Rabbi Schneider - Arise and Come Along
The maiden, who is a prophetic shadow of the Church, she calls forth in verse number 8 of chapter 2: Listen! My beloved! She's hearing Yeshua her Bridegroom coming. Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming, Climbing on the mountains, Leaping on the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall. Now this is a new revelation that she has of the faces of her Bridegroom. You know, there are many faces to our personalities, aren't there? Previously she had experienced him as the one in whom she was sitting under his shade. She was in his, his shade as she was being refreshed by him with raisin cakes, and being refreshed with his apples, just sitting at his feet. But now she's seeing him, beloved, in another dimension.
For a second think about this as I'm just taking a side to the right for a second to give you an example of this concept, you know we read in the Book of Revelation, and we read the same thing in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 6, that around the throne of God there are these divine beings. And these divine beings that are around the throne of God, they don't cease crying out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And forever and ever, day and night we read that these divine beings around the throne of the Lord can't cease crying out holy, holy, holy.
Now you would think that if they kept on saying the same word over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, day and night for the rest of eternity, that it might eventually become dull, that they might eventually just take it for granted that they might just be on auto pilot. But we know that's not what's happening. What's happening is, is that forever God is emanating new dimensions of his glory. In other words there is forever and continuously a bubbling up from God, a newness of his life. His life is always new. There's always more. It keeps increasing.
And so what's happening in Revelation, chapter 4, and Isaiah, 6, where these divine beings don't cease crying out day and night, holy, holy, holy is that they're continuously, with every new holy, they're seeing a new dimension of his glory, so that every holy that they say is in response to a new emanation, a new bubbling up out of God of his glory. It's always new. It's always more. It keeps increasing. It's forever gonna be that way. We'll never get bored because it's always gonna be new and it's always gonna be more. That's the nature of abundant life and it's the nature of who God in his essence is. And so it makes sense then that the Church and the Shulamite bride will forever be fascinated by new dimensions of Jesus, cause he's gonna continue, beloved, to make his glory known to us.
You know in John, 17, Jesus said to the Father, he said, Father I revealed your name. And when he says name here, he, he speaks of the person, the name of God is symbolic or a representation of the person of God. So Jesus says in John, 17, he said, Father, I revealed your name to those whom thou has given me. And then Jesus said this, beloved, and I will, listen, continue to reveal it. In other words, there is gonna be more revelation. There's gonna be new revelation, that Jesus forever in eternity is gonna be revealing to us the Father's name and it's always, thank you Lord Jesus, gonna be more and new and more full and glorious, hallelujah, and Amen. And so the Shulamite bride, who's the shadow of the Church, she's seeing a new dimension of Jesus now, her Bridegroom. She's seeing him, beloved, as the one that is riding on the mountains in victory and in triumph.
You see mountains in Scripture represent obstacles, right. Jesus said, say to that mountain, be moved and cast into the sea. What did Jesus, what was he meaning? He says when you face a trial in your life, speak to it and know that you're more than a conqueror in me and that you're gonna get through everything. You're gonna get over everything. So say to that mountain, be moved and cast into the sea because you're more than a conqueror through me that loves you; neither height nor depth, things past, things present, or things to come will ever be able to separate you from my love. So stand before the mountains in your life and speak to them to be moved and cast into the sea cause you're my child. You're a warrior. You're an overcomer, and you're gonna overcome everything.
So mountains in Scripture represent trials and obstacles. She sees Jesus now, beloved, in the Song of Songs, chapter 2, as the one that is victorious over every obstacle in life that you and I will ever face. Let's look again, verse number 8: Listen, she said. My beloved! Behold he is coming, Climbing on the mountains, hallelujah, and Leaping on the hills. In the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 22, we have this revelation of Jesus as the one that has authority and victory over all the mountains. I'm reading Ephesians, chapter 1 now, verse 22: And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave to him as head over all things to the Church. And so Jesus, hallelujah, beloved, has everything subject to him.
