company of two armies’? She is now projected above the ordinary experience that she is going through, and she is actually describing the way the Church, when it is properly functioning, appears to the world. “As it were, the company of two armies.” Or, as the margin again phrases it, “Mahanaim”. If you look back through Scripture, you will find that this word appears in Genesis 32 verses 1 and 2, when Jacob was returning from the place where he had been spending some years in service, down there in the country of Laban. And as he is on his way back, his brother comes out to meet him, armed with four hundred men. With four hundred men armed – obviously he is not coming for a party! He is coming to get his own back on Jacob. And Jacob there across the brook Jabbok, suddenly becomes aware that this is a life and death situation. He has to see God. Something has to happen, otherwise he will lose his life. And we read in verse 1, “And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God’s host.” And he called the name of that place ‘Mahanaim’, or ‘two hosts’, or ‘two camps’. 

Now the amazing thing about the Bible is of course, not only is it inspired, and it stands all the test of men, and all of the criticisms of men, it is a Word against all that is wrong. It is a Word against all that is evil. It is a Word against, basically, the pursuit of man irrespective of God. It is a Word against! 

I have felt compelled to preach on the Mystery of Iniquity. Last night there was a programme about what is happening in Sydney in regard to homosexuality. I really did not want to watch it, but I wanted to get a sense of what is happening in our country. And dear friends, let me say this very carefully, and with due consideration: Australia, unless something happens, is on the verge of a collapse. Economically, politically, and spiritually. Some of the leading intellectuals who have investigated the trends of history, have looked at Australia, and they have said [suggested] that Australia, within ten years will have a Revolution. 

Now I know this, that when a totalitarian Government puts its eyes upon a country – first of all in a surreptitious and insidious way, they reduce the moral strength of that country. And they generally do it through pornography. Are you hearing me? They generally do it by parading pornography until they capture the imagination of men, women and young people, resulting in a nation with a weak moral fibre and guiding compass. This has happened over and over again. Then at the prescribed time, they move in and take over, and notice this, when a totalitarian Government gain the power in a country, the first thing they do, is outlaw pornography. They start trying to put strength back into the fibre of people. This sort of demeaning and perverted sexualisation is happening at the moment in Sydney. The programme stated that a third of men, I don’t know if it was in a particular area, a third of men, have had some kind of homosexual experience. And one-quarter of them have been in a homosexual relationship for more than two, up to, three years. These people, make no mistake about it, they are out to change the social structure and the very life of our Nation. And people say you ought not to be strong against a minority group! Listen! If everybody turned homosexual what would happen to the human race? We are told we have our rights. What rights? It is time to measure up to our responsibilities as a continuing and sustainable society – the Mystery of Iniquity, it is a mysterious force. History screams of its devastating affects upon nations and peoples. Why do we not learn? It is a mystery! It is a force and it is at work in the nations. 

When Jacob came to face this great ordeal of his life, he said, ‘Oh, God, I have got to see you.’ And what happened? God appeared to him. And how did He appear? Well, He appeared the way He always appears, He appears as the Yes and the Amen. Two companies. Yes and Amen. Bible numerics run right through the Bible and it is one of the greatest proofs that the Bible is the Word of God. Numerical systems can be seen many times over and they are particularly clear in the original language. This system of two, carries right the way through. Jesus said (Mat 18:19), ‘If any two of you shall agree on earth, touching anything, it shall be done.’ Jesus said, ‘the Promise that I give to you, is not yes and no, (because one cancels out the other) but my Promise is Yes and Amen, in Christ Jesus.’ And God always establishes the Yes and Amen. And Jacob saw the two companies, and he said, ‘Mahanaim’, here they are – the two hosts of God, the Yes and the Amen. And friends, you don’t need a great company of people to break through in God, you only need two people who will say, ‘Yes, I will be the yes, and I will be the amen, to the Promise of God.

 And in our passage as the Shulamite appears, she says, ‘Why do you want me to turn back? What will you see in me anyway? I am not going to reveal myself to you; I am not in love with you. Likewise, when the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ stands up, it stands up as the Yes and Amen because she has betrothed herself to the Shepherd Lover, who has captivated her completely, and she cannot be enticed away by seductive means. The Word that God speaks will be established by the Church as she appears in her great role; to be the ‘pillar and ground of the truth."

Oh, Lord make us strong. Make us a people that keep our eyes on God. Young people, fix your eyes on the God of Eternity, not on temporal, useless things that entice you away from making an impact and finding purpose. 

Here we see the Church emerge, and she appears. Solomon still tries to seduce. The world looking on, sees her as an army terrible with banners. As it were, a company, two companies of God. Two, because God is present in the Church. Down through the remaining verses Solomon attempts to seduce her again, by describing her outward beauty. But she won’t be seduced. Verse 10 – she renounces his approaches, and she says, ‘I am my beloved’s and his desire is towards me.’ And she is building up now – building up to be joined in a holy and eternal union with her shepherd lover that we see later in chapter 8. But there are certain steps which produce that union. 

