Song of Solomon 2. Song of Solomon 7, verse 2. The only way to interpret Scripture
is by Scripture. That's the only way you can interpret
Scripture. God gives the understanding of His Word through His Word. The scripture says in Song of
Solomon chapter 7 verse 2, thy navel. Remember, the Lord Jesus
is speaking to his bride and he tells her of her beauty in
his eyes this way. Thy navel is like a round goblet
which wanteth not liquor. The navel of a child is where
the nourishment from the mother to the child enters the child. That's the navel, that's what
it's for. And the navel of the bride, in
realizing the purpose of a navel, is the place wherein spiritual
nourishment is supplied. And so the Lord says to the bride,
thy navel is like a round goblet. It's like a big cup, a laver,
a basin, a big round cup. A round goblet which doesn't
lack, which wanteth not. liquor. That spiritual navel,
that place in the bride where spiritual nourishment is actually
found and enters and kept, like in a big goblet, is actually
her new heart. That's where it is. That's what
God speaks to. He speaks to her heart. Wisdom resteth. This is Proverbs 14, 33. This
is how scripture proves scripture. Wisdom, the wisdom of God, the
knowledge of wisdom himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. Wisdom
resteth. That is, it resides and remains
in the heart of him that hath understanding. So she hears And
she feasts on the gospel of Christ by the Lord's chosen means of
feeding His people. How? Through preachers that preach
the gospel to her. Jeremiah 3.15, I will give you
pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. A baby receives food, nourishment,
nutrition, from the mama and the spiritual bride, her spiritual
navel is fed by the Lord into her heart, her new heart. I'll
give you a new heart. I'm going to give you understanding.
And that wisdom rests in that navel. But it says here that
her navel is like a round goblet that wanteth not liquor. That is, mixed wine is what that
word liquor actually means. Now to understand this blessed
mixture, just turn back to Song of Solomon 5.1. Listen to the
Lord. Listen to what He drinks. And
I'll explain, Lord willing, how she drinks it too. He says now,
well, He has said in Song of Solomon 4.16, Awake, O north
wind, and come thou south. The Lord says to the Holy Spirit,
In convicting and soothing grace, you come and blow upon my garden,
blow upon the garden of my making, blow upon my church, upon my
vessels of mercy, blow upon my garden that the spices, the spices
of the fruit of God's Spirit, what God has done for her. You
blow so that they may flow out. How do the evidences of God's
grace come out? Well, the Lord puts us under
convicting chastisement, draws us out, tries us. And that's
when we learn if we really trust Him, we really love Him. If there's
faith there, that's how you blow old north wind of convicting
power. south wind of comfort. Don't
leave her. Don't leave her like that. Convict
her, but then you soothe her. Comfort her. Let my beloved come
into his garden. That's what she says to him.
Let my beloved come into his garden and eat of his pleasant
fruits. This is what she's saying. You
come eat. You feast upon that which you've produced. You created
love and faith and joy and long suffering. You created that in
me. Lord, you come and you feast on that. And then he says in
verse 1 of chapter 5, he said, I am come into my garden, my
sister, my spouse. He has come into our presence
right now. Has he not? He says he did. He
said, where two or three are gathered together in my name,
I'm in the midst of you. He said, I am come into my garden. He's here. He's right here while
we sit here together, right here, assembled together in unity.
He said, where two or three are gathered together, where they're
We're together. He said, I'm in the midst of
you. That's with you. I am coming to my garden, my
sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with
my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk, ah, here it is. Here's what that goblet's full
of that the bride drinks of. It's full of liquor, mixed wine. I have drunk my wine with my
milk. I have. That's what I drink.
