Archive for the ‘Hebrew Months’ Category

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 11 (9/11/19)

Posted: September 11, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Jesus lifts us out of our shame and guilt. As long as we feel like a pig, we will act like a pig. A person who feels worthless will not try to overcome, they will be continually overcome themselves and become their own worst enemy.

The King speaks to the maiden, bringing her out of her shame, burnout and darkness. As you read this, meditate on the Bridegroom Jesus speaking to you.

Song 1:15, “Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.”

The King is calling us ‘My love’. This is how we need to see ourselves or we will never possess our Promised Land, the benefits that Jesus died to give us. Not only did God so love the world, Jesus loved us way back then! He chose to take our place in the death and burial so we would experience the life more abundantly. But we will never experience that life until we agree that He loves me, even in my shame, low-self worth. We need to see our self in HIS WORTH! He loves us, each of us, individually.

Doves Eyes: Doves only mate once in their lifetime. This speaks of loyalty, purity. Holy Spirit is symbolized as a dove and is loyal to Jesus. Doves have no peripheral vision, they are single eyed. They can only see one thing at a time. We are to have the Spirit’s perspective and see ourselves as Jesus sees us. “I am the disciple Jesus loves.”

The King calls her “fair” twice in this verse. The Hebrew word for fair here is “yapheh“, H3303 and means ‘beautiful, excellent, comely’.

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 10 (9/10/19)

Posted: September 10, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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The maiden had been consumed with her thoughts of herself, low self-worth. The enemy of the Cross will always point you to yourself and how you always fall short. But once Jesus really expresses His love for the Bride, expounds on her Beauty, she has come to life, revived, love is awakened again! Now she responds to the King with 3 responses.

Songs 1:12, “While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance.” (13) “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, that lies all night between my breasts.”

  1. Worship as she feeds at the King’s table (vs 12)
    1. God has provided a table of blessings for us (1 Cor 10:21), the result of the Cross
    2. This reminds me of the Prodigal son that came home after a life wasted and his father rewards him for returning, and he sits at his father’s table.(Lk 15:20-32)
  2. She meditates day and night on the extravagant gift of His life for her (vs 13)
    1. Mike Bickle wrote: “The most obedient and worshipful saints think the most on the cross. It is their constant meditation and confession.”
    2. This 2 minutes song is an example on meditating on Jesus death, burial and resurrection. https://youtu.be/r89NFu8Sn1Y?t=1
  3. She sees His beauty (vs 13)
    1. it is amazing how beautiful Jesus is when you take your eyes off yourself!

Spikenard (spike of nard) is a perfume (used 3 times in Song of Songs). Nard is a plant found in India used to make the most expensive perfume. Our life of worship is sweet smelling to Jesus (2 Cor 2:14-16)

Myrrh is both a perfume and an embalming spice. It is an Arabian gum from the bark of a tree, used in sacred oil and in perfume. As the maiden sleeps, thoughts of Jesus give her a good night sleep. Even in her sleep she is expressing love for Him. His death is my life, that is amazing! Myrrh speaks of His suffering love.

Night time symbolically means ‘hard times’, when we don’t ‘see’ the answer (Josh 1:8)

Breasts speak of what feeds, nourishes. Faith and Love are the twins that satisfy and nourishes  us.  1 Thes 5:8, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”

VS 14, “My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms in the vineyards of En Gedi.”

“My beloved is to me” – She has now ‘put on Christ’! She sees Him as her Savior!

Cluster – more than one, multi-faceted. Our King is so wonderful and beautiful in so many ways.

Henna Blossoms – Hebrew does not say henna blooms (KJV  camphire), but kopher (H3724), a price of a life, ransom, bribe; pitch

En Gedi  was known for the abundant fragrance, from Oasis West of the Dead Sea. When Jesus appears, there is always a fragrance. En Gedi means “the fountain of the lamb”.