Let's listen to that again. The Father has put everything under Jesus's feet and Jesus has been given to the Church, so Jesus rides over the mountains of our life and he's gonna give us victory over the mountains. Listen again, Ephesians, 1, verse 22 and 23: And he, meaning the Father, put all things in subjection under his, referring to Yeshua, all things under his feet. Let me read it again: And he, the Father, put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his body, and the fullness of him who fills all in all. So now she sees Jesus riding in victory over all the trials, and, and fears of life.
Listen again: Listen! My beloved! Behold, he's coming. Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming, Climbing on the mountains, Leaping on the hills! She begins to praise him. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, she says, he is standing behind our wall. These mountains that he's on represent, beloved, the trials of her life. And now she sees Jesus, the Bridegroom King, standing behind the wall. When you see somebody standing behind the wall, it's the, it's the, it's symbolic of somebody waiting for you. They're beckoning for you to come. It's, it's, it's calling you to action. And so she sees Jesus behind the wall calling her to follow him over the mountains that are in front of her, to have confidence to step out in faith like Peter stepped out in faith out of the boat and walked on the water.
You see, Jesus is calling her up to a new reality. Formerly, beloved, she knew him sitting under a shade tree. She knew him as one that she could just take great delight in his presence. But now Jesus is saying, okay you've sat at my feet for long enough. It's time for us to come to the next level. I'm calling you now to risk, I'm calling you now to step out in faith and to conquer some of these mountains with me. I'm calling you now to step out in faith and follow me where I'm leading you in places in life that cause you fear, places that seem risky. I'm calling you to partner with me in overcoming your own personal issues and to step out with me in ministry in ways that might be fearful to you. So she sees Jesus the Victorious One beckoning her to come. She sees him standing behind the wall, saying come on now, you need to move through this wall and follow me.
Let's continue on. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. He is standing behind our wall. He is looking through the windows. This reminds us of Jesus in Revelation, 3, where Jesus is knocking at the door and saying if you open up and let me in. This is the same kind of things that's going on. Jesus is knocking. He's beckoning. Come and follow me to this deeper place in me that involves faith. It involves taking a risk. It involves trusting in my love. Once again, he is looking through the windows. He is peering through the lattice, wooing her. And then she said: My beloved responded and said to me, Arise my darling, my beautiful one, And come along.
So let's put this in perspective again. Up to this point she just had been being bathed in the love of the Lord. Now she had been bathed long enough and God was calling her forward, calling her now to face her fears, to conquer, and to follow him into ministry. That reminds me, some of you can relate, in my own life, for the first several years of my salvation, there were many issues in my life that the Lord never addressed. I mean I was oblivious to some of these issues in my life. I just didn't realize that there were things in my life that God wanted me to address because he never put his finger on any of those things.
I can tell you kind of a humor, humorous story as a young believer coming right out of the world, remember I wasn't raised in church. I was raised in, you coming out of the world. I just knew that in 1978 Jesus appeared to me on the cross and God revealed to me at that time that Jesus was the way to him. I talk about it in my book Awakening to Messiah. The information to get that book will be available at the end of the broadcast today. I just had a vision in the middle of the night. No one had ever shared, shared the Gospel with me. I never read the New Testament. But in the vision in 1978, Jesus appeared on the cross and a ray of red light from straight through the sky, beloved, beamed down on his head. And I knew that God was revealing himself to me cause the ray of red light shot straight through the sky down on his head. And I knew that symbolically because the ray of red light was coming down through the sky that it was coming from God. And God was telling me that Jesus was the way to him.
So I got out of my bed. I was so excited. And eventually I started telling everybody about this. They told me to get a New Testament. I started reading the New Testament, going to churches all over the city. I was so hungry for God. But I still was very untrained in living the Christian lifestyle. Remember I was coming right out of the world, and, and, and I used to do many, many things. I remember one thing I do, I did that I look back on was kind of humorous. I remember I would, I would take, I would take someone out on a date and we would go to a Christian coffeehouse, cause I was so in love with Jesus and just wanted to listen to the Christian music, but on the way to the Christian coffeehouse, I would stop at like a convenience store and pick up a six-pack and drink it in my car.
I thought, I didn't think anything of it. You know, it didn't even occur to me that, that was an issue. But after a while, beloved, the Holy Spirit put his finger on that in my life. And he put his finger on other issues in my life. And he said now it's time to cleanse yourself of these things, to, to clean up your life and to follow me as a pure, pure virgin. And this is what's happening here in the Song of Songs, chapter 2. Up to this point, she had just been soaking in his love, being bathed in his presence. But now the Holy Spirit, now Jesus has begun to put his finger on some things in her life. Now he's showing her himself standing on the mountains. He's calling her to conquer and to follow him into areas of life. You know, to climb a mountain takes effort.
Now he's saying now I want you to follow me out from where you're at in this place of comfort, and I want you to climb this mountain with me and we're gonna conquer some things in your life. But you know what? She's afraid. We're gonna see that. And so that's the way it is sometimes. The Lord lets us get strengthened, but then when we're strong enough he says, now come on, follow me. We're gonna go to the next level. And unless you're willing to follow me now to the next level, our fellowship's gonna be broken. It was okay previously that you were doing those things. It was okay previously that you weren't addressing these issues, but you're strong enough now. I expect more of you and if you don't follow me now, it's gonna break fellowship.
See remember, this is a journey into divine love. And this is the way that our life works with God. It starts out that Jesus just reveals his love to us and he strengthens us in his love. But once we get strengthened in his love, beloved, he's going to expect more of us. He's gonna call us to do things that he didn't previously call us to do. And we need to obey him when he calls us to these next levels, because if we don't, beloved, fellowship can be broken. And it will be broken. Jesus will remove his presence because of our disobedience. You see, if there's just one area even in your life that, that Holy Spirit's been putting his finger on, if there's only one area in your life that Jesus has been talking to you about, and you're unwilling to yield to him and obey him in that area, that one area, beloved, will grieve him and fellowship will be broken.
So Father right now I ask if you're putting your finger on people's lives, on your children's life, Lord Jesus, if you're putting your finger on your Bride's life in an area, I pray that you'll make it very clear to them, and that you'll give them the grace to repent. And right now I'm speaking to you, Church, that if the Holy Spirit, that if Jesus is putting his finger on an area in your life and you know that he's convicting you, you know you need to follow him and repent to this thing, you know you need to take action on something and do something that he's calling you to do, do it now in Jesus's name that fellowship won't be broken. So once again, she sees him on the mountains. She hears him calling. He's standing behind the wall. He's beckoning her to come. He's wooing her through the lattice, just like Jesus knocking at the door of our hearts.
Let's read it one more time. We're going to continue on: Listen, she says, My beloved! Behold he is coming, Climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice. And my beloved responded and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. It's time for her to come out from under the apple tree. It's time for her now to come along and follow him to conquer the mountains. It's time, he says, for behold, the winter is past.
In other words, you don't have to be afraid. Look at all the things that I've done for you. Look at all the things that we've been through together up to this point and look how whole you are. I'm with you still. You're still alive. You're refreshed in me. I was faithful to you in, in all those things. I was faithful to bring you through the winter. It's past now so you can trust me for the future. And the rest of this small section is all about this, that the time is now to act, that, that the harvest has come. Let's listen: For behold, in verse number 11, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land. And I was faithful to you in the past. The winter is past. The rain is over and gone. And I'm gonna be faithful to you in the future. So come, the flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines.
Now she's calling. He's calling her, beloved, to overcome issues in her life and to partner with him in greater areas for ministry. Remember earlier on she called out to him and she said draw me to you. Let me be one with you. And then she said also to him, and let us run together. So I'm gonna go now and remind you viewers in verse number 4, of chapter 1. Earlier she had cried out draw me after you. She's saying to Jesus, draw me after you and let us run together. So now Jesus in verse number 8 of chapter 2, he's drawing her. He's saying come now, in verse number 10: My beloved said to me, Arise, my darling, and come.
So now Yeshua, the Bridegroom, is drawing her to himself and he's drawing her to himself in oneness, but he's also drawing her to himself in ministry, cause remember she cried out draw me after you, chapter 1, verse 4, and let us run together. Thus spoke, spoke again about running in ministry, that God calls us into oneness with him personally, but he also calls us to run with him, beloved, in completing his assignment on earth. And this is why Jesus chose the apostles, right and the disciples to carry on the work that the Father had given him to do. So Jesus said now as the Father sent me, so now also I send you.
And so Jesus is calling you and I, beloved, into, into conquering mountains to partner it with him in ministry. Sometimes it's just witnessing to the waitress. It's witnessing to your next door neighbor. It's witnessing to people that you work with. It's witnessing to old friends. Jesus says now I want you to come with me and partner with me in, in ministry. I want you to overcome these mountains of fear in your life. And if you would draw and don't say yes to him, beloved, it's gonna break fellowship. Remember this is journeying into divine love, so there's something that's required of us because this is a partnership between the Lord and us. We have to respond. We're not robots and God doesn't do it all himself. He expects us, beloved, to partner with him.
Remember the greatest gift that we can give our Bridegroom is the affection of our heart. And the affection of our heart is manifest in obedience. Jesus said if you love me, you'll obey me. So Jesus says now it's time to come along. The winter's past. I've been faithful to you in the past season, now I want you to trust me. It's time for the harvest. And so he says in verse number 12: The flowers have already appeared in the land: The time has arrived for the pruning of the vines. It reminds me, beloved, of what Yeshua said in the Gospel of John, chapter 4, verse 35 and 36. We see Yeshua says here: Do you not say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest. Behold, I say to you lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for life eternal.
So Jesus is saying, come on now, you've been strengthened. You've been sitting under my apple tree, and it's time for you now to come with me and partner in ministry. And so she's beckoning him, come, it's time. He says to her again at the bottom of the 13th verse of chapter 2, Arise my darling, my beautiful one, And come along! Come now, come, come. Verse number 14: O my dove, she's really struggling, she's fearing.
How many of you have been afraid to obey the Lord in something in your life. Maybe it's been cutting off a relationship with somebody that Jesus is speaking to you about because he knows it's not right for your life, and he knows it's gonna get in the way with your relationship with him. Maybe it's in witnessing. Maybe you've lacked the courage to step out in faith, beloved, and be his voice on this earth. Maybe it's in repenting of some sin because you, you're relying on this sin for comfort. And Jesus is saying, come on now. It's time to move on with me. And he sees in this section of Scripture that she's struggling coming. She's afraid to come, not because she's rebellious, beloved, but because she is afraid.
And Jesus when he sees her in her fear, he encourages her to start praying. Because remember, Jesus doesn't reject us in our, in our immaturity. Remember Jesus knew that Peter was gonna deny him. And Jesus said to Peter, Peter before the cock crows you're gonna deny me three times. And just a little bit later in the chapter, Jesus says now I want you Peter to watch and pray that you don't enter into temptation. In other words, beloved, in other words church, when we're struggling, when we're having a hard time obeying Jesus, Jesus doesn't look at us as hopeless hypocrites. Instead what he wants us to do is to lift our voice and pray to him, and call out to him. And so we're gonna see next week that Jesus says to his bride now you that's in the cleft of the rock, you that won, you, you're in the safe place because of me, my cross for you.
I want to hear your voice now. You're still lovely to me. I love you even in the midst of your struggle. I want you to call out to me and pray. Your voice is beautiful now. Call out to me and pray to me cause I'm gonna strengthen you as you keep calling out to me. And keep praying to me my lovely one, I'm gonna strengthen you and give you the strength that you need to arise and to follow me into the mountains of your life and to conquer them. So Father God I pray for these beloved ones of yours. I pray for your church Lord Jesus and your bride right now. Father cause them right now, right where they're at to call out to you.
I encourage you church even to get on your knees. Call out to Jesus. Ask him to strengthen you as he's calling for you to arise and to follow him. If you're afraid, if there's something that you need to conquer that you're afraid of, call out to Jesus right now. Your voice is beautiful to him. And you are lovely to him.