Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?

The theme of the entire gospel of grace in one question asked by a relative or friend.

This simple truth spoken of the Bride in the Song of Songs is the most incredible utterance of the truth of the gospel of the grace spoken within the fabric of the Old Covenant. Here we read a question that the relative or the friend of the bride of Christ is asking in regards to the gospel of our Lord and Savior according to the predestined knowledge of the Lord in regards to the depth or the meaning of this grace.

A spiritual phenomenon only revealed to the elect by the Spirit of the Lord in all generations.

Thursday night we spoke of the pain and the blessings of Abandonment. We also commented on the wilderness and its appropriation for finding God in the midst of it. We saw how the Lord in Exodus 5:1 wanted a feast celebrated there on to Him, and we saw how prophets of old turned to their Masters in their feelings of abandonment.

Here again the wilderness is mentioned in this romantic love affair written by Solomon almost 930 to 970 years before Christ. In it the Spirit of God is speaking of such a divine revelation of God’s predestined love for His Bride that is incredible.  He in this one verse reveals the truth in regards to the remnant and their predestined victory in leaning upon their beloved Bridegroom.

Paul the apostle reading many of the Old Covenant readings discovers this huge mystery and that is why he calls the bride a chaste virgin in his letters.

This simple verse in the Old Covenant reading speaks of the wilderness, which represents life on earth for true remnant elect, and the one coming up meaning they who would climb up in their knowledge of their predestined plan in Christ their Redeemer and Lord. It is a great mystery to the friend of the elect ( The Old Covenant people), but an experiential truth to the one climbing up.

It is seriously unfathomable by human perception the magnitude and the depth of this one verse. In coming up through this wilderness we see the necessity of one word leaning on the Beloved. This is a very contrary statement to the words spoken by the prophet Micah who in chapter three of his prophetic utterance is exposing the wolves among them by unmasking their faces who falsely were claiming this same reliance on the Lord.

( Micah 3:11 )

Though they claim the same reliance , but

They  do not walk the same walk. These walk contrary to the grace and their reliance is on their own arm and not the Arm of the Lord. But the true bride goes through the same wilderness and is learning to come up and up and up only leaning on her Beloved. The wilderness for them serves another purpose, but to triumph in their quest for God by leaning on His grace to bring them up. Although they fail in numerous heights, but their failures only serves to bring them closer on relying in His finished work of grace. The unmerited favor they gradually come to rely upon.  These learn on each step of their faith walk that their fleshly efforts will only keep them at the bottom of the mountain of faith they are called to climb up. These are the true Overcomers. People who’s quest is not the same as the others. Their pursuit is to enter into His rest. They are made to understand the purpose of their call.

They fallow the footsteps of the One Who has called them to this one purpose and they live and continue to survive in the wilderness to Aliyah to the next height of their faith by being separated on God’s purpose of holiness or single minded pursuit of their conformity in the image of their creator. They will not choose another path. They will learn the purpose of their election according to grace for holiness. These are the ones who would not leave a stumbling block in their own path for sanctification.

These are those who like Christ their Lord have one purpose to follow and that is the Lord’s will in their lives. These have entered in by faith into Christ as the Lord of their Sabbath. They do despise any other route.

For them the wilderness serves only one purpose, to come up leaning upon their beloved.

As in in the same prophetic book written by Solomon in earlier verses which speaks about the love being in a sleeping stage, yet the divine command says do not awaken love  until it pleases.  So is the fragrance of this awakening, which would fill the Bridegrooms nostrils with this pleasurable smell.

The remnant elect upon the discovery of this divine love will throw themselves into the river of God’s love. They would no longer go in and out like in prophet Ezekiel’s vision, they would once for ever trust themselves in the unfathomable love of God in Christ to bring them to shore. They now know just LikeJeremiah the prophet in Lamentation chapter 3 verse 20 and on that great is He faithfulness  and they would willingly say “ Now I would trust myself to Him”. They trust their conformity to Him alone, and  not their own aimless human efforts.

Like Joseph in the kings prison they too would be elevated overnight to the kings palace to inherit their portion through grace when they would least expected it, and that only through grace alone. Although Joseph is a type of Christ the Messiah in many aspects, yet he could also serve the type of the bride too. Why because in his years of self proclaimed abandonment the grace of God in His predestination of divine foreknowledge was pursuing him to a full reliance upon his God and not his own efforts for bringing his greatest God given dreams to pass. Joseph after speaking to the Pharaoh’s cup bearer had to throw himself upon God’s unfathomable mercy ( Covenant Love ) to see his miracle come through by God’s grace and only in God’s own timing and in His own way. It is a vain pursuit to rob God off of His glory by trying to climb the mountain of His wilderness called life alone and by human merits.

Who Is this? Let us go back to this portion of the title of our message today. Why such an identifying question? Isn’t the identity of the bride clear? Yes and No. Yes since the bridegroom knows her by the covenant of betrothal, and no since her face is veiled through the transforming power the Spirit in her wilderness journey.

She has been conformed to the image of her bridegroom. She no longer resembles her former image. She has understood her only goal and vision in life should be to let the Spirit of God prepare her for her coming Bridegroom.

Yes she made herself ready as Rev. 19 says and her works of faith has brought her the wedding gown, yet only by leaning on her Beloved. No more self efforts only a leaning or relying upon her beloved and upon no other. As Joseph could not bring about his own dreams, so must this bride trust her master lover to beautify her for Him.

As a bride who’s single pursuit is to be received by her future husband in all acceptance and honor, so is the bride of Christ who is desperately searching to be found worthy of her calling upon the Heaven’s Bridegrooms return. Her challenge is not to perform to be caught up, but to rely and lean on that promise by faith.

Many like to work hard to be presentable at that midnight hour, but only few have kept their lamps trimmed and have collected the extra oil of their understanding of the work grace within them. As the midnight hour is upon us Church I pray that we too would stand on the side that the friend or the relative of the bridegroom looking at us says….  “ Who is this coming up from the wilderness fully leaning upon her Beloved.

Amen? Amen and Amen

Well to be honest with you I am myself in the process of understanding of such great mystery called grace.