In verses 10 to 13 of chapter 7 she protests her love once more. Her association with her beloved, her fidelity, her loyalty, her faithfulness in the face of all of Solomon’s temptations. “I am my beloved’s and his desire is towards me.” And then she makes a firm resolve to leave the attractions of the palace. Verse 11, “Come my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.” Here she is in the pomp and ceremony, with all the class and gold and all the wealth of Solomon’s palace. What an opportunity for her to be queen among all these others, because Solomon has made it quite evident that he loves her more than anyone else. But there in that worldly situation, she leaves the attractions of the palace because they can’t be compared to the love she has with her beloved. She said, ‘I am not going to stay here. I am going to find my shepherd lover. Even if it means that the field is our only dwelling place. Even if it means that we have to leave the city and go back in to the villages, I am going to be with my love’. 

Dear friends, I want to say that you will never know a close association of union with the Blessed Christ of God, until you turn your back on the place of the world. Never! She said, ‘I have made a firm resolve to leave it.’ I thank God for the negatives of the New Testament. I wonder how so many preachers seem to miss them. You have to resolve to leave, before you can be joined. You have to determine that you are going to leave all the attractions of the palace, and take nothing from there with you, before you can be joined in an eternal union with the Bridegroom. She said, ‘We will go out into the fields.’ When our Lord was here, the King of Glory, He looked around as His disciples came following Him, some of them offered their service. One man came along and said, ‘Lord I will follow you wherever you go.’ He turned to him and He said, ‘Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ ‘Are you prepared to go out into the field with me – with no home, nothing? Are you prepared?’ And that man actually said, ‘No, I am not prepared.’ But thank God, there were 11 men, who said, ‘We are prepared Lord. We will go wherever you go. Blessed be your wonderful Name. You have the Words of eternal life. The Words that drop from your lips, they mean more than all the wealth in the palace. We will go out with you into the field. We will go with you into the villages.’ Jesus when He was here upon the earth went from village to village, and the disciples said, ‘Let’s stop here for a while.’ He said, ‘I must preach this Gospel. I have others that I must go to. Let us go to other villages also.’ And here is the great appeal, dear friends. Are you prepared to go, wherever He says you must? You have to make a firm resolve in your heart as to where you are going to go. Are you going to be just involved in your activity? In your home situation? Building your family? Are you just going to be content with your career and all the other pursuits? Or are you going to say, ‘Yes, Lord, I will follow You into the fields. I will follow You out into the villages. I will leave behind the attractions of the palace.’ Once resolved, the Shulamite then determined to return to the place of loss – verse 7:12, “Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my love.” This is where she missed out at the beginning. It was in the vineyard. 

Remember, she went into the vineyard and suddenly Solomon came. Song of Songs 3:6, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness ... [with] perfume and myrrh…” And here she is. She is captured, and as a result she becomes entrapped in a foreign environment, and influenced by an alien spirit. There she made that loss in the vineyard. If you have had a loss in your spiritual lives, you have got to go right back to the place of loss; right back to the vineyard. When the people came to Elisha, in 2 Kings chapter 6, and said, ‘Elisha the place is too small for us. We have got to extend. We have got to do something.’ Elisha responds, ‘Ok, well get to it then. Go out into the woods and cut trees down, and let’s extend.’ One fellow was felling a tree and he lost the axe head. He said, ‘Ah, my lord, alas, for it was borrowed.’ He didn’t have his own cutting edge. He had to borrow somebody else’s, and here now he loses it. Elisha reaffirms their need to return, ‘You’ve got to go right back to the place where you lost it.’ The encounter climaxes with a miracle, the fellow threw in a bit of a twig and it began to float. 

God performed a miracle, He takes the loss and produces life. If you have lost something of spiritual substance in your life, you have to go right back to the place where you lost it. The Shulamite says, ‘Let’s go back there.’ There is a determination to return to the place of loss, and then there is a pledge of rewarded love. New and old. She says, “There will I give thee my loves.” Verse 13, “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits (the mandrake is the herb that is associated with lovemaking), new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O, my beloved.” There is a pledge of rewarded love, and understanding the spiritual application of this is transformative. That great Church at Ephesus had everything going for her, she was tremendous, powerful, hardworking, but the Lord says, ‘There is one thing that you have lost. You have lost your first love’ (Rev 2:4). She needed to go back to the place where she lost it and she was to pledge that love once more. There is a pledge of rewarded love. What does that result in? It results in what is found in our text (Song 8:5), “Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” Way back in Chapter 3 verse 6 the same question is asked, “Who is this that comes out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke...” On that occasion it was Solomon, representing the world, coming to take away the Shulamite, representing the Church. 