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 9 (9/9/19)

Posted: September 9, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Mike Bickle wrote in his Studies for God School 2007: Understanding this Song helps us identify the issues that God is specifically dealing with in our lives. It equips us to discern what God is doing in the different seasons in our lives……People often find themselves in two different places in this Song in the seasons of their life.  I revisit the same place in the Song again and again.

In the Month of ELUL, it is a time in history when the King would come off his throne and go to where the people were, in the fields and wherever they were working.  In verses 9-11 we see the King affirming his love for the Maiden, the same as Jesus wants to affirm His love for the Bride of Christ.

Songs 1:9, “ I have compared you, my love, to my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.”

Pharaoh’s war chariots had the best and most trained horses in the world. King Solomon, was the wealthiest man in the world and he bought many of Pharaoh’s horses. A horse is a symbol of strength, power and denotes swiftness. In her flesh we felt weak, but Jesus sees us in strength to lift us out of our weaknesses.

Song 1:10, “Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains of gold.”

Cheeks speak of emotions (blush, dimples). The emotions of anger, joy or sadness are expressed in the cheeks.

Ornaments speak of her character. Ornaments are created by the skillful work of an artist. Jesus is the artist that makes us beautiful. When we have walked closely with Jesus, we are not concerned about the little things that normally cause us anger and sadness. He lifts us up and gives us ‘beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’ (Is 61:3)

The Neck speaks of our will (stiff neck, stubborn). Our neck turns the head as it chooses which way to go. A neck without a necklace signified a stubborn neck. But this maiden has chains of gold! Gold is purified by fire. The maiden has purified her will to submit entirely to the King.

Song 1:11,  “We will make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver.”

Some translations of this verse say it is the Daughters of Jerusalem, the immature believers, who are speaking to the Maiden. But I like Watchman Nee’s interpretation. “We will” is the King’s promise, and in the plural ‘we’ the Holy Spirit is making reference to the Trinity. (Gen 1:26, ‘let US make man in OUR image, in OUR likeness.’)

The maiden’s ornaments of Gold speaks of the divine character, with the works of the flesh burned and purified with fire (Mal 3:1-4; Rev 3:18). In Revelation 3:18 it speaks of “buy from Me gold refined in the fire”. That speaks there will be a cost to this refining, it will cost us something, not with money, but with sacrifice to return to the Lord.

Silver speaks of redemption. She will be used to bring deliverance to the captives because she is redeemed and has paid the price to walk in that redemption. This is the only time the word ‘studs’ is used in the Bible. He will bring order into our thought life as we submit to His ways. The ‘helmet of salvation’ is provided for us, but we need to put it on.

 

 

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 8 (9/8/19)

Posted: September 8, 2019 in Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Watchman Nee, “Within the inner chamber the Shulamite has come to see three things: first,  she is black in Adam and comely in Christ; second, by reason of the Lord’s dealings with her she realizes the vanity of her former fleshly and external works of service; third, she recognizes her need for spiritual food and rest. At this instant, therefore, the King responds to her diligent seeking, commends her, and gives her a promise.

KING’S REPLY, Songs 1:8, If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats beside the shepherds’ tents.

O fairest among women (NKJV); Listen, my radiant one— (TPT); loveliest of all women (MSG). First the King answers with kindness for not knowing, not rebuke. Jesus never turns away a seeker. He is wooing her, calling her the ‘most beautiful’. It is amazing how displeased we can be with ourselves, and yet be beautiful to Him.

