The Sacred Journey (eBook)

INTRODUCTION

Come with us on the sacred journey—a wonderful, mysterious journey into the passionate heart of Jesus Christ. Incomprehensible in its fullness, we will walk together through a devotional study of the Song of all Songs. You are about to be touched by the greatest prophetic song ever composed. It is not simply the greatest song of Solomon’s, but it is the greatest song of all songs. Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), but nothing can compare to this masterpiece of divine love.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the lyrics of this song are written to change and transform your very being. Jesus Christ will be revealed as the heavenly Bridegroom, the love of God made Man. You will see Jesus as the refiner and His love as the flame—making us into pure gold that reflects His glory and His passions.

We discover in this song the power of affirming words that are spoken into our destiny. Many will tell you what is wrong with your life, but only Jesus brings you words of love when you feel you are at your worst. Your guilty accusations are drowned out by His words of endearment. Every chapter will overflow with truths that make you wonder if they’re simply too good to be true.

But first, it is important to grasp the story line of the Song of Songs. It is much more than a book of erotica, as so many have limited its meaning, reducing it to a manual for sexual pleasure in the context of marriage. However, the greatest pleasure of all is walking in intimacy and tenderness with Jesus Christ. He brings a sweeter song with greater pleasures than anything we can ever experience in this life. His pleasures delight the human spirit and fill our hearts with bliss.

You are the one who is loved by Jesus in this story. Be careful not to miss that and assume the lyrics of this love song are for someone else, somehow excluding you. You are the Shulamite, while Jesus is the King. The Hebrew root word for Solomon and the Hebrew root word for Shulamite is one and the same word—one is masculine while the other is feminine. When you believe and follow Jesus, you are one with Him, for the one who joins himself to Jesus is one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

Within the pages of The Sacred Journey lies the heartbeat of Jesus Christ. His passion, His jealous love, His longing to make you completely His—these are the noble themes of this story. Embrace it as your own today. Jesus wants to share His life and His throne with you. But the preparation to make you fit for a King is surprisingly unique. He prepares His bride by convincing her of His love for her, even in her weakness. You will find no angry exhortation here, and no exasperation at her failures. He doesn’t shame you into maturity, but loves you into the fullness of your destiny. He puts a crown upon your head and watches you grow up to fit it.

HOW TO INTERPRET THE SONG OF SONGS

There are at least three basic schools of thought for interpreting the meaning of Solomon’s greatest song. God is so complex and fascinating that He has embedded in this divine allegory multiple meanings. Perhaps each could be considered as valid and helpful for our lives. But I believe the greatest way to interpret it lies in our relationship with the heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, let’s take a brief look at each of these three schools of thought.

1. The Natural Interpretation (Validating Human Sexuality)

Those who adhere to this approach view the Song of Songs as God’s endorsement of our sexuality, especially as it relates to a husband and wife in the context of marriage. Although it is possible to glean some help through the metaphors and symbols of this interpretive model, it comes far short of reflecting the fullness of God’s beauty within the Song of Songs.

Keep in mind that Solomon had multiple wives and concubines, affairs with women who were not his wife. To make Solomon’s greatest song simply one of his many polygamous affairs is not a perfect model in which to interpret the Song of Songs. Indeed, if that is the true way to view his book, making human sexuality the highest song, the greatest song ever composed by the wisest man on earth, we are left wanting more.

The earliest records of church history reveal that the fathers of our faith wholeheartedly believed that the Song of Songs is in the middle of our Bible as a literary “Holy of Holies,” with the highest theme found in all of God’s Word. That highest theme is the story of divine romance, the sacred journey into the fiery passions of the love of God. Of course, God has created man and woman with sexual needs and desires, but He has also made us living spirits who are able to commune intimately with Him. That union and communion is a more fitting approach to viewing this parabolic masterpiece.

2. Jewish Historical Interpretation
(Validating God’s Love for Israel)

This school of thought interprets the Song of Songs as a powerful description of God as the Bridegroom and Israel as the one chosen and loved (Jer. 2:2; Hos. 2:16–20). To understand the layers of Solomon’s greatest song requires that we pause and look deeply into God’s heart for the people He has chosen—the people of Israel. However valid this model of interpretation is, it is limiting in scope to only Israel, thus missing the entire unfolding of revelation in the New Testament to the people of God. The God who “so loved the world” has given us treasures in every Old Testament book that are meant for every believer today—God’s all-encompassing love of Jew and Gentile has been expressed by the life, work, and Spirit of Christ.

3. The Allegorical Interpretation
(Validating Jesus’s Love for His Bride)

This figurative approach to interpreting the lyrics of Solomon’s song requires the unveiling of our hearts and the unveiling of God’s wisdom. To see in the symbols a higher reality, a glory tucked inside of metaphors and allegorical terms, will reveal the heart of Jesus Christ to us in ways never seen before.

Solomon was a king, but Jesus is a King greater than Solomon. The Shulamite fell in love with this King, not merely the earthly king who was named Solomon. Let the symbols and emblems disappear as you watch the reality of Christ’s love for us manifest. Each phrase is a picture for us, full of color, vibrant truth, and poetic nuance. It is important that the story of our sacred journey unfold before us, to know and love the King of the universe in this way. This is the approach we have taken in unfolding the truths of divine romance in this book. We pray you will find the substance of Christ’s unending love for you in each verse and on every page.

THE STORY HIDDEN IN THE SONG OF SONGS

So what is the story line and how does it impact our life? There is a story embedded within the story. It is a parable hidden inside a parable. It causes us to peer and ponder with a holy curiosity before it will yield its meaning.

The Holy Spirit wants to unfold this book to you as an allegory of Solomon and the Shulamite—how a king takes a “nobody” and makes her into the princess bride. Using deeply symbolic language, Solomon has composed this sacred journey to help every tenderhearted reader see the love of a greater king than Solomon, the love of God as seen in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Love meets us at each step of the journey. We are tested, yet affirmed. Trials surround us, but so does His strong arms of love and compassion. The Shulamite fails Him, and so do we at times, but nothing can diminish the love of our Bridegroom for us—the love that keeps us and sustains us. It is the story of the ages—the greatest love story ever told and put into music with lyrics—that will change your concepts of God and His love for you. It is the story of the Shulamite and the King.

Jesus is the King of Glory who is first seen in the book as a kind Shepherd. You are the Shulamite, beloved follower of Jesus Christ, for you are the one He sings His song over each and every day. This may in fact be the song of the Lamb that will be heard in heaven, which is sung by a multitude of those who have conquered the “beast” of our old life (Rev. 15:3).

Along the way of the sacred journey, you will see the Shulamite surrounded by friends, known as the daughters of Zion. These are the brides-to-be, those not yet ready to enter into their own experience of flaming passion for Jesus, but they will one day. These ladies-in-waiting will, at the end of the Shulamite’s journey, cry out for the “kiss” for themselves. This begins another cycle of loving devotees of Jesus.

The book ends where it begins, with another company of lovers who cry out for the “kiss” of His divine love. As they watch the tender love of the King for His beloved, they want it too.

We will also see in the plot of this divine drama the emergence of the “watchmen,” or caretakers, which point to the spiritual overseers who have guided us, helped us in our personal journey, and led us deeper into God’s ways. Sadly, there is an episode where the watchmen hurt the bride, wound her, and take away their covering from her. Spiritual jealousy always turns one against another.

So we encourage you to read The Sacred Journey as though you were overhearing a duet sung by you and your Lord Jesus right there in your home. These words will free your heart to live with tender first-love devotion to Him. Whether you are a man or a woman, young or old, you can see in this story a...