How is the Lord said to drink that? Well, as He reveals Himself
to His bride, and He's telling her, I'm ever present with you,
and concerning Him gathering, Him eating, Him drinking of His
wine and milk, it is when He beholds the bride doing those
things by faith in Him. How do you know that's what it
means? Well, look at the last part of verse 1. It says, eat,
oh friends, drink. Ye drink abundantly, oh beloved. I tried to think of a good illustration
of where someone could do something and watch someone else do it
and they benefit from it. You ladies, you know, you cook
a good meal. I mean, you just, you spent all
day. You worked on it, and you just, it's a new recipe, and
you just, you're so proud of it, you know, and your husband,
your kids come, and they just sit there, and you start eating
it, and it just, oh, it's so good. This is so good. And they're
just enjoying it, and eating, and they're just refreshing themselves. And you know what you're doing,
wives? You're enjoying it, too, while you watch them. You're
thinking, you know what. I'm enjoying that with them.
I'm enjoying it watching them enjoy it. So whenever the bride
is said to have her navel, that place of spiritual nourishment
coming in, it's like a round goblet that never lacks for that
mixed wine, that liquor. It's whenever the Lord Himself
gives her of that spiritual drink, that drink of Milk and wine,
that sets forth the glorious blood, blessed by the Holy Spirit. The wine, the blood, and the
milk of God's Word, blessed by the Holy Spirit of God. And the
Lord supplies that full refreshment and feast in His Word, in His
people. Oh, and they remember, as they
sit here and listen to the gospel of God's grace, they remember
the halting heart, they put away my guilt. Whenever he ate that
last supper with his disciples, he took that bread, he took that
cup, he drank that cup, he said, this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. He said, this is the declaration that I have finished,
that I've certified, this is the New Testament, in my blood. I put it away. He said, now,
this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. So the bride, by the grace of
God, the scripture sets forth, she never lacks a blessed remembrance
or a blessing of nourishment from the Lord Himself. As she
hears the gospel preached again, her round goblet, that is the
heart of her remembrance, That heart to which the Lord speaks
by his shed blood, it's always full. It's just a goblet that
she drinks from. Then he says, back in Song of
Solomon 7, he says concerning her belly, he says, thy belly
is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. Actually, what he's
saying to her concerning her belly, her womb, her heart, That
heart, a place of conception. I looked it up. Thy belly, this
is what it means. The place of conception. He said, it's like a heap of
wheat set about. She's spiritually fertile by
the grace of God concerning the eternal purpose and power of
God in the calling out of His sheep. He said, your belly, your
womb. Now, does she have the power
to do this? But I tell you what he's done.
He's set forth this truth. All that the Father giveth me,
are they going to come to the Lord? They shall come unto me. And him that cometh unto me I
will in no wise cast out. So here's what I know concerning
the bride when he looks at her. There's not going to be any shortages.
concerning God calling out His sheep, all that the Lord has
eternally purposed to save, He's going to save. He said, your
belly, your womb, that which I have produced in you is fertile. He said, it's like a heap of
wheat. describing the vessels, again, that good seed, that wheat
of God's making. No tares, no tares born into
the church. No, they're all wheat. He said
it's like a heap of wheat. And she's not enclosed. He said, you're enclosed or set
about. I'm sorry. He said, you're like
a heap of wheat set about with lilies. Now, I'm going to show
you over in Hosea. Hold your place there. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea. You see Daniel somewhere in there?
You're almost there. Ezekiel, just keep going, you'll
find it. Hosea, chapter 2. Now here's what the Lord said
concerning his bride. He said, your belly, your spiritual
womb, that place where life, birth that comes forth, produced
by the Lord, in His body, within His body as He sends preachers
and they preach the gospel. And God's Spirit blesses it. He said, your belly, your womb
is like a heap of wheat, the good stuff, good, no tear, wheat. And it's set about with lilies.
Now, concerning false religion. Now this is the church He's talking
about. Not but two groups in this world. Sheep and goats. I mean, it doesn't matter what
color you are. Sheep or goats, that's only two.