This 3-fold answer touches the 3 main temptations to pull away

  1. “Follow in the footsteps of the flock”
    1. The King is asking her to make a commitment to serve, minister to others
    2. Footsteps are symbolic of experiences, find someone who has already gone through this dry empty season
    3. We have to absolutely refuse isolation, that is where depression and suicidal thoughts set in. We need to be with strong believers. God’s way of healing is through the Body of Christ. Every part of the Body is needed and important.
    4. Hebrews 10:25; Matthew 24:10
  2. “Feed your little goats”
    1. This is a commitment to servant ministry in our daily lives
    2. Refuse unsanctified idleness (such as sitting on the coach flipping channels)
    3. We each have a responsibility to our family and the young ones that God puts before us.
  3. “Beside the Shepherd’s tents”
    1. This is a commitment to be under spiritual authority
    2. Refuse unsanctified independence – find a good prayer group, Bible Study Group.
      1. One of the best groups I have found is BSF (BSFInternational.org. They have ladies groups, men’s groups, children’s groups and they are studying the same thing all over the world. Right now they are studying The Acts of the Apostles.
    3. Find a good Word-teaching Church and submit to spiritual authority, not such as the Shepherd movement back in the 70’s. Follow the Pastor, Sunday School Teacher, Spiritual Mentor as they follow Christ.
    4. Don’t be afraid of being hurt or wounded again. People will always hurt you. Jesus has a plan for you and he wants you to grow strong and healthy.

 

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 7 (9/7/19)

Posted: September 7, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Songs 1:7, (To Her Beloved) “Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions?”

“O you whom I love” — this is her first act of returning (teshuvah). This is her confession of faith. I remember how Peter failed Jesus and denied Him 3 times.

  1. Luke 22:57 (TPT), “What are you talking about, girl? I don’t know him!”
  2. vs 58,  “I’m not one of his disciples.”
  3. vs 60,  “Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t you understand? I don’t even know him.”

Now when the maiden begins to make faith confessions, it reminds me of the 3 faith confessions Peter made that wiped out each one of the denials and gave him a fresh start.

  1. John 21:15, (TPT) “Simon, son of John, do you burn with love for me more than these?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord! You know that I have great affection for you!” “Then take care of my lambs,” Jesus said.
  2. vs 16, Jesus repeated his question the second time, “Simon, son of John, do you burn with love for me?” Peter answered, “Yes, my Lord! You know that I have great affection for you!” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
  3. vs 17, Then Jesus asked him again, “Peter, son of John, do you have great affection for me?” Peter was saddened by being asked the third time and said, “My Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you!” Jesus replied, “Then feed my lambs!

These choices Jesus used with me when I first was born again in 1982. Everyday for months, John 21:15-17 challenged me everyday. I knew that because this would not leave me, that I was going to have some serious times when I would be make some choices – like a fork in the road, which way to turn. I was led on a forty day fast later that first year. At the end I went into my bedroom and fell on my knees sobbing, “What have You to tell me?” I heard an audible voice “Feed My sheep.” Immediately my strength returned, my tears stopped and I had the call of God on my life to teach the flock. After that happened I had such a drive to study, dig deep into the Word like never before. I was never good in school, but now I was challenged to study and study.

“Where do you feed your flock?” , “Where will you feed me?” Watchman Nee shares, “Because of her need for nourishment she directs her attention now to where she can be fed…..” I remember in 1982 when I first received Jesus into my heart, I could not get enough of the Word of God. Ken and I spent hours each night after work around our dining room table with Bibles, Strong’s Concordance, Vines, notebooks and we were starved for all we could get. When we found a Bible teacher we moved to another state to be part of his church. We were like little birds with our mouth open, we were so hungry for the Word.

“Rest at noon”;  Proverbs 4:18, Path of the just is as a shining light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.” (AMPC- until it reaches its full strength and glory). Noon is the perfect day, when the Sun is at its hottest and brightest.

The only time sheep will rest is when they have a full stomach. Teachers can lead and inspire us, but only Jesus can really feed us. Ps 23:2, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.” Where is the place my spirit will really be satisfied? Only in His presence.

I was watching Larry Huch’s 7th day of the 40 Days of Shofar this morning and he was sharing statistics of how few preachers will teach the Truth of the Word of God because they may offend some of their congregation and lose givers. Those people sitting in that Church will never be able to lie down and be satisfied, a place where their faith will be truly fed.

Matthew 5:6, (AMPC) “Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!”

 

 

 

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 6 (9/6/19)

Posted: September 5, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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NOTE: Chapter One focuses on how God feels about us, even in our weakness and failures. She sees herself as a failure. God loves us because that is His nature to love unconditionally. We are now in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. God looks at the heart, our spirit, because He is Spirit. God sees us fulfilling our destiny.