The Shulamite was taken away and entrapped in a foreign environment, influenced by that alien spirit, but even so, there was still the attraction of that supernatural love, and the appeal to the supernatural wind. As a result, she is joined back with her Shepherd Lover. Maybe it is the companions of the shepherd, or maybe it is the brothers of the Shulamite, but as they look out across the same wilderness, where they looked and saw Solomon approaching from, they see another sight; it is no longer the world – thank God, the world has vanished – and here now, the lover and the loved are united. “Who is this that comes up through the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” Notice, as they come the beloved looks down at his beloved, who is leaning upon him, and he says, ‘I quickened love in you by the apple tree.’ He says, ‘There where we first met.’ Wonderfully, she responded in chapter 2 verse 3, ‘My beloved is like an apple tree among the trees of the forest.’ Christ is represented here, for He stands among men as the solitary fruitful life. In all history, all other trees are like the trees of the forest, but here He is like an apple tree; like a tree of a fruitful orchard. He says to the beloved here, in Song 8:5, ‘Wasn’t it under the apple tree where you first discovered your love for me. Wasn’t it when you took of the fruit of my life, that you found that you loved me?’ What a beautiful representation of the new birth. As we sat under the apple tree and we took the fruit of His life, suddenly something happened in us. We couldn’t explain it, but it happened – we were born again of the Holy Spirit. It was there that we were born. And he says, ‘We are going back there now. We are going back there to pledge our love.’ As they get back under the apple tree the Shulamite looks up to him in verse 6 and says, “Set me as a seal upon your heart. As a seal upon your arm.” 

Now the seal, in the Scripture, was a token of possession. But here in Old Testament times, it was a seal. A signet. It represented a possession. And so here, the Shulamite looks at her shepherd lover and says, ‘Well, I have been through a lot. I was captured in that foreign environment, influenced by that alien spirit, but all the time I had love only for you, nobody else. Now we are together, and my heart belongs to you forever. I have established now an eternal contract.’ Thank God, as the Church, we turn to our Blessed Shepherd Lover and say, ‘We have pledged ourselves to you and here we are, make it eternal!’ 

‘Back there under the apple tree, those years ago, or months ago, that’s where I was born again.’ Thank God for that experience. ‘But now, since then, I have wandered back into the worldly situation, and I was entrapped and influenced, but now we are joined forever.’ This is a daily desire and confession, ‘Set a seal and stamp on Your heart that I belong to you forever.’ Eternally secure, because He is eternal as His love is eternal. It is not irrespective of the life that I live, however, my life has to be lived in conformity with His ways and His will, and I have to constantly pledge my love to Him, then that union is eternal. Blessed be His Wonderful Name! 

 Here is a stamp upon His heart. The Shulamite says, ‘Write it on your arm.’ The arm is the symbol of strength and of service. We need the strength of the Lord to be about His service. Whatever He is going to do in this world, whatever He is going to do in Australia, write my name there ‘on your arm’, because I am in it by the Grace of God, and I am with you Lord in all that you are going to do. All I ask is that you extend your hand, reveal your way to me. By the Grace of God, you can count me in, for I am going to stand up and be counted, for Jesus Christ. 

Now the two of them together – they look at themselves, and they say, “For love is as strong as death.” Here she is, she has gone through all the turmoil and the trauma of that experience in the palace, all of the attempts of seduction, but she has not failed. Her fidelity and faithfulness shone through in every situation. As they look at each other they say, ‘That love is strong isn’t it. It kept us bound to each other, even though we were separated.’ O’ that men and women would discover the strength of that love again. Even in ordinary life. How quickly relationships are terminated today. Marriage is almost viewed as a trial; how tragic, that a man and a woman can stand in front of an altar and they pledge until death us do part, and then they go and they break it so easily, and so quickly. 

O’ that there might be a rediscovery of that faithfulness of love. 

“For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as cruel as the grave.” (v6) Solomon didn’t really love her, likewise, the world doesn’t love the Church, it only wants to seduce. Only the Shepherd Lover truly loves, because He is invested in the union, and His love extends through the veil of death. Jealousy is all that is on the other side. “The coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned [despised, scorned, mocked, reviled].” How many people have tried to trade all they have for love, and yet they have missed it, because they have not found the Shepherd Lover – the Lord Jesus Christ? 

“Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Who? Can tribulation? Can famine, can sword?” No! In all these things, we are MORE than conquerors through Him that loved us. “For I am persuaded that neither height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” And very soon dear friends, how long I do not know, whether it will be months, or years, I do not know, but there is going to come a Voice from heaven one day, and it will say, “Who is this that comes from the wilderness, leaning upon the arm of her beloved?” His arm, the [only and true] place of strength. ‘For her name has been sealed in His heart, and written upon His arm – who is it? It is the Church that comes from the wilderness: Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ For one day, and I feel it is not very long now, we are going to arrive Home, and the union that we know here which is so glorious, will be even greater up there, when we begin to explore the eternal expanse of God’s great universe, which has been made for the Church of Jesus Christ, and for anybody who will join in that glorious Church. 

I am not a man of science. One time I thought I may have pursued science. It was my strong subject at school, and I thought maybe I would, but I had the call of God in my heart, and I thank God, that I have joined a group, an association, a company, not of scientists, but of people who are going to enjoy the science of God’s universe, throughout the countless ages of eternity. What man is beginning to discover down here, He will show me all the intricacies of it up there. And I will enjoy it forever, because I have pledged my loyalty and my fidelity and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. “Who is this that cometh – it is the Church that cometh from the wilderness.” And I want to be a part of that