Now, concerning the sheep, concerning the church, her belly is a heap
of wheat set about with lilies. Well, what's the false church? What is that? Well, look at Hosea
chapter 2 verse 5. For their mother has played the
harlot. She that conceived them hath
done shamefully. Not the Lord's people. God's
people are conceived in honor, glory, by God's grace, by God's
power. What false religion does, she's
conceived them shamefully. How'd she do that? She's told
them, all you've got to do is A, B, C, D. All you've got to
do is do this, She's conceived them shamefully, for she said,
I'll go after my lovers. They'll give me my bread, my
water, my wool, my flax, my oil, my drink. Everything that she's
done about regeneration, she's told them. Everything about the
harlot, the great harlot of Mystery Babylon. It's shameful. It's
shameful. And all of the children that's
produced in that shameful false religion telling people that
you can by your works, when God says it's not by works of righteousness,
it's according to mercy. By grace you're saved through
faith. But in all these places where men and women are being
told You can be saved. All you've got to do is blah,
blah, blah, and you'll be saved. Well, what does God say about
that? Well, look at verse 4 of Hosea 2. I will not have mercy
upon her children, for they are the children of whoredoms. We're born of good seed. They reject the truth. They bring
reproach upon themselves, and the Lord declares that He's not
going to bless. What she's done. Look at Hosea 2 verse 6. Therefore,
behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall
that she shall not find her pass. Oh, but by the grace of God. It's not so with God's people. All that play the part of a spiritual
harlot, they're going to be left to their own way. They're going
to be hedged about, the scripture says, with thorns. Obstructions, rise, spiritual
darkness, unbelief, the thorns of God's wrath and judgment.
Oh, but the bride. Look back in chapter 7, Song
of Solomon. He says, concerning her, he said,
thy belly, place of your womb, your spiritual place of birth,
It's like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. The graces
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in Song of Solomon 2.1,
he said, I am the rose of Sharon. I'm the lily. I'm the lily. Oh, and those blessed graces
of God in Christ, hedged about with mercy and compassion. Then
he says to the bride, verse 3, he said, thy two breasts are
like two young rose two young gazelles that are twins. He's telling her, he said, you're
the characteristic beauty. There's a character about her. And her breasts, that spiritual
blessing that characterizes God's mercy to provide and fill the
need of refreshment to his people. That's the place of nourishment
for children. And He's speaking to the bride
and He says, this is your beauty. He says, the beauty that has
been given you to set forth and bestow the milk of the Word for
nourishment. This is what's happening right
now. As children nurse at their mom,
at her bosom, God's people concerning His church made up by His people.
He said concerning her, he said, thy two breasts are like two
gazelles that are twins. That's the twins that sets forth
that there's a love in her heart that expresses itself two ways. Number one, a love for God. Number
two, a love for God's people. They're twins. They're twins.
Now listen to this scripture. I'm going to tell you a scripture
to prove that. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God. And every one that loveth Him
that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. That's 1
John 5 verse 1. Now here's the setting forth
of the characteristic of the bride. Her two breasts, the twins,
there's no difference. There's a love for God and there's
a love for God's people. By this, the Lord said, all men
shall know that you're my disciples. How are we going to know that
we're His disciples? One way, one way. By this, if
you have love one for another, one to another. That's how it
is. He said, your beauty, is that you set forth the nourishment
of God's people. And he said, your breasts, he
said, they're like young gazelles. They're lively. They're free.
And he said, they're toward God and toward God's people. Then
he tells her in verse 4, he said, thy neck is as a tower of ivory. Now, the neck, humanly speaking,
you know, as we look at these parts, we think of the the human
anatomy, the neck, humanly speaking, is that which connects the body
to the head. And spiritually, he says concerning the neck of
the bride, he said, thy neck is as a tower of ivory. The Lord's body, the bride, is
connected to him who is the head, how? By faith. By faith. What connects her? What connects the body to Him?
Faith. He said, thy neck is as a tower
of ivory. That tower of beauty. That tower
of strength. For the bride's faith has come
to her from Him who is altogether lovely. She didn't come up with
it. He gave it to her. Just like the provision to feed,
the provision to walk, shod, feed, shod. The Lord. It's as ivory, it's costly, it's
precious. Because it's by faith. We believe
Him. And that belief, that belief
that is the evidence and result of His mercy, is the assurance
of hope. Faith, that He said, you're neck. I'm so glad I've got a head and
I've got a body and it's connected right here. It's connected. Actually, it goes right on in.
