The palace of intimacy

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Song of Songs as a visual story

Recently, the Holy Spirit started to reveal treasures in Song of Songs in visual or pictorial format. It shouldn’t be surprising since Song of Songs was initially written as a theater play.

It is much easier for a reader or listener to see the story when I start a chapter by describing the décor of stage, the characters, music and atmosphere. This enables spiritual truths to be transferred much more effectively. Between the explanations of the keys and symbolism of the various verses, I will also describe what is happening on the stage. I pray that this style of writing will break the book open in a new and fresh way.

The next section describes the first scene – it’s all starting at a palace.

 

The show begins

The audience is seated. The orchestra started to play and the curtain is drawn.

On the stage is an imposing palace with a wide staircase and a magnificant wooden door that allows entry. The onlookers outside the palace sometimes cast a longing view to the open windows in the hope to see something wonderful inside. They have heard stories of beautifully decorated rooms, a staircase that leads to a lower level cellar and a courtyard with the most beautiful trees and plants. Of course nothing of this is visible from the street and even from the garden in front of the palace.

No guided tours are offered to satisfy the curiosity of people. You either live inside or you live outside of the palace. Only those two options exist.

 

Outside the palace

Outside of the palace is not bad. There is a lovely garden with only one entrance gate – the cross. Those dwelling in the front garden are reborn in Christ and have been baptised as an act of obedience. The law of the Spirit of life is written on their inner most parts and for the most part, they serve the Lord.

Most Christians are satisfied with life in the front garden of the palace. Everything they need is there: good sermons, weekly gatherings and morning and evening prayers. It’s comfortable. They have enough to lead a good Christian life. In the front garden of the palace, people are not challenged or streched much. There is also no need to question any of your convictions. Life follows an easy spiritual routine.

 

In the front garden there is always a teacher or leader available to answer the questions of those in the garden, no need to find answers for themselves.

The front garden is a place of being a good Christian.

 

People in the front garden love to spend their time critisising those that live inside the palace. It’s very each to find fault with something that we don’t have any experience of. What happens inside the palace are not always aligned to the theology of the front garden. Think for example of the critisism against teachings on bloodline curses, the ministry of deliverance, teachings on dying to self and even on hearing the voice of God directly.

These topics don’t form part of the frame of reference of the front garden and neither does the theology of the front garden allow for it. When someone approaches a leader living in the front garden, topics like these are labeled as demonic or old testament. This leads to ugly critisism against those that obtained first hand experience within the palace.

Today there are even ministries with the sole purpose of critisising other ministries and posting their findings online. They love to portray themselves as the noble Bereans of Acts chapter 17. We have to be very careful to not label someone that is spirit filled and leading a life deep in the palace as someone occupied by an evil spirit. Having said that, I don’t say that we are not allowed to warn against false disciples misleading people. All I’m saying is that we have to be careful because we don’t always see and understand in full.

 

To a great extend, the front garden lacks love. The longer we are dwelling within the palace, the greater our realisation of the lovelessness in the church. For years I wasn’t able to recognise my own lovelessness. From a place of pride, I critisised and found fault.

The Lord’s people don’t understand His heart full of love, mercy and grace. The religion of being a good Christian and church person in the front garden robbed us of it. Men filled the place in our being that was created for His love, with the ‘good’ activities of the front garden.

 

Some stay in the front garden for years before they long for more, but most stay there for the rest of their lives while they wait for the return of Jesus.

 

The stairs

Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness (Heb 6:1 AMP) 

The staircase leading from the front garden to the palace door is a place of seperation. It makes a distinction between those that are satisfied with front garden comfortable Christianity and those that seek more.

Every believer should reach a place where we realise that there is more and deeper in God that what we are used to. In that place, we have to make a decision: are we going to set up camp at the foot of the mountain or are we going to start climbing the holy mountain of the Lord (Ps 15 and Ps 24).

  Who may ascend onto the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?  (Ps 24:3)

 

It has always been the will of the Father to have a direct relationship with each person. Think about the children of Israel at the feet of Mount Horeb. God spoke to them directly from the fire. The people chose to have Moses as an intermediary. That was not the initial intention. The people were scared of the holiness of YHVH and it’s still the same even until this day. God’s holiness compells us to deep introspection, confession and repentance. Fleshliness cannot hide from His holiness. And this makes people ill at ease. For this reason you won’t hear a lot of sermons or teachings about this topic. People become uncomfortable and uncomfortable people don’t return the following week.

 

On the stairs we ask for more. There we ask that the doors of the palace be opened in order for us to enter into a life of intimacy and deep friendship with our Bridegroom King.

On the stairs we leave nominal Christianity behind and we step into an exciting life where the Holy Spirit leads us personally. It will challenge and stretch us. We will also be exposed to things in the Kingdom that we didn’t even know exist.

 

Allow me to quickly describe the events on the stage. There are a lot of people in the front garden, all busy with different kinds of church activities. From this group of people, a young girl is making her way towards the staircase leading to the palace door. Her desperate hunger is visible on her face as she is pressing through the crowd. The door of the palace opened and the King can be seen, waiting on her. She calls out:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. (Songs 1:2a)

When we ask to be kissed by Jesus Christ, we ask for deep one on one personal intimacy. No one can kiss two people simultaneously.

People stared, laughing and mocking her while labeling her as being too much and out of balance. Her family and friends are dumbfounded as they watch her walking away. Some are appaled because she is spoiling their way of life.

 

Our motivation

I don’t only want to describe the romantic and obvious meaning of the verse in this chapter. I want to go a bit deeper. The book is called ‘Deep treasures in Song of Songs’ after all. Some might feel that I’m now spoiling the loveliness of the first verse with a call unto introspection. We have to be stretched in order to grow towards a spiritual mature bride of the King. The growing process happens inside the palace and we have to make sure that we are living inside or long to live inside for the right reason.

There is a question that each one of us have to answer honestly. Why do want to step onto the road of intimacy? No matter how long we have been walking with the Lord, we have to consider this question earnestly to answer.

Why do we want more?

When we start our spiritual journey as babies in Christ, the Holy Spirit brings the easier recognisable trespasses and sins to our attention. Things that we can see, for example addictions, swearing and partying. Later on He starts to shed His light on the secrets of our hearts and things like jealousy, bitterness, sexual addictions, dirty thoughts and so on starts to bother us. Then, as we are continuing to grow, He works on our attitudes and flawed traits. And then we reach a point where He exposes the motivations of our heart. The why we feel and react in a certain manner. The why we desire or avoid certain things or people. The why we are scared. I’m not sure if there is a deeper level of introspection, but the motivation of our hearts is deeply seated.

 

This discussion brings us to the necessary question which demands a very honest answer.

Why do we want more spiritually?

 

Here are a few options:

Maybe we’ve seen the intimate relationship with the King in someone else’s life and we desire what they have. The typical: ‘I also want what that person have’, or ‘I also want to hear the Lord like so and so’, or ‘I want to be a prophet, apostle or important person’ or ‘I want to be a prominent spiritual person who can perform miracles, heal the sick and give accurate prophetic word’.

 

The follow-up question is then: do we seek the experiences of that person or do we long for the Bridegroom King Himself?

 

Some people are very performance driven and want to achieve the highest level in every aspect of their lifes, also their spiritual walk. In this case the palace is the next logical step. The question is: do we want to reach the highest spiritual place because of success, achievement, spiritual driveness and pride. Do we want to make a name for ourselves? Do we long for the biggest and most effective ministry? Do we want people to know who we are or to know how far spiritually advanced we are?

 

Maybe someone has taught us that we need to attain a certain level of holiness in order to be part of the bride of Jesus and now we are scared that we will miss the mark.

A counter question may be: is it possible that fear might be driving us?

 

Maybe we have heard that the King reveals deep secrets to those inside the palace and we feel excluded because don’t receive such deep revelations or prophetic word as others. In modern language, it’s called FOMO (fear of missing out). Is this the motivation of our hearts? Are we scared that we are missing out on wonderful spiritual experiences and goosebump moments?

 

These are tough questions to answer and only bravest of the brave ventures into this deep level of introspection in order to answer truthfully.

 

 The test

Of course our first reaction will be denial to all of the questions above. It’s our flesh that puts up a wall to prevent us to search deeper. We really need to spend some quiet time at the feet of Jesus and to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the true motive of our heart.

The question that we must honestly answer is:

If there were no new experiences, interesting things, revelation of mysteries, special anointings and callings within the walls of the palace, would we still long to enter?

 

I believe the reason why the King openend the door for the girl in Song of Songs to enter into deeper, was because her motive was true. The only right and acceptable motive can be found in the last part of verse 2. That’s the key.

… for your love is better than wine. 

To seek Jesus Christ for who He is, is the only acceptable reason. There is truly nothing better in this life than to know Him. Nothing in the entire world can satifsy in the way He does. The moment we grasp this and when the Holy Spirit awakens the yearning to His personal kisses in our hearts, we will never be satisfied until we can dwell in the deepest places of intimacy in the palace with Him.

 

When we have found this deep intimacy in Him, we are no longer driven by calling, gift or function. To worship YHVH Elohim for who He is, becomes our only calling and ministry. Way too many emphasis are placed on finding your calling and gift instead of placing the emphasis on true worship for who God is. It’s only from a place of true worship that we can become useful and only then ministry will flow through us by means of the gifts.

I will be [fully] satisfied when I awake [to find myself] seeing Your likeness. (Ps 17:15b Amp)