Rabbi Schneider - Revealing the Heart of God in the Song of Songs
This is one of the most important books in the entire Word of God. I believe that God is giving revelation now to his church on the Song of Songs because we're approaching the end of the age. And in order to walk steadfast, and to remain in love during the days that we're heading into, we must have the revelation that the Father gives us in the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs reveals to us the emotional side of God. In the Song of Songs, the Holy Spirit discloses to us how God feels about us; that he is in love with us, brother, and he has called the Church and destined the Church to be his bride. That's why everything culminates in the Book of Revelation. Revelation, chapter 19, verses 7 through 9, with the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Song of Songs this is about a marriage relationship. It's an intimate marriage relationship, and the Holy Spirit is in it giving us prophetic revelation about the Church, who is the bride of Jesus, that we're Jesus's inheritance, and how he feels about us.
Now we're gonna begin by laying a foundation for you to help you understand why we're going to interpret it the way that we are. We're going to interpret it prophetically. For years and years, going back hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of years, beloved, the rabbis have understood the Song of Songs to be the revelation of God's love for his people. But when you read it in the natural, it's gonna be difficult at first reading to understand how we're able to interpret it prophetically, because in the natural it just seems like Solomon is extolling the beauty of his bride, the Shulamite, the Shulamite maiden in this particular case. But I want to lay a foundation for you to help you to take this step from looking at it just in the natural, to being able to receive it supernaturally, with the revelation of the Lord's love for you.
I'm going now to the Book of 2 Peter, beloved, 2 Peter, chapter number 1, verse 20; 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 20, the grass withers and the flowers fade but, hallelujah, the Word of the Lord abides forever. Hear the Word of the Lord, as not some evolving concept of Peter's talking he says: But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So what's Peter rather men that were being saying here; that no portion of the Bible is a matter of one's own interpretation. In other words, that the Bible is not some evolving concept of man grasping to know who God is. It's not man's ascent in understanding who God is. He said no prophecy, no Scripture, is a matter of one's own interpretation.
It's not a... Scripture is not man's thoughts about God, but conversely Peter says, that rather men that were being moved by the Ruach HaKodesh, which is the Hebrew word for Holy Spirit, the Ruach of Elohim, the Spirit of God that men moved by the Holy Spirit, Peter wrote, spoke or wrote from God. And so all of Scripture, and the Song of Songs, beloved, was part of Scripture; it was part of what Peter would have understood to be the revelation of God. And so what Peter is saying is that the Song of Songs could not possibly have been just King Solomon's feelings for his Shulamite bride, but rather, Peter said, men were being moved by the Holy Spirit when they wrote every part of the Bible. They were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke from God.
Now, let me say this, I do not believe that when Solomon wrote the Song of Songs that he knew that he was birthing the revelation of the bride of Jesus and the revelation of the marriage supper of the Lamb. In other words, I do not think that when King Solomon wrote the Song of Songs he was conscious that he was writing of the reality of Jesus's marriage to you and I, to his church. I don't think he knew that he was giving that revelation of the Holy Spirit. But we find many instances in Scripture that people were being moved by the Holy Spirit, were speaking from the Holy Spirit, were writing from the Holy Spirit, and they didn't even know it. One example for example in the Gospels as we read about that the high priest during the time that Jesus was about to get crucified, the high priest spoke and he said, it's expedient for one man to die for the sins of the nation.
And then the Gospel records he said this, not because he knew what he was saying, but because he was the high priest, and without him even being conscious of it, the Holy Spirit was speaking through him. Even Balaam's donkey, right, we call Balaam's ass, right, when he began to speak, he didn't know that he was speaking by the Holy Spirit. God is able to use people in ways that they're not even aware that they're being used. And I think that this certainly was the case with King Solomon. I don't believe he had revelation of what he was actually writing when he wrote for us the Song of Songs. Again, for a thousand years the rabbis have understood the Song of Songs to be the revelation of God's love for his people. How much more, beloved, do we understand today, that it's the revelation of the bridegroom God, the beautiful King Jesus that's coming back for his church?
We just got done reading in 1 Peter this: that no prophecy was ever a matter of one's own interpretation, but when Scripture was being written, men wrote it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So if all of Scripture, beloved, is the result of men being moved by the Holy Spirit, we have to ask our self the question, what is the primary aim of the Holy Spirit? Let me say it again at the risk of being redundant because you need to get this foundation to be able to receive what I'm about to give you concerning the love of God from the Song of Songs. You really need to get this. I know I'm being repetitious here, but repetition's the motor of learning. Get this again; no Scripture, Peter said, is a matter of one's own interpretation, but rather men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke for God.