Songs 1:6, “Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.

I think the Passion Translation puts this the best, “Please don’t stare in scorn because of my dark and sinful ways. My angry brothers quarreled with me and appointed me guardian of their ministry vineyards, yet I’ve not tended my vineyard within.”

The maiden is describing 5 failures and 5 pressures that relate to her crisis

  1. She feels shame because of her failure, mental state.
    1. This represents people, saved and unsaved, who are aware of their stains, their darkest secrets and failures (Who told you that you were naked? Gen 3:11)
    2. When you feel that way about yourself, you are always self conscious that people will find out your faults, secret sins (like a stain on your shirt you try to hide)
  2. She is rejected by her angry brothers
    1. Mother’s sons – those who are in authority over her
    2. She is rejected by the leadership of the Body of Christ
    3. They were angry at her zeal because it convicted them of their dullness – they accuse her of legalism, they prefer compromise
  3. She is being overworked keeping too many vineyards (plural)
    1. If the enemy cannot keep you away from Jesus, he will cause you to be too busy in the ministry
    2. Religious works are a burn-out waiting to happen because there is no connection with the Holy Spirit
  4. She has allowed her own vineyard (singular, her heart) to not be kept with fresh love for Jesus
    1. What she really wants is to be private with Jesus, receiving His love
    2. She has allowed weeds of spiritual coolness, sin and shame. This is the 3rd level of ground in Mark 4:19 and it is choking the Word
  5. She serves Jesus at a distance
    1. She wants to be near Jesus without a veil, doing what He is doing
    2. 1:7, she is veiled because in Eastern cultures when a woman works in public she has to veil herself around strangers
    3. Lepers had to wear veils and stay hidden, away from their loved ones, living with other lepers
    4. The veil comes off in private to those closest to her (family) and to her lover (intimacy)

Brothers, Mother’s sons – Mother represents the Church (Gal 4:19, 26; I Thes 2:6-7) In the Middle East sons represent authority.

Matthew Henry Commentary — They dealt very hardly with her: They made me the keeper of the vineyards, that is, First, “They seduced me to sin, drew me into false worships, to serve their gods, which was like dressing the vineyards, keeping the vine of Sodom; and they would not let me keep my own vineyard, serve my own God, and observe those pure worships which he gave me in charge, and which I do and ever will own for mine.’ These are grievances which good people complain most of in a time of persecution, that their consciences are forced, and that those who rule them with rigor say to their souls, Bow down, that we may go over, (Is 51:23) Or, Secondly, “They brought me into trouble, imposed that upon me which was toilsome, and burdensome, and very disgraceful.’ Keeping the vineyards was base servile work, and very laborious,(Is 61:5)  Her mother’s children made her the drudge of the family. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. The spouse of Christ has met with a great deal of hard usage.

Verse 6 warns us that the maiden had only been doing what was entrusted to her, not what God had ordained for her. What God had ordained for her would have brought her joy and strength, where trying to please religion brought depression.

Selah

HIGH FIVE – Teshuvah Eclipses

Posted: September 5, 2019 in Eclipses, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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The end of July this year, I was directed of the Lord to do a HIGH FIVE on Facebook Live every week, Monday through Friday for 5 minutes. Right now I am teaching on Teshuvah  for these next few weeks, some nuggets every day. Today I shared on the Teshuvah Eclipses, especially the one that happened on 2017. Amazon had this book for sale for $3.18 – what a deal! It is lower priced because it was written to prepare for this eclipse in 2017, but the information is of primary importance of the times we are living in right now. I really believe that 2017 was a MAJOR YEAR on God’s prophetic Day-Timer. I will follow this message tomorrow on Friday High Five.

By the way, I went over 5 minutes and the message was 5:55, on today that is the 5th day of Creation! When I woke this morning God reminded me that this was the 5th day of Creation and now I am excited to see all the 5’s come up!!

All the High Fives since July are now on our YouTube Channel under Ken Bostrom Ministries. You can subscribe for free and be alerted when there is a new program.