It's into the head and it's into the body. It's one, but my neck
is what holds my head right here. Faith. Faith. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that
God saved him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. How precious
is faith? Well, the Lord said, Your neck
is as a tower of ivory. And then he speaks to her and
he says, he says, Thine eyes, verse 4, is like the fish pools
in Heshbon by the gate of Beth-Rabbin. According to Numbers 21, 26,
it mentioned a city. there called Heshbon. It was
the city of Sihon, which was the king of the Amorites. Now
that city, that's where it was. That's what Heshbon is. And he said, your eyes are like
fish pools. Obviously, according to the writers,
and I'm just going to tell you, I'll tell you what John Gill
said about this, and this is what I could find. According
to Mr. Gill, The gate of Beth Rabban,
which can actually be interpreted the daughter of many. That gate,
it was a gate in the city of Heshbon, and it faced a city
called Rabba. There was a gate, and it faced
that particular gate, Beth Rabban. And it faced this gate, and it
was a gate through which Great numbers of people passed. It
was a very busy, it was like a gate of commerce or something
like that. But now, whatever the gate actually
was, it was a gate, I know that. But the point that's being made
is concerning the fish pools. He said, thine eyes is like the
fish pools in Heshbon. by the gate of Beth Rabbin. Whatever that gate meant, whatever
it was, there were some fish pools. Now concerning those fish
pools, I did find out this. They were very delightful. They were, okay, you know the
little big Poi? Is that the big fish? What kind of fish? They look
like goldfish, but they're big. Whatever they are. But they were
fish pools. And they were just beaming with
life. There were fish all in them. And they were quiet, clear, constant,
beaming with life. Pools of water that had a lot
of fish in them. There was life in there. They
weren't inactive. They weren't just stagged at
green scum. You know, growing in the midst
of whatever was going on in that gate right there. That gate of
commerce that was going on. Whatever was going on around
the bride. He said, this is what's going
on really. He said, your eyes are like the
fish pools in Heshpon. They're full of life. They're
clear. They're good water. They're clean
water. It sustains life. And He said those eyes, He said
that are like that are the eyes that obey this command. Isaiah
45, 22. Look unto me and be you saved
all the ends of the earth for I'm God and there's none else. No matter what goes on around
the bride, I tell you what she does. And she struggles doing
this, but she does it. She looks to Him. Whatever is
going on around her, she knows that the Lord has ordered that.
She knows that all things work together for good to them that
love God. She knows that. He works all
things after the power But let me ask you this, what believer
is not continually looking by faith in their heart, thinking
upon the Lord? It's the Lord. It's the Lord.
What if it doesn't go my way? It's the Lord. What if it goes
contrary? It's the Lord. He says, thine
eyes are like the fish pools. Whatever is going on around,
she looks not to the world, she doesn't look to the works of
her hands, she doesn't look to her own righteousness. But faithfully,
while the world is being taken up with the things of this world,
she looks to her husband, her savior, her lord, her master,
her friend. He said, your eyes, he said they
are like the fish pools. Then he says, thy nose. He said,
thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward Damascus. I found that Damascus was often
found to be, and this was because of being conquered by the enemies
of God. Damascus, whenever the enemies
of the Lord would come in and take over Damascus, which had
happened often. that Damascus was then found
to be an enemy, not because of the Lord's people there, but
because of the enemy that came and took over. Now Damascus is
the enemy of God's people. You know, it often happened.
The Tower of Lebanon was said to face toward Damascus, the
Tower of Lebanon. And because of the height of
that tower, It was said that one could number the houses in
Damascus from the top of that tower, the Tower of Lebanon,
that faced toward the enemy. You could count the houses in
Damascus. So the scripture says, the nose,
the nose, thy nose. the direction that you're looking.
You know what? See my nose right here? That's
going to be a pretty good indicator, unless I'm doing it like that. My nose is telling you pretty
well where I'm looking. My nose. He said, Thy nose looketh
toward Damascus. Here's the evidence of God's
grace to His people. He has given her, by grace, a
heart to be watchful. Damascus was often found to be
her enemy. And the Tower of Lebanon, that
tall tower, it was a watchtower. And here she's compared to this
tower, she's watchful. It's what the Lord said, be watchful,
be vigilant, be sober. Why? Because your adversary,
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he
may devour. Look at his watchfulness over
her, protecting her, guarding over her. He's not going to leave
her to himself. He's given her a heart to know,
I'm in a spiritual battle. This battle is going on right
here, especially. Be watchful, be careful. He said,
look, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. So her nose, symbolically,
of that way in which she looks, trusting God, believing her,
she's taught. Be careful. Be aware. You're not as strong as you think
you are. Be careful. Remember, He alone is the haven
of rest. You're in a race, a race that
she's surely going to run, but a race in which she's guarded
over. Then he says in verse 5, Thine head upon these like caramel. Now, this head that's on the
bride is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he's
telling her. He's telling her concerning himself,
is what he's saying. Scripture says, Ephesians 5,
23, Christ is the head of the church. He's the savior of the
body. So when we start talking about
the bride's head, If we go anywhere else except Him, we went to the
wrong place. Because He is the head. The bride
possesses a head. Alright? One who is her life. One who is her wisdom. One who
is her strength. And it's to Him that she depends. Do you know what tells my feet
where to go? My hand what to do? the head. Her head is the one
to whom she looks. Knowing that whatever he's pleased
to do, it's for her best. Ordering all the things around
her and in her. And he said, your head is like
caramel. Caramel. Looked up, caramel. Fruitful and plentiful is what
Carmel means. Fruitful in her redemption, fruitful
in her sanctification, fruitful in her regeneration, fruitful
in her joy. There's no end to that one. It's
just fruitful, fruitful. and plentiful in all of her provisions,
in all of her needs. Philippians 4.19, my God shall
supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. He said, your head, he's speaking
of himself, is like caramel, fruitful and plentiful. He said, you can believe me.
You can believe me. And then he says, And the hair
of thine head is like purple. The hair of thine head. The hair. That which grows from and in
and is nourished by the head. The hair. That's us. That's us. We grow forth from
Him. We find our life in Him. All of the nourishment. is in
the head, in head. He says, thy hair, the hair of
thine head is like purple. Royal, the royal color, the royal
dignity. Made to be kings and priests
unto God by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, you are what you are
by my grace. You're purple, purple. And then
the scripture says, And the king is held in the galleries. Now concerning the hair that
he was just talking about, and I said that was us. The word
galleries there means the ringlets or the curls of hair. That's
what it means, the galleries. The ringlets or the curls of
hair. So the king is held, and this
is what he's telling her. He said, concerning Himself,
He said, I am bound and imprisoned with love in the ringlets of
your hair. What He has done for us, as marvelous
as this is to imagine, this verse sets forth that the Lord of glory,
this is what He is saying in this verse, He who is everlastingly
stood as a surety, the Savior, the Federal Head of His sheep,
He who is God of very God, man, made flesh, the one from whom
the bride owes everything. When He looks upon the work of
His hand and His heart, when He looks upon the work of His
hand and heart in His people, when He looks upon His bride,
His church, this is what He says. I'm captivated by your beauty. I can't take my eyes off of you.
I'm chained to you by my love. Oh, verse 6 says, how fair and
how pleasant art thou, O love. for delights, for delights, for
all of the lovely features that I've given you. That's what it
is. Oh, how fair and pleasant you
are because of what I've done for you. That's what He's saying.
What does the Lord say to His bride? This is how He speaks.
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter. The joints of thy thighs are
like jewels. of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel is like a round goblet
that wanteth not liquor. Thy belly is like a heap of wheat
set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two
young rose that are twins. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory. Thine eyes like the fish pools
in Hesbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbin. Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon,
which looketh toward Damascus. Thy head upon thee is like caramel,
and the hair of thine head is like purple. The king is hailed
in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art
thou, O love, for delights. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake.