Rabbi Schneider - A Beautiful Paradox - Part 2
The Song of Songs is the journey of discovery that the Shulamite bride has for the king. Originally it was Solomon, who's a prophetic picture, a prophetic shadow of the glorious bridegroom King Jesus. And we see in the Shulamite bride, beloved, a shadow of ourselves. The Book begins with her experiencing the kisses of God's love. She begins by saying kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth. She has had an encounter with Jesus. She is so hungry for him, it was so sweet to her, she said your love, after I've experienced it, is better than anything else I've ever experienced in life. She says your love is better than wine. She wants more. She says draw me after you. Jesus answered her and brings her into the chamber. And so she says the king has brought me into his chamber. After she has this experience she says I'm gonna remember this experience.
She says I'm gonna remember your love. I'm not gonna forget about this because when I go to work tomorrow, when I go to work next week, and I'm faced with all the hostilities at work, and all the responsibilities and stresses of this world, and all the darkness that I must contend with in life, I know that the enemy would like to use all those things to snuff out this encounter I've had with you, to make me forget about what I experienced with you. She said, so I'm gonna remember your love. Beloved we need to be writing down those things in our life that God is doing, and we need to remember them. And she says, and I will be glad. I am gonna make up my mind, Jesus, to be victorious in life and to give a declaration of gladness because you're glad. As she continues on, beloved, she comes up to a place of realization in her life that causes much tension. And it's a place that you and I also face.
And so she says in verse 5 where I was last week, she says: I am black but lovely. And this is the understanding that we all must have in recognizing that although we still have sin that the Lord is cleansing us from, there are still issues in our life that we're being cleansed from, and the deeper we go with God the more underlying issues the Holy Spirit's going to expose. Once he cleanses us of the outer things, he's gonna start going deeper. He's gonna turn up the magnifying glass. He's gonna turn up the power of the light to expose deeper issues in our heart, to make us completely clean. And so we all need to recognize that there's sin within us. He that says they have no sin is a liar, but at the same time we need to realize that right here, right now on planet Earth, we're lovely to God. Yes there are still issues in our life that we're being sanctified of.
The Bible says about the human heart in Jeremiah, 17, that it's desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? There is deceit within our heart that we're being cleansed of and yet, God does not look at us, beloved, through the lens of us being hopeless hypocrites, but instead we're lovely to him. And we're lovely as we're overcoming. And there's a big yes in our heart to say yes to God, even though there are issues and mountains that we are still getting over, even though there are specific sins that we're still overcoming. For some people it might be eating issues. Maybe you, you're eating too much food and this is a sin. Maybe it's that you're not controlling your eyes, and you're still lusting when you shouldn't be lusting. Maybe it's that you're, you're a person that's angry all the time, and you have to declare war on anger. Maybe you're a person that gossips. Maybe you're a person that lacks courage and you're afraid to witness. I mean there's many, many, many things that we could say.
The point is, is if we're, if we declare war on these things, if we're struggling against these things that the, then the Lord looks at us, beloved, as his beloved children and he doesn't just see us based on where we're at today, but he sees us based on the destiny that he has called us to. And the Bible says he that's born of God overcomes the world. We need to have a declaration that we are lovely to God. We're lovely, beloved, because we're created in God's image. We're lovely because Jesus has taken care of the sin problem; he that knew no sin became sin on our behalf, that we've now become the righteous of God. We're lovely because we are looked at through the eyes of the lovely one, that in God's heart he chooses to see us as lovely; and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. And so we are lovely to God right now. We need to open up our hearts and, and declare that I am beautiful. And so I'm gonna do what I did in our last week's broadcast, but before we move on today, this is very important, I want you to declare right now where you're sitting; repeat after me:
I am beautiful to you Jesus. Jesus you are beautiful to me and you have made me beautiful to you. You are my beautiful God, and I am beautiful to you because of Jesus; thank you Jesus, Amen and Amen.
And so she talks about that, I am dark, in verse number 5, but lovely, I am black but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem. And the daughters of Jerusalem are the prophetic shadow of those believers that are less mature, and so at the time they were here friends. Prophetically the Holy Spirit is telling us these are people in life that might not get you, they might not understand where you're at, they might not understand you talking about the bridal paradigm, they might not understand about the fact that Jesus has called us to be his bride, they don't have revelation of this yet. And so she's speaking to these that were less spiritually mature. She's saying I'm dark but lovely. And then she said: Like the tents of Kedar. And the tents of Kedar were made of wild goat skins that were blackened. And so it was not a pretty picture.
So this speaks about the blackness of her heart, but yet at the same time she confesses like the curtains of Solomon. And this speaks of the temple with white curtains. And so she says yes there are issues in my heart that God is cleansing me of, but I'm lovely to him like the curtains of Solomon. Let's continue in verse 6 as we press on Yedidim, beloved ones, to new territory today. She says: Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, For the sun has burned me. Well, what she's saying here is that, that she's, that she's self-conscious. She, she had been working in the field. The sun had made her dark. She felt that she was unattractive. It represents insecurity. And so she is saying don't stare at me because I'm insecure. You know what it is sometimes when, when, when you've had somebody maybe stare at you, and all of a sudden you're feeling self-conscious.
This is what she's indicating here when she says: Do not stare at me because I am swarthy. She's feeling insecurity. She says: for my mother's sons were angry with me; They made me caretakers of the vineyards. And she's speaking here about being oppressed in life. For some of you it's been in the church. Maybe you, you've been in the church and your mother's sons, in some sections of Scripture we see that Yeshua says of the church, he says my mother, my father, my brothers and my sisters are those that have done the will of my Father. Maybe you're feeling self-conscious. Maybe you're feeling insecure because you've been rejected at a church somewhere.
And so you're feeling this insecurity that the Shulamite maid felt. She said: Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, For the sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me: They made me caretakers of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard. This for some of you could represent what it feels like when you go to work and you're not treated with respect. And, and, and, and they, and they take everything from you, and they want all your time. And they pay you very little. And then you get home from working and you gotta clean the house maybe, and you've gotta make the meals, and you've gotta take care of so-and-so, and you've got all these responsibilities. And people aren't appreciating you and, and you're feeling oppressed. And in this state you haven't taken the time to take care of your own spiritual life. This is in a sense what she's experiencing here.
Let's read it again: Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, For the sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me caretaker of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard. And so she's struggling. Remember she started out on the journey encountering Jesus. She started out, beloved, being kissed with the kisses of his mouth, in chapter 1, verse number 2. And she was so intoxicated with this experience that she had in God's love. And she was just so passionate to run after him. She said, draw me after you and I want to live my life for you. And I wanna be involved in ministry. But as time went on, she ran into life.
How many of us know what that feels like? We've been really passionate about God. We were touched by the Lord, but then we get into the, to the, to the nitty-gritty of life and we have to go down to the valley in the work situations, in the family situations, and the financial situations, and all the situations that we deal with in life. And over time these experiences that cause stress could begin to diminish that encounter that we had with the Lord; a few short weeks ago, six weeks ago, five months ago, whenever it was. That's why the Shulamite bride said earlier on I'm gonna remember your love, because it's a hard thing to remember, but we need to anchor ourselves into the things that God has done for us so that we can press on and press through like a warship cutting through the ocean at night I spoke about in last week's broadcast.
Here she's finding herself, beloved, beginning to lose some of that spiritual vitality. She's starting to feel some of that initial passion wane. She's trying to hang on to his love, but all the pressures of life, her being mistreated, her feeling insecure, her being put in places of such responsibility that she hasn't had time to take care of her own spiritual communion with God, has cause her heart, beloved, to begin to grow a little bit cold. Some of us know what that feels like. We go through seasons in life, but hallelujah, there's a way out. So let's watch this. She's going to explain her predicament, and then she's gonna call out to Jesus for help.
So listen again in verse number 6: Do not stare at me because I am swarthy. She's feeling insecure. She's drawing back. She said for: My mother's sons were angry with me. It could be the church. It could be the workplace. It could be your family. And they made me caretaker of the vineyards. In other words they treated her with disrespect and made her do a lot of work. But I have not taken care, she said, of my own vineyards. In other words, she had not taken care of her own vineyard with God. Remember the king that she was calling out for, this one that had become her bridegroom, she wanted to be his. But now she found herself not taking care of her life, not giving her, herself the personal communion with him, not taking care of her own internal life as it related, beloved, to a relationship with her bridegroom God, with the king.
Some of you can relate to that. You've been so busy with other people's work. We've been so busy with other people's business. You've been so busy with responsibilities you haven't taken time to cultivate a relationship with the Lord yourself. That's the place that she's in right now. She continues on: Tell me, O whom my soul loves. She's calling out now to the King. Now isn't it interesting, that here she was, she hadn't taken care of her vineyard, but yet she didn't see herself as disqualified. She didn't see herself as a hopeless hypocrite. She didn't see herself as one that was rejected. But rather she said: Tell me, O whom my soul loves.
And she continues on: Where do you pasture your flock? In other words she's lost her way a little bit. She's saying God where are you. She's calling out to the one whom her soul loves. She's calling out to Jesus. She's calling out to King Jesus, where are you whom my soul loves. She still saw her love as genuine. She knew that it was weak, but she saw it as genuine.
Now beloved, just because your love might be weak, it doesn't mean it's not authentic. Listen, Jesus knew that Peter was gonna betray him when he said to Peter, upon this rock I will build my church. Jesus knew when he said that to Peter that Peter would betray him. Jesus said to him, before the cock crows you'll have denied me three times. Jesus, knowing that Peter was gonna betray him, still chose Peter to be one of the pillars, beloved, of the New Testament church, to be one of the writers of the New Testament, to be the one whose declaration Jesus said it's on that rock I'm gonna build my church. And so Jesus didn't look at Peter's denial of him after he was crucified, as representing that Peter's love for him wasn't genuine. Jesus realized that Peter's love was just weak.
And so Jesus said to Peter, Peter before you, before the cock crows you'll deny me three times. But then Jesus said but I'm gonna pray for you, and after you've been strengthened, you're gonna strengthen your brothers. And so you need to know, beloved, that just because your love is weak, it doesn't mean you're a hypocrite. It just means your love is weak but it's still authentic. It's still beautiful to God. And so the woman cries out, or even if she's struggling, even if she hadn't been taking care of her own vineyard, even if she found herself pushed back in a sense from walking in close fellowship with God, she called out to him, O, she said, who my soul loves, in verse 7, tell me O you whom my soul loves. She still believed that God loved her, that Jesus loved her, and that she was still beautiful to him. And she cried out. She wanted to re-connect with him.
So we're talking about Journeying into Divine Love. Where do you go right now if you find yourself like this woman; that you've had an encounter with love, you've tasted with God, you've tasted him. You know he's real. You, you know, you know he's genuine, but for some reason your heart is not beating after him as fast as it used to. You've lost something. You've begun to grow a little bit lukewarm. What do you do? You do the same thing, beloved, that the Shulamite bride does here in verse number 7. She calls out to him, help me. She says: Tell me, O you whom my soul loves. She said: Where do you pasture your flock. In other words, she wants to re-connect. She wants to find him. And she continues on: Where do you make it lie down at noon? In other words, where does your flock lie down and rest under your protective presence.
She's longing to sit under a shade tree. She's longing to, to experience being in the rest of God again. And then she says: Why should I be like one who veils herself. What does this mean? She says where are you? Where do you pasture your flock? And where do you make it lie down? Where is your presence? And then she says: Why should I be like one who veils herself. What does this mean? In the ancient world, beloved, a woman would veil herself, listen, when she was working in the company of strangers. She didn't veil herself at home with the people that she was familiar with, but she would veil herself when she was out among strangers. And so she is saying why should I be like a stranger to you? Why should I be like one that veils herself? Why does there have to be this distance between us? She continues on: Why should I be like one who veils herself Beside the flock of your companions? In other words, why should I be like one that's not even with you, but instead with the flock of your companions?
