|
|
||
|
|
|||
The name of this study comes from a passage in the Song of Solomon, found here: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.” (Songs 2:3, 4)
Some have said that this book is an allegory for Christ and His Bride, the Church. Others have said that it is about Solomon himself, a human man from the perspective of his wife. Functionally, practically, it does not matter all that much what the original intent was; inspiration has led us to include it in the Scriptures, and the Spirit has used it in order to teach us the reality of Yahshua’s desire for His people. This is what it means to be a “type,” after all. When King David wrote the Psalms, he was not actively thinking, “In a few thousand years, this is going to be what the Messiah thinks when He is raised up on the cross.” No, he was using the language available to him to describe his thoughts about Yahweh, about his kingdom, about his enemies, and the Spirit guided his thoughts in such a way that it would later be read by Christ in His humanity, and appropriately reflect the divine mind.
We have spoken a lot about prophecy over the past few months, in terms of its purpose, how to understand it, and how to apply it. We haven’t spoken a lot about the mechanics, and a big part of the reason for that is that it has not been clearly revealed to us exactly works. Even the prophets do not understand how it works. When Samuel heard the voice of Yah calling to him in his sleep, he thought it was his master Eli. (1Sam 3:3-5) Daniel asked the angel showing him visions what the things he was seeing meant, and was told that he wasn’t gong to understand what was ultimately the fall of his beloved nation. (Dan 12:8, 9)
In the New Testament, we read, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.” (1Cor 14:29) We don’t see this verse referenced as much as it should be when we speak of modern day prophets. The Bible tells us, explicitly, “let the other judge.” I want you to understand what horrors, what grief, what suffering, would have been avoided, if this verse had been understood and properly applied. With this verse utilized correctly, there are no cult leaders. There are no popes. There are no spiritual mind-controllers who claim to have special gifts to compel the consciences of others. “Let the other judge.” If anyone comes with a gift of prophecy in this time of grace and says, “I am a prophet, therefore I am in charge, I’m the boss,” that person is not sent by Yahweh. We know this, because they are claiming to be above accountability due to their spiritual gift, while the Scripture says that the prophets are subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation of Yahweh. The individual giving the prophecy is not necessarily the one who is intended to understand it and explain it for the benefit of others; it can happen this way, of course, but the point is that the prophetic gift is not an automatic indication of authority.
So when we see modern Seventh-day Adventists say, “We believe this and that because Ellen White said it,” these people are not preparing to stand with the 144,000, who hear the voice of the Lamb, and follow Him wherever He goes. When we hear people saying, “Well, Ellen White never kept the feast days, never instructed the Church to keep New Moons, never warned against a Trademark Law, never emphasized the name ‘Yahweh,’ so we don’t accept these things,” we know that they are following traditions of men, grounded in truth initially, but traditions nevertheless, and not the living witness of our High Priest.
And of course, I am not dishonoring Ellen White or her gifts. I am stating, in different words, things that she herself has said. She would agree with this, and in fact warned the SDA Church against doing the very thing that some are now doing. Read for principle. Read with prayer. Read with an ear open to the Holy Spirit. This is how we are edified as individuals and as a people by the voice of inspiration.
I’m going on a bit about prophecy, because this is something that the last generation of saints must really understand very well. This is how the Scriptures become and remain the foundation of our faith, because we see and hear what our Father is saying to us in every passage of the Word. We can take verses from rarely-quoted books like the Song of Solomon, and find a life-giving truth that both blesses us, and causes us to share with others for their own growth – if, of course, they will accept it.
Here we read of a banner that Yahshua places over His Bride, and I am using the prophetic interpretation of these symbols, because the Spirit uses them to teach us what our Father is like, and what our Savior is like. There is a blessing that is important for our sanctification in these things as we prepare for our everlasting inheritance.
The Godhead is represented by a Father and Son. There are Two enthroned in Heaven, and as John’s Gospel tells us, there are Two that enter the heart by Their Spirit and dwell within us when we are born again. (John 14:23) Both the Father and Son have a role in the character and particulars of the Church, being the Bride of Yahshua, and the daughter of the Father. This is… strange to human perception, but note the way that the Son refers to His Bride in the Song of Solomon: “A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” (Songs 4:12) This is a phrase often repeated in the book; it is not a casually thrown expression, but has meaning in the spirit, much more so than it could in the flesh.
What we find, then, is that we are twice-blessed by divinity, and thereby equipped for all challenges, all obstacles that may be permitted to exist on our narrow way. Because of Their authority over us, neither the demons nor the flesh have the ability to command us, and this has a direct implication for our salvation.
We know that the flesh is all that the worldly person knows; it is all of his senses, all of his experience of the world. While he may aspire to higher ideals, and even act nobly at times, the flesh is his prevailing motivator, and he cannot be consistently good, nor can he be truly righteous. We know that the devils are fallen angels, who were created to be stronger than we are. They have millennia of experience tempting humanity away from Yahweh, and move among us unseen. How, then, can anyone stand against the flesh, or against a demon’s enticements? Of ourselves, we can do nothing. The wages of sin is death, and a single sin, a single submission to the flesh or demonic temptation, reveals a soul that is not safely within the arms of Yah.
The unwavering strength of Yahweh is our only security. Only those who accept His authority over us can stand against evil and see the blessing of redemption. But what does that look like? We have an example in another Old Testament record.
Here is a rather unusual passage, another “rare” one for our study today: “And it came to pass at midnight, that the man [Boaz the Israelite, a descendant of King David] was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, ‘Who art thou?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman.’ And he said, ‘Blessed be thou of Yahweh, my daughter; for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.’” (Ruth 3:8-11)
This is a part of the ancient world’s marriage custom, to ensure that women (who didn’t have a lot of options in society) would not go without sustenance should their husbands die as Ruth’s had. A close relative, called the “kinsman redeemer” should take her as his wife, and provide for her. Here we see Ruth requesting this from Boaz, and we see him agreeing to this, again in a dual role, calling her both a “daughter” and a prospective bride. She is accepted, because she is a “virtuous woman,” and this acceptance is symbolized by Boaz covering her with his garment. The word there rather unfortunately translated as “skirt” means the edge, or corner, of a covering garment, much as the seraphim’s faces are covered in the presence of Yahweh by their “corners,” or their wings. It is a symbol, a token of protection, by a higher authority.
In just the same way, it is the Fatherhood of Yahweh that gives us protection from death and its various agents. It is the Husband-hood of Yahshua that provides us with protection from the Enemy. They have placed a banner over us, which is Their love.
Now, we know from a study we made some time ago of “Covenants,” of divine agreements, that with every formal arrangement between Yahweh and man, there is always a “token.” There is always something that our senses can detect that represents this covenant. Let’s read just a couple of these:
“And Elohim said, ‘This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.’” (Gen 9:12, 13)
“And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.” (Gen 17:11)
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart […] and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” (Deu 6:6, 8)
That last verse is an interesting one; traditional Jews have interpreted those words literally, and have actually written out the Scriptures on strips of paper and put them in little boxes called phylacteries that they bind to their foreheads. We understand this in a more figurative way, but in either case, the word “sign” there is the same Hebrew word for token, ‘ot, and we see that Yah’s words to us, His promises, these are also tokens of His Covenant with us, as much as any physical object might be.
Now, here is a question: what is it that a father, and a husband, give to someone as a sign of their authority, as a sign of their headship? What is the token of this covenant? It is a name. There is nothing so universal as this, as a sign of divine authority. A father’s Biblical sign of authority is to give to his son or daughter a first name, and when a woman is married, she takes on her husband’s last name to replace the one she inherited from her father. In this way, she is identified with her priest, both when she is younger, and when she is old enough to marry. As we know, in these modern times, the idea that a woman should have any part of her identity attributed to a patriarchal system is becoming rather taboo, and certainly under Heaven’s judgment and our Father’s love there is no “male or female” in Christ, but the symbolism here is meaningful.
We are all, male and female alike, identified as the “Bride” of Christ, so we are all equally blessed by this symbolically meaningful arrangement.
The sign of a father’s authority is the name he gives to his offspring. The Scriptures tell us this: “And it came to pass, when [Rachel] was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, ‘Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.’ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni, but his father called him Benjamin.” (Gen 35:17, 18) Nowhere else in the Bible is this individual called Ben-oni, or “Son of Sorrow.” Always, it is Benjamin, the “Son of my Right Hand.” What his father called him, that was his name, just as whatsoever Adam named earthly things, because he was given authority over them, that was their name. Despite any circumstances based in the flesh, even extreme ones, it is the father that names his child, and passes on to that child his blessings. Should a child reject the name his father has given him, he is really rejecting the authority of his father which, as we know, is a violation of the Law, its Fifth Commandment.
When Yahshua was about to cast a demon out, to exercise authority over the wicked spirit, we read, “And He asked him, ‘What is thy name?’ And he answered, saying, ‘My name is Legion: for we are many.’” (Mark 5:9)
The importance of names, as sign of the one to whom you are submitted, is found in the earliest books of the Bible, and also the last. We read of the woman riding the beast: “And upon her forehead was a name written, ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’” (Rev 17:5) Why is that name there? It is her authority, an indicator of whom she recognizes as her authority. It was given to her by her father: the father of blasphemies, the father of lies. (John 8:44)
By contrast, we read, “And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of Yahweh and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” (Rev 22:3, 4)
The name that Yahweh has given you, the name that Yahshua has given you, that is the token of Their authority over you. That is the sign of the power They have given to you over sin, self, and all temptations. It is a testimony to the world, and all the universe, that you are beloved by the King, and not subject to the powers of this world.
His “banner” over us is love, agape. The words of that banner are the name by which He has called us. Now, I mentioned Ellen White earlier. She saw by inspiration this very idea, that the name by which Yahweh has called His people, the banner that He has given to us, is the name of the Church. Now, the meaning of that banner is love. The significance of that banner is the commandments of Yah, and the faith of Yahshua. The words associated with the banner are “Seventh-day Adventist.” If any think that this is a stretch by any means, there are direct quotes that verify this.
But let us not live by quotes. Let us understand the Biblical principles at work here. According to spiritual order and propriety, the Father gives a name to his son, or daughter, that represents character, that has to do with destiny. We see from examples like Abraham, and like Jacob, that when a greater destiny is bestowed, the name is changed to correspond properly. When divine order is followed, the name corresponds to the character.
And yes, we know that merely belonging to a Church does not save anyone. We know that being baptized into this or that Church doesn’t give salvation. But neither does any work. Neither does keeping the Sabbath, or testifying against sin, or saying grace before meals… but they are important. We do these things, because we recognize the authority of the Father and Son over us. We acknowledge our Creator, and our Bridegroom, because that is what the banner above us directs us to do.
His banner over us is love, and that love has transformed us into a people who will do the works, who will give the testimony, who will unite under the name that has been provided to us. It is not a small thing, this matter of “belonging,” this topic of Church membership. We have seen that it is within the Church that our Father has placed his apostles, and prophets, and teachers, so that we may be edified, so that we may stand perfected before the throne.
Those who reject these gifts, and the vessel in which they are provided, cannot accomplish the goals that those gifts were intended to bring about. And remember, there are three angels that every soul must follow, if it will see everlasting life.
The first speaks of the coming judgment, and bids us to prepare by accepting the victory of Christ over every sin. We know very well that there are many, even many who think themselves to be great and righteous men, who do not even believe what the angel is saying, much less do they accept it. Here, at this very first of the three angels, they fall away.
The second angel speaks of the fall of Babylon, the end of confusion. This is a return to right-thinking, to right beliefs. Here is purity of doctrine, and the processing of thoughts unto sanctification. Here is the restoration of every good and useful gift our Father has given to us. But here, again, we see many fall away. They get stuck on doctrine. They make creeds and tests where the Scriptures do not. They fall prey to the doctrines of devils, and therefore fail to attain the character of Christ. By beholding, we become changed, but those who accept a distorted view of the Father and Son due to the false teachings of wicked men never behold Them clearly.
The third angel speaks of avoiding the Mark of the Beast. As one, as a single, united people, the saints of the Most High speak judgment against the Enemy of souls. Here there is unity, here there is a one-ness of Spirit that brings together all who seek first the Kingdom of Heaven.
We are saved as individuals. We are sealed as tribes. We experience the return of Yahshua as a single, unified spiritual Nation. Here again are the angels: One, Two and Three.
Those that follow these angels see the Mark of the Beast for what it is, a union of divine authority with human power in an attempt to force loyalty away from the Creator. It looks like the murder of Abel. It looks like the crucifixion of Christ and the stoning of Stephen. It looks like the Sunday Law. It looks like the Trademark litigation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. To our Father, it all looks exactly the same. It is a throwing off of His banner to stand under, and ultimately abuse, the authority of another. Here, again, we see many fall away, unable to accept the Third Angel’s leading, unable to find the little flock who are walking together, walking as one, and acknowledging the authority of the Father and Son by taking Their Law, Their character, and Their name.
There is, of course, but one name given under Heaven by which men are saved, and that name is Yahshua, the Son of Yahweh. There is one angel He has appointed to lead them, the third angel of the Everlasting Gospel. Just so, there is one name He has given them to identify themselves, while they sojourn on this earth, a name that is a sign of His authority over us, and therefore a sign of our safety from the Enemy. It is a name given by prophecy, which we began this study discussing… prophecy that is not perfectly understood by the mortal mind, but nevertheless critical for our sanctification, for our perfection as saints of Yahweh.
There is no other name but “Creation Seventh Day Adventist” that represents our faith to the world appropriately. It is not a name that we use to stand on hilltops and beat our chests. No, it is an acknowledgement that we are men and women under authority, under the head-ship of a loving Shepherd, who has chosen to identify Himself with us, to “claim” us before the universe as one of His Own, a Family, a People, and a Home. It is a name that marks us as the servants of all others, and those willing to both suffer and die in the name of that service.
Yah knows that human beings need tokens. We need to “belong,” not only to Him, but to one another as well. One of the first things He said after He created Adam is, “It is not good that the man should be alone,” (Gen 2:18) and He immediately provided him with companionship. If Adam, in his pristine and sinless perfection, required companionship, fellowship, friendship, how much more do we need it today? And our Father has given us a banner, a sign to the world, which represents His character and His love, to draw others near for companionship, fellowship, and friendship. It was said of the name “Seventh-day Adventist” that it would convict the heart, and bring about that gathering of the saints. Now that this name has been tarnished by unclean hands, it has been left to us as a curse, and we are called by an additional name, (Isa 65:15) which restores honor to the People of Yahweh.
And again, I am not saying that the sounds of this name, or the words of this name, have any supernatural significance on their own. Yahweh’s banner in its true expression is agape, it is love. But just as the name “Christian” is not enough in this time of confusion and deception to arrest the attention and win the heart, so the name “Love” or “The Church of Love” will not strike any particular cords with the heart, nor will it convict the soul of its present state of sin.
But if someone will commit to being a creationist in his mind and spirit, if he will honor the Law of Yahweh (including the controverted seventh day), and if he will cleanse himself of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit because the advent of Yahshua is at hand, because His appearing is very near, that is enough to keep him from every deception of the Enemy. He will hear the voice of the Spirit. He will love the Law. He will cherish the brethren. He will identify himself with them through repentance, faith, and then baptism, taking the name that the Father has given to us as a sign of His authority, and that the Son has given to us as a sign of His betrothal. He will see spiritual beauty in what our Father has done for us, and he obeys, not because he is compelled to do so, except that love is the greatest of all compulsions.
So then, let none err regarding the power of the Scriptures. Everyone can read for themselves what they declare, and everyone has access to the apostles, and prophets, and teachers, and helpers, that we have been given to each other to be. Everyone can understand the time of judgment in which we find ourselves, and may identify with the Father and with His people, according to the two great principles of the Law, to love our Father above all else, and our neighbors as ourselves. Let us not reject any of our Father’s good gifts, for these things, all working together in their proper place, open wide the gates of Heaven so that all may enter in.
David.