Psