Rabbi Schneider - Victory Over Foxes
Father, we bless you today. Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, our Bridegroom King and God, open our hearts to understand the mystery of marital intimacy with you by the Holy Spirit. Put a seal of fire upon our hearts to love you with all our heart, strength, soul and mind, and to understand more intimately your love for us. Jesus, you said to us that you love us with the same love that the Father loves you with. Unlock the mystery of the understanding that it will take for us to comprehend those words. Jesus, we want to know your love for us, even as you know the Father's love for you. Unlock the mystery of your love to our hearts. Yeshua, we think about the Apostle Paul and how he told us that we should pray that we would know the height, the depth, the breadth, the width, the length of the love of God that passes knowledge. We ask you for that now, Lord Jesus. Unlock the revelation of your love unto our hearts. It's in your name, Jesus, and for your fame we pray. And all God's people spoke Hebrew and said Amen and Amen.
As we approach, beloved the 15th verse of the Song of Songs, chapter 2, we find that the Shulamite bride, who's a shadow of the Church, has reached a crisis in her walk with God. Earlier on in her walk with God, in this journey of divine romance, she had been experiencing his presence. How many of you can remember that when you were first saved, God did so many little things for you. There were so many little miracles that were happening around your life. I know it was like that for me. In those early days there were so many supernatural things that the Lord was doing, so many little things that God showed up in.
How many of you remember that when you were a young believer God just let you know that he was real. He let you know that he was there in so many little ways. But it seemed, for some of us, that as time went on some of those miracles seemed to cease. We didn't have those little things that seemed like they were happening almost every day, happening with the same frequency any more. And as a result, we wondered what was going on. See, there's different seasons of the operation of the Holy Spirit in our life. And the Bride, as we're entering this portion of Scripture, had reached a similar type of crisis, a little different, but in some ways the same.
You see, up until this point, she had just been basking in experiencing Jesus's fragrance, his love. She described it as being refreshed by raisin cakes. I mean this is just the beautiful, poetic language of the Holy Spirit. She was in this love relationship with Jesus, the Bridegroom God, and she said to him, you're like the beautiful apple tree among all the apples of the fields, and you refresh me with apples. In other words, she saw him as standing out from everything and everyone else, and she was just basking in his presence. And she said your fruit is sweet to me. She said I sat in my King's presence and my heart opened up to him. She just was experiencing, beloved, the beginning of the journey of divine romance, that time that Jesus was making himself real to her and she was truly experiencing the reality of his person and his presence, just like many of us did in those early days.
But as time went on, Jesus said, you know what, you've been at this place of just experiencing my presence and my glory long enough. It's time for us to move on together. I'm gonna ask you now to step out in faith. I'm gonna ask you to face some things that are gonna make you afraid. I'm gonna ask you to conquer some issues in your own life, and I'm gonna ask you to do some things for me in ministry that you might be afraid of doing. I'm gonna ask you to, to share my love with people that you've been afraid to share it with in the past. I'm gonna put you on some assignments that are gonna make you afraid.
But I'm asking you, my beloved, to follow me on top of the mountain. And he revealed himself to her as the one that has authority over the mountains. And he's asking her now to trust him, because she had previously declared that he had put a banner over her life of love. And so Jesus is asking her now to trust this banner of love that I've put over your life. Trust me now in this because it's safer to be with, with, with, on the water, walking on water with Jesus than it is to be on the boat without him. So he's saying come with me now on the mountain. But she, beloved, because of her fears and insecurity, and lack of maturity, she was afraid. Jesus says, arise now my darling and come. Arise my dove and come along, but she was stuck. She was trapped in the mud.
Just like I said on last week's broadcast, a sheep and pigs both get trapped in the mud, but the difference is the shepherd gets the sheep out of the mud and the sheep follows the shepherd, whereas if you get the pig out of the mud, he's just gonna return right to the mud. Well she was a sheep. And you and I are sheep. So Jesus says, listen, you're in the mud. You're trapped in the mud, but call to me now. Call to me because I am the one that's the way out of this thing. I am the, the, the steep pathway in the secret place, referring to his resurrection and the resurrection power that was gonna be ministered to her as she called to him.
And so we read last week in verse number 14 of chapter 2, that Yeshua said: O my dove, in the cleft of the rock. And we spoke about the cleft of the rock is a shadow of Jesus. We're protected in him. And so he says: O my dove, in the cleft of the rock. You can see Exodus, chapter 33, verse 20 through 22 for more information about this. O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, referring to Jesus's resurrection. And then he says, Let me see your form, and Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely.
And so he's saying listen, there's a way out from this. You've got to move on. You can't just stay sitting under the apple tree anymore. If you're gonna grow with me in divine romance, if you're heart's going to expand in my love, if you're gonna experience more of me, if you're gonna be able to get to the next level, you're gonna have to come with me to the mountain now. I see that you're stuck now, but you know what, I've made a place for you in the steep path of the secret pathway, which is my victory and my resurrection and ascension for you. So call out to me now to strengthen you. You're lovely to me. I want to hear your voice. Your form is lovely to me. And so she responds, beloved, as we pick on, pick up now with new territory in verse 15. She responds to him.
Remember this is a love song. It goes back and forth. And that's how our prayer life should be with God. And so she responds to him: Catch the foxes, for the little foxes are ruining the vineyards. Let's listen again: Catch the foxes for us, she cries out to Jesus; these little fears and these little insecurities, these, these thoughts that are running through my mind that are making me afraid. She calls out, I need help. I can't do it alone. The foxes are too crafty. The foxes are, are too quick. They, they seem to be elusive. So she says again: Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom. In other words she's saying, I'm growing in my relationship with you, but these foxes, they're hindering it, and they're, they're hurting it.
Listen again: Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, and get the next phrase, While our vineyards are blossoming, or are in blossom. In other words, she's alive in God. Her relationship with God is growing. It's in blossom, and yet these foxes are in the way. They're hindering, they're, it's Satan and his schemes trying to hinder us causing us to, to, to pull back from Jesus. So there's this tension going on. And then she says this, listen: I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. Notice she says here, listen again. I'm gonna read in verse 16 again: My beloved is mine, she says. My beloved is mine, and I am his.
Notice even though she's struggling, even though she's drawn back, even though she's not able to arise and follow him, she knows that her love for him is authentic. She says to him I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. In verse number 16, look again: My beloved is mine, and I am his. We need to define our self always, beloved, as lovely to God. We need to always understand that he is ours and we are his. And that we are his and that he is ours. We don't get disqualified if we sin.
Now I'm not giving anybody an excuse to sin because there's a difference between willfully sinning versus sinning out of immaturity. We're not making any provision for willful sinners. That's rebellion, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. And those of us that are born of God, we're not gonna be willfully in rebellion against God. So I'm not talking to those. But I'm talking to those of us that are his that have a big yes in our spirit. We don't want to sin, but because of our weakness sometimes, we find our self falling. And that was the case, beloved, with the bride here. She wasn't in rebellion, but she was trapped in fear and insecurity. She didn't think she could obey. And so even in this state, she's calling out. She says, Lord help me with this thing. Help me catch the foxes because they're, they're hurting my relationship with you as I'm growing in you. And then she states the relationship that she has.
Notice the confidence that she has, beloved, in her relationship with her bridegroom. The point is that you and I need to have confidence in our relationship with Jesus, that we are really his and that he is really ours, that we're lovely to him, and that he's our Bridegroom and our God. So listen again: My beloved is mine, and I am his. She's stating confidence in her relationship, even when she's struggling with sin. You and I need to be the same way. We need to know that we are beautiful to God.
Now I'm taking a side step here for a second, and I want to show you a progression, because remember, the Song of Songs, and I prefer to call it the Song of Songs rather than the Song of Solomon, because the Song of Songs more accurately conveys, beloved, what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us. This is the most beautiful love song that's ever been written, and it's the love song of Jesus and his church. So the Song of Songs, it is a progressive journey into divine love. It is a, a unveiling of revelation showing us how the Bride grows in her intimacy with Jesus the Bridegroom.
Stating that, having that said, I wanna show you some progression. In the beginning of the Song of Songs, the Shulamite bride, once again who's the shadow of the Church, she looks at Jesus in, mostly in terms of what he can do for her. Many of us we start out in our walk with God for that. God answers my prayers. It's mostly about, in the beginning, what God does for us. As she begins to grow in maturity, it's not just about what God does for her, but as she grows in maturity, now it's about, not just what he does for her, but she's also coming to the realization that she wants, that he rather, wants something from her.
So let me state it again. As she's growing in maturity, it's not just about what God does for her, but now she's gaining revelation, beloved, about what her relationship means to him. You see the Father has given the Church to Jesus as Jesus's bride and inheritance. Jesus gets enjoyment from his bride. The thing he wants more than anything else, beloved, is our affections. He wants the affections of the nations, those that belong to him from all the nations of the world. So Jesus wants our affections. It's a beautiful fragrance to him.
So as she grows in her spiritual maturity, she begins to understand that her affections mean something to him, that it touches his heart, that not only is she blessed when she feels his love, but she comes to an understanding that he is blessed, that Jesus is really blessed, beloved, when he feels our love, that it really touches him. It really moves him. He's given us a will, and when we choose to love him, he gets touched by that love, even at one point we see in the Song of Songs, he says it overwhelms him. He is so sensitive to our love. We're, he's moved by it.
So once again we're gonna look at the progression. It starts out that she is just focused on what he can do for her. As it moves on in her journey, as we move into the journey of divine love, now she understands it's not just about what he does for her, but also she gains the understanding of how she blesses and ministers to him. Finally by the end of the journey, she sees herself as his property and she sees that she exists now for him, just as a wife often times exists, beloved, to bless her husband. You know women often times have within them that servant spirit. They just want to be a blessing to their husband. And so, and we want to just state beloved, in the kingdom of God there's equality. We're all equal to God in terms of his love and affirmation, but there's a difference in gender in terms of the inner workings of our nature. Men and women are different inside in terms of our disposition.
So I want to show you as, what I just stated how that progresses in the Song of Songs here. What we're gonna do first, is we're gonna look at the very beginning and we're gonna go to the first chapter, in the 13th verse. In chapter 1, verse 13 and 14, she says this: My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh that lies between my breast all night. She's talking about what he is to her. What she, what he is doing for her. My beloved is to me, in verse number 14, a cluster of henna blossoms. So in the beginning it's all about what Jesus is to her. But now as we approach chapter 2, she says, my beloved is mine, in verse number 16, and I am his. Now she says it's not just what he does for me, but now I also have revelation of what I am to him. So she says, my beloved is mine, but get the next phrase, he says and I am his.
Now as we continue on, we see an even further progression in the 6th verse, in the 6th chapter rather, the 3rd verse. Now as she's growing in diving romance, we look at verse number 3 of chapter 6, she says, I am my beloved's. So now it's gone from my beloved is mine at the beginning, and as we get it now to a deep intimacy as she is growing in her understanding of their marital relationship, now she turns it around and she says in verse 3 of chapter 6: I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.
Now she sees first of all their relationship as being defined as he, rather that she belongs to him. She belongs to him. His needs are what's first. And then finally, beloved, as we get to the 7th chapter and we approach the, the end of the, the climax of this relationship, she states it another way in the 10th verse, and she says I am my beloved's and his desire is for me. Now she sees herself as being consumed by her beloved, totally belonging, hallelujah, to him. So that was just a side note here as we're journeying in to divine love to see this progression of, of holy romance.
Let's continue on. My beloved is mine, in verse 16, and I am his. And then she says: He pastures his flock among the lilies. And, and, and before I go on, I just wanted to mention, remember she cried out to him, catch the foxes for us. And so before I press on I just want to bring it back to that verse, in verse 13. You know if there's things in your life that are robbing you of your relationship with God, those foxes. Remember, foxes are quick. They're crafty. Sometimes they come out at night when you can't see them.
If there's little sins in your life, beloved, I'm talking to you, you're the church of Jesus, thoughts that seems to get in the way, insecurities, fears, thoughts of lust, anger, selfishness, these little foxes, beloved, you can call out to Jesus about these things, just like she does here. She realized that she didn't have to overcome all these sins herself. She looked to the Lord. She looked to her husband to help her. Help me, she said, catch the foxes. Catch these foxes for me. Jesus help me with these insecurities. Help me with these fears. Help me with these thoughts of, of, of anxiousness. Help me with these thoughts of lust. Help me with these thoughts of selfishness and anger. We can call out to him in, in the secret place of, of the steep pathway, beloved. There's mercy for us in the resurrection. Jesus ministers to us as we call out to him.
So Jesus we ask you right now, catch the foxes in our life that are hurting the blossoming of your love from our hearts. Thank you, Yeshua, that we don't have to do it alone. We call upon you to help us to catch the little foxes, to catch the little thoughts of insecurities, and fears, and selfishness, and vain ambitions. Help us catch these foxes, Yeshua, our Bridegroom husband, and put them to death that there might be nothing hindering your love for us and our love for you. And all God's people spoke Hebrew and said, Amen.
So she's calling out and she, she's, she's feeling still not enough power to move on. And so she says in verse number 17: Until the cool of the day. I like the King James translation here. The King James says: until the day breaks. In other words she's saying I can't move on until the day breaks. What happens when the day breaks? New life breaks in, in the morning, right? So she's saying, until new life breaks in, Yeshua my husband, I can't follow you to the mountain.
And so let's look at that again: Until the day breaks when the shadows flee away. And then she says: Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether. What she is saying here, beloved, this is such a crucial, critical verse. It's a crisis point in the journey into divine love. She's saying until I have more light on this, until I can see things differently, until the day breaks and I can see this from your eyes, Lord Jesus, you're gonna have to turn away and go alone cause I can't follow you. And then she says on the mountains of Bether. And that Hebrew word Bether actually means separation. She's so fearful that she says I can't obey you. Go, Yeshua, I'm gonna miss you. Go, I can't come.
Let's listen to that verse again. She's trapped. She's called out for help. She sees that she's unable to move on. So she says: Until the cool of the day, or until the day breaks in the King James, when the shadows flee. In other words, when there's no longer darkness and fear around me, when this fear flees, when the, when the fear flees, until the shadows flee, she says, you'll have to turn, Jesus, turn my beloved and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether. And again Bether is the Hebrew for the word separation.
So there's a separation that's taken place in the young bride's life because of disobedience. Her disobedience, beloved, is not because of rebellion. It's because of fear. So she calls out to Jesus, come and help me. And until you help me, I can't come with you. So she says, go alone. And she actually realizes that this fear, that her unwillingness to obey because of fear is going to break her fellowship with her husband, that it's gonna create disobedience in her life. And she says so go now to the mountain of separation, the mountain of Bether. She wasn't fully prepared for what it was gonna mean to her.
We're gonna find out as we continue on, beloved, next week in chapter 3, that his presence left her. She finds herself now laying in bed and she can't feel him anymore. She doesn't experience his love anymore. Jesus, in his loving discipline, withdraws his presence from her to cause her to realize that it's gonna be easier for her to obey than it is for her to disobey. So next week when we pick up Lord willing, we're gonna see beloved, that it's easier to obey Jesus than to disobey him and face the obstacle of separation from his presence.
Father I pray for these that are watching right now. They might be at a season of Bether in their life. They're at a season, Father, of separation. They can't feel your presence because of disobedience. There's things that you've put your finger on, Lord Jesus, in their lives, but they've been unwilling to repent. They've been unwilling to follow you up to the mountain. They've been unwilling to stop doing certain, stop doing certain things, or they've been unwilling to do what you've asked them to do, and because of this, they're like the maiden in chapter 3. They're laying in their bed, they're alone in life, and they don't feel you. Thank you Jesus that you're not finished with them yet. And I ask you to touch them and speak to them, and give them the grace right now to move on with you, that they'll feel your presence, Jesus, once again.