I don't wanna just be with people that talk about you, I don't wanna just be with your friends, she's saying, I wanna be with you. It's not enough for me just to be around people, just to hang out with people that talk about you. I want to be with you, she said. So it's not enough for you and I just to be around people that talk about Jesus, that's great. But we need Jesus, we need you our self. We need you personally. So that's what she's saying. Once again, let's look again: Where do you pasture your flock? Where's your presence? How can I find you again? How can I re-connect? Where do you make it lie down at noon? I want to find rest in you again Jesus. For why should I be like one who veils herself. I don't want to be like a stranger to you. I don't wanna feel disconnected beside the flocks of your companions. I don't wanna be just hanging around people that talk about you. And then look the beautiful response as she cries out to her bridegroom. As we cry out to King Jesus, beloved, Jesus responds.
Listen, Jesus has mercy. He doesn't look at her and think she's a hypocrite. He doesn't, he's not mad at her because she's failed him, but instead he speaks to her rejection in tenderness and mercy. And so look what he says in verse 8, as she cried out where are you. In verse 8 he says: If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women. Isn't that beautiful? He speaks to her shame. He speaks to her sense of feeling rejected. He calls her most beautiful among women. And he speaks so tenderly. Listen once again: If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women. And then he tells her what to do. But I just want to highlight this again. Look, look again. She says, where are you? Why should I be like one who veils herself? Where are you? Where are you? And Jesus says, If you yourself do not know, Most beautiful among women. Jesus comes in, beloved. He speaks to her with such tenderness. He doesn't chastise her for her failing. But as she calls out to him, he affirms her in her beauty. How beautiful she is to him.
So Lord right now we're asking you to come and affirm us in how beautiful we are to you, right now, right where we're at. Some of you Father God are like the Shulamite maiden, we're calling out to you right now, that we feel like there's a distance between you and us. Some may feel like they've failed you. They may feel that they've been so busy doing other things, so busy with the stresses of life, that they haven't taken the time to nurture their own relationship with you; that they haven't had time to tend to their own vineyards. And they're calling out. They're saying what can I do to come back to you. I don't wanna feel like a stranger. And so Jesus, beautiful Lord Jesus, our beautiful bridegroom God, release your Holy Spirit now I pray, to take of you and reveal it unto us that you love us. Oh do you now know my Beautiful One, my beautiful son, my beautiful daughter, my choice bride, I love you; thank you Jesus that we are accepted in you and that your blood, hallelujah, has made a way.
And so she comes back and she speaks to her rejection. You know after Peter denied Jesus, those three times, he felt really ashamed. You know Peter, Yeshua said to Peter, you know Peter you say you're gonna go with me to death, but the reality is you're gonna deny me three times before the cock even crows tonight. And Peter said, no never. Well when Peter did do that, he went away and he wept bitterly. He felt so ashamed that he had failed the Lord. He felt he was unworthy to be an apostle anymore. He felt he was unworthy to be a leader anymore.
And so in John, chapter 21, verse number 3, we see Peter, and he says, in verse number 3, of John, 21, Peter says I'm gonna go fishing. Why is he going fishing? He wasn't going fishing, beloved, as a recreational fisherman, but rather he had returned to the vocation of fishing because he felt he was no longer worthy to be an Apostle of Jesus, to be a pillar of the New Testament church. He was no longer worthy to be that one whom Jesus was gonna use to build the church with.
So in that place of shame, Jesus comes to Peter. And he says to Peter beginning in verse number 15, of John, 21, let me read it for you. Jesus says to him: Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these. And he said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me. He said to him, yes Lord you know that I love you. He said to him, shepherd my sheep. He said to him the third time; how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three times, so once again, verse 17, the third time. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me. Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time do you love me. And he said to him, Lord you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said, tend my sheep.
You see, Jesus was restoring Peter to his place of intimacy. Jesus was wanting Peter to say "I love you" three times to override the three times that Peter denied him. Beloved, I want you to know that the love of Jesus for you, and the authentic experience of love that you have for him, is stronger than any sin and any failing that you'll ever do. Jesus loves you and we are lovely.