Knowing that then, I want you to consider with me the Gospel of John, chapter number 16, when we find out what the primary role of the Holy Spirit is. Remember, Scripture was written by men that were being moved by the Holy Spirit. Now we have to ask our self, what is the role of the Holy Spirit? Jesus tells us what the primary role is of the Holy Spirit in John, chapter 16, verse number 13 through 15. Listen to what Yeshua told us. John 16: 13 through 15, speaking of the take of Mine and disclose it Spirit, Yeshua says: But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. Now get the very next verse. He, the Spirit, will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He will take of Mine and disclose it to you.
Listen to the 14th disclose it to you. So verse again: The primary role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus. The primary role of the Holy Spirit is to take of the heart of Jesus, to take the deep things of the person of Jesus, and to impart them, to reveal them, to disclose them, to make them manifest, beloved, unto you and unto me. So once again, what does Yeshua say the primary role of the Holy Spirit is? John, 16, verse 14, everyone that wrote Scripture He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. So the deep things of Jesus and let's think about this. No Scripture, Peter said, is a matter of one's own interpretation, but rather, men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Now what's the primary role of the Holy Spirit; John, 16:14, to glorify Jesus. So it's inconceivable that the Holy Spirit, who wrote the Song of Songs through Solomon because everyone that wrote Scripture were being moved by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; the primary role of the Holy Spirit, being, to glorify Jesus and to take of the deep things of Jesus and disclose them unto us. So it's inconceivable then that the Lord would have given us a Book in the Bible that was only about King Solomon's relationship to his wife, knowing that the Holy Spirit's primary purpose is to glorify Jesus. Keep that in mind in combination with the fact that Solomon had many, many, many, many, many wives and many concubines. So it certainly wasn't the bar for marriage. No something else was going on. The Lord was giving us revelation about how he feels about us, you and I, because we are the bride of Messiah.
You see, in the Song of Songs, Solomon's, Solomon's bride is called the Shulamite maiden. The Shulamite maiden, beloved, is a shadow or a type of the Church. You see, the Apostle Paul speaks about this type of allegorical interpretation of Scripture when he goes to the Book of Galatians and he talks about Mount Sinai, and he speaks about Mount Sinai being symbolic of a older covenant. And then he talks about the new covenant that was given to us but he speaks about Mount Sinai being a covenant that was in connection with the law. And he gives all types of allegorical interpretation there. The same thing has happened here in this interpretation of Scripture. I actually like to call it a prophetic, a prophetic understanding because, you see, the Bible tells us in Luke, 24:27; go there with me please; we're gonna go to the Book of Luke now, 24:27. I'm gonna illustrate this same concept for you again.
So we're laying the foundation for you to be able to understand the Song of Songs for you. Luke, 24:27, hear me now as I read the Word of God. This is speaking about Jesus. Jesus had risen from the dead. He had not yet ascended to the Father. He had now appeared to his disciples in a form that they couldn't recognize him, and he begins to walk with them down the road, the road that we call the road to Emmaus, and Jesus starts to speak to them concerning the things in Scripture that were all about him. And then after he brought them through the entire Word of God, showing them all the prophetic things in the Word of God that were actually about him; then he opened their eyes and they recognized who it was.
So Luke what to make of it. The whole 24:27, hear the Word of the Lord: Then beginning with Moses, speaking of Jesus, then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And so what did Jesus do? He was the Messiah, how they came took these disciples of his who were so down trod and they were so downcast now because as far as they knew Jesus was dead. All they knew was that the one that they had left everything for had been crucified and they didn't know what to make of it. The whole world had been pulled out from underneath their feet. So Jesus appears to them on the road to Emmaus. He appears to them again in a form that they couldn't recognize. And he kind of plays dumb with them and he says to them what's wrong guys? And they say don't you know what happened; that Jesus this one that we thought was the Messiah, how they came and crucified him?