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 5 (9/5/19)

Posted: September 5, 2019 in Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Songs 1:5, “I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 

Matthew Henry’s commentary of 1706 reads, ““the fairest Christians are the most shamefaced with regard to themselves….Is it not because they are most accustomed to look within? …..He does not live the life of one who goes recklessly on; but he stops and considers his ways; …The genuine Christian, also, tries himself by a higher standard….Another reason why the fairest Christ are generally those that think themselves the blackest, is that they have more light…..the most watchful Christian is conscious of the danger of self-neglect….”

  • The slack living Christians will compare themselves among themselves
  • The sincere Christians will compare themselves to God’s standards

The ‘darkness’ that she sees in herself speaks of the anguish in the weakness of her flesh. Her faith speaks the loudest, filled with guilt and condemnation, shame in her weakness.

There are three stages in our victory in Christ

  1. Our sincere intention to obey God is where victory begins
  2. We have a partial breakthrough, but a continued struggle (Gal 5:6-17)
  3. We have a breakthrough with renewed fire and passion to continue (Rom 6:14-23) This is our goal for these 40 days, breath-through into a passion, returning to our first love.

Who are you comparing yourself to? Begin to confess what the Bible says about you. Then you will be changed from the inside out. If you try to change yourself and feel better about your self, then you are like the rest of the world — Self help.

2 Timothy 3:2 tells us what people will be like in these Last Days. “For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane,” (AMP) Generally when things are listed in the Bible, it is there in order of importance. This is the dominant sign of what people will be like in the last of the Last Days. We are living in a time when churches teach less of the Bible and more of self-help, feeling better about yourself.

The things of God work from the inside out. When you confess what God says about you you will experience the ‘life more abundantly’ that Jesus died to give you. (John 10:10). My husband and I went to the movie OVERCOMER. This little girl had no identity until she was born again and found out what from Ephesians 1-2 what God said she was.

Alex Kendrick shared on a CBN interview, “Our culture wants to say identity is what you feel, or what culture says about you, or some status, job status, financial status. And all those things can change. So, who are you when what you are known for is stripped away?”

My answer – I am a child of the Most High God and He loves me.

 

Elul 5779 – Teshuvah Day 4 (9/4/19)

Posted: September 4, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Charles Finney quote on Song of Songs, “This book has wedded my heart to Jesus.”

As I see it, the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon, SOS) is all about coming back to the Lord and getting back into the Ministry of the Kingdom of God, running the race set before us. (Hebrews 12:2)

My personal observation from studying this book is that men really have the best understanding of this being the Church and Jesus. When Mike Bickle of IHOP, Kansas City was given the assignment of SOS for his ministry, he first thought this was a ‘girl’s book’. But now he sees “Repentance is breaking our agreement with darkness and agreeing with God in our thoughts, words and deeds.” You can find his teaching on http://www.mikebickle.org, search Song of Solomon and you will come to all his video teachings on this wonderful book.

George Whitfield read it through 4 times, the last time on his knees. Charles Spurgeon stated, “Every minister ought to read it entirely and carefully through at least once.” I really like the teachings of Watchman Nee on this book, as recorded and printed into Song of Songs, published 1965 by Christian Literature Crusade.

Sng 1:1, The Shulamite, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is better than wine.”

This verse is where many get whacky! They think that this book is all about sex. I watched Kerry Kirkwood on Sid Roth’s “It’s Supernatural” tell about how his mother would read him from the Song of Solomon every night as a bed time story. He did not get whacky! He understood from a young boy that this was about how much Jesus loves us, no matter what season of our faith walk we are experiencing.

Deuteronomy 8:3b, “…..that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” For 3,000 years the Rabbis would refer to this verse as the “kisses of the mouth” in the verse as the “kiss of the Torah”.  The kisses of His mouth speak of the release of the Word of God that tenderizes our hearts to the love of God. On the 8th Day of Tabernacles is called Shemini Atzeret. It is a day of great rejoicing, and in the synagogues, they will take the Torah scroll out of the Ark (scroll cabinet) and dance with it, men kissing the scroll. That is the love we should have for the Word of God.

Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, now we are asking God to allow us to love Jesus with all our heart, encountering Jesus the Word and the King’s passion for His Bride.

Kiss in Hebrew is nashaq, and it can mean to actually kiss on the lips. But I believe that the second meaning of nashaq is the correct understanding of Sng 1:2. It means to ‘handle, to be equipped with, equipped.”  The root word is nasaq, meaning ‘to kindle, burn, make a fire.’

For Adam, the kiss of God was the Breath of God that brought life to him. (Gen 2:7). The Word is that breath of God as found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, we ask you to equip each of us for what we need for this race that is set before us. You are the Living Word. Breath your life into us so we can fulfill our assignments in these last of the Last Days. Help us to run with Joy and Passion. Tenderize my hard heart and set me on Holy Ghost fire for you.”

Enjoy this song from Paul Wilbur, Dance With Me. https://youtu.be/7_4gJvDy2gU?t=7

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elul 5779 – Teshuval Day 3 (9/3/19)

Posted: September 3, 2019 in Song of Songs, Teshuvah 40 Day Devotional
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Draw Me!

Shir Hashirim is the Hebrew name of the Song of Songs, aka Song of Solomon (Shlomo). It is the best of the best of all he wrote and according to I Kings 4:23, he wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.

He is most known for Solomon’s Temple which has 3 sections. The Outer Court, The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

  • Proverbs is likened to the Outer Court – everyone is comfortable there in the natural light
  • Ecclesiastes is likened to the Holy Place – you need more light to see and chew of the bread of the words
  • The Song of Songs is as the Holy of Holies where you are invited in, one at a time, on God’s fixed appointed time

The students of Watchman Nee kept his notes and put them into a book called the “The Song of Songs”. The students drew the differences of Ecclesiastes to Song of Songs

  • Ecclesiastes is an exposition of ‘vanity of vanities‘, whereas the Song of Solomon is the ‘song of songs‘
  • Ecclesiastes speaks of a life of wandering; whereas the Song speaks of rest from wandering
  • Ecclesiastes tells us that one cannot obtain satisfaction through knowledge alone;  Song tells us that man can reach satisfaction only through love
  • Ecclesiastes relates to the pursuit of all things under the sun; the Song specifically relates to the pursuit of things “in Christ”

All I can say is, when the Ruach HaChodesh, the Holy Spirit of God draws you into this holy book, your life will never be the same.

Until the summer of 2011 this was the most unused book of my Bible. Nothing was underlined, no notes added, pages still stuck together.  But, thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit drew me gently night by night into this book and I have never been the same. That book soon had notes, underlined, highlighted on every blank part of the pages. Once you have the revelation light turned on to the truths of how loved you are in this book, you are forever changed. It became very personal to me about how much Jesus loved me, how much beauty He saw in the Church.

BUT the next year I woke very early with the cry “Draw Me!”. We were coming into the summer of 2012 and again I am too busy, the little foxes have come in as the many distractions and obligations and my intimacy with by Beloved has been stolen again. It is my fault alone, the garden of my heart is my responsibility alone. Now my heart’s cry to Yeshua is “Draw me!” This became a cycle every year at this time to bring me back to the Song of Songs, the Holy of Holies of the Bible.

To get to the full meaning of the word you need to go to the original language source, in this case Hebrew. Draw is the Hebrew word mashak (Strongs H4900). It means to draw, to drag, to be drawn out or postponed or to seize.

The first time mashak is used is found in Genesis 37:28, “So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out (mashak) of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty piece of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. ” (NLT)

What is my cry that morning and again now in 2019? “Jesus, Draw me! Please, lift me up from this pit of busyness and distractions I have dug again for myself. Draw me! I have lost hope and my faith is weak! Draw me! May all the walls I have built up for protection fall down flat. Those walls have closed off our intimacy! Draw me! I need You.”

That is where the true rest is found, only in Him. Is your cry today “Draw me?”

Selah, pause and think about it.

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