SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/22/2013
8:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Claiming the bride
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Song of
Solomon 3:6-11
Message of the
verses: Today we begin the next main
section in our study of Song of Solomon and Dr. Wiersbe has entitled this
section “Consummation: The Wedding.” We will begin to look at the first main point
of this section which will cover 3:6-5:1.
“At las the day arrived for the Shulamite to wed her beloved! Not only would he claim her as his wife, but
she would discover that her husband was the king!”
Claiming the bride (3:6-11): “6 ¶ “What is this coming up from the
wilderness Like columns of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With
all scented powders of the merchant? 7
"Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon; Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel. 8 “All of them are wielders of the sword, Expert
in war; Each man has his sword at his side, Guarding against the terrors of the
night. 9 “King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair From the timber of
Lebanon. 10 “He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold And its seat of
purple fabric, With its interior lovingly fitted out By the daughters of
Jerusalem. 11 “Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And gaze on King Solomon with the
crown With which his mother has crowned him On the day of his wedding, And on
the day of his gladness of heart.’”
We have talked at length about how the Song of Solomon is
to be interpreted and have stated that this is a literal wedding between
Solomon and the Shulamite, which give the readers a view of how the courtship,
and the weeding, and then the sexual union along with how conflict is to be
worked out in a marriage. In the verses
above we see that Solomon is coming to claim his bride, and he does it in a
very special way as the verses describe.
His mother has given him a wedding crown and he wears it proudly to come
and claim his bride. With all of this
said we do see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ coming to claim He bride in
these verses. In the 25th
chapter of Matthew’s Gospel we see a parable that is given by our Lord, which
speaks of when He will come and claim His bride. Let us take a look at it: “1 ¶
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who
took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 "Five of them were foolish, and five
were prudent. 3 "For when the
foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with
their lamps. 5 "Now while the
bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 "But at midnight there was a shout,
’Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed
their lamps. 8 "The foolish said to
the prudent, ’Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 "But the prudent answered, ’No, there
will not be enough for us and you too;go instead to the dealers and buy some
for yourselves.’ 10 "And while they
were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were
ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 "Later the other virgins also came,
saying, ’Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12
"But he answered, ’Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not
know the day nor the hour.”
In Biblical times an engagement was just like being
married in the sense that the couple would have to actually get a divorce if they
did not consummate the marriage. We can
see this in the life of Marry and Joseph for after he found out that Marry was
with child he wanted to quietly divorce her.
Once the couple was engaged they would see each other, but the bride
would not know when the bridegroom would come for her to finish the marriage
ceremony. The story in Matthew shows
that all of a sudden the bridegroom comes for her bride and she will have to be
ready. In this sense we this scene
pictures the fact that we as the bride of Christ do not know when He will
return for His bride, which will be suddenly as the Bible teaches us. The point is we have to be ready just as the Shulamite
was.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: The Lord used the
end times prophecy to call me to himself, and ever since that January day in
1974 I have been looking for the return of my Lord to take me to be with Him in
heaven. It is a very exciting time to be
living as many signs of His actual second coming are seen, and therefore I want
to make sure that I am ready for the Lord to come and snatch me away in what
the Bible describes as the rapture of the Church.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Bring glory to the Lord by seeking to please
Him in all of my decisions that I make today.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 46:1-3
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 though its waters roar
and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Daniel” (Daniel 5:17).
Today’s Bible Question: “Where did Paul go after leaving Philippi?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
6/22/2013 9:29 AM
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