And then the Bible says that Jesus, without them knowing who it was, took them on a journey, we just read in Luke, 24:27 through all the Scriptures beginning with Moses, and the prophets, and all the prophetic writings, and then the, the, the wisdom literature. He brought them on a journey through all the Scriptures, beloved, and then he pointed out to them there the things that were about himself. He brought out the hidden meanings. And so let me its, its epic point in Jesus. read that again Luke, 24:27: then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. The point is, Holy Spirit's primary purpose, beloved, that the Holy Spirit wrote the entire Bible, and the entire Bible is fulfilled in Jesus. That's why Yeshua said, do not think I've come to abolish the law and the prophets. I've not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
The entire Word of God, beloved, finds its climax, it finds its, its epic point in Jesus. He is the, he is the center, beloved, of the entire Bible. And so the Song of Songs must be about Jesus, because the Holy Spirit's primary purpose, Holy Spirit wrote it and the once again, is to glorify Jesus and to reveal him to us. We have many different types of writings in Scripture. We have writings, beloved, that teach us to fear God. It's very important to learn how to fear the Lord. We know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We have other writings in Scripture, like the Book of Romans, the Book of Romans helps us understand salvation from a legal standpoint; that we've been made the righteous of God because of Jesus's shed blood, and him becoming the sacrifice for our sins.
But then we have the Song of Songs, and the Song of Songs reveals to us, listen now, the heart of God. The Song of Songs reveals us, to us the emotions of God more fully than any other book in the entire Bible. Now the rabbis of ancient days taught that the relationship between the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs went like this: that the Book of Proverbs was the outer court. The Book of Ecclesiastes was the inner court. We're speaking of the tabernacle, then later the temple. And that the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies. Let me tell you again. The tradition of the rabbis has been that when we're looking at the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, that the Book of Proverbs is a prophetic shadow of the outer court in the temple or tabernacle; that the Book of, the Book of Proverbs the outer court. The Book of Ecclesiastes is the inner court. And then the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.
The Book of Ecclesiastes prepares us for the Song of Songs, because the conclusion of the Book of Ecclesiastes is this, that everything that the world has to offer in the end is just vanity. Vanity of vanities, Solomon concludes, all of it is worthless except to know God, to obey him. So the Book of Ecclesiastes prepares us for the revelation of the heart of God in the Song of Songs. Now when we speak of this Book called the Song of Songs other people are possibly more familiar with the title the Song of Solomon. Other people may be familiar with the Book as the Book of Canticles. All these are valid titles. I prefer the Book the Song of Songs because it's the greatest love song, beloved, that's ever been written, and it's the greatest love song that will ever be, hallelujah, on this side of eternity.
So we're gonna begin now the Song of Songs, chapter number 1. We'll just make a little progress today. I want you to join me every week, beloved. I want you to join me every week and God is gonna do something for you. He is gonna bring you a revelation of his heart. that I speak to you are Spirit Let's begin: The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. So, the Song greet each other with the holy starts out with the Shulamite bride, which is again a prophetic shadow of the Church, calling out to Jesus, actually calling out to the Father saying may Jesus kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Jesus said the words that I speak to you are Spirit and life. And notice she says, may he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
There's many types of kisses in Scripture. For example, we read in the Book of Romans that we're to greet each other with the holy kiss, that's the kiss of a friend. There's a kiss between a mom and her children. But then there's the kisses of the mouth; this refers to the intimate kiss. This is the kiss of love, beloved. Now I wanna encourage you, you need to reject every sensual interpretation. This has nothing to do with sensuality. This is prophetic in the same way that Paul told us, I tell you a mystery, that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. For behold I speak of a great mystery to you. I'm speaking of the mystery between Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and the Church. So when the Shulamite bride who is a prophetic shadow of the Church calls out and says may he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, she's calling forth to be kissed, beloved, by the beautiful bridegroom God. She has an intimate love relationship with Yeshua the reigning King.
Now this, this section of Scripture, beloved, was understood to mean the kisses of the Lord's mouth, speak of the words that proceed from his mouth. Remember the Lord said to the children of Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; Deuteronomy 8:3. And so she sang oh kiss me with your Word God. Open my heart up with your Word. And what is the Word of God but the expression of the heart or the thought of God. It's the manifestation of God himself. But be, it's because behind every word is a thought. You can't have a word without a thought behind it.
So when she's reaching out to be kissed with the kisses of his Word, she's actually saying reveal your heart to me. Reveal to me, Lord Jesus, how you feel about me because your love, she said, is better than wine. It's more satisfying to know you than any pleasure this world has to give. To know you, to feel your love, to know I'm loved by you, and to love you back is better than anything this world has to offer. She's gonna tell us, I'm love sick for you. She has been touched, beloved, by the love of God in a real way. She has been touched, beloved, by Jesus. She has encountered Jesus, and now that she's been touched with him, she's so hungry for him, she's so desirous of him, she wants him more than anything else in life, because she's experienced him in a small way with the revelation that causes her to know that he truly is. Join me tomorrow, or next week's broadcast. God is gonna make himself more real to you than ever before. God bless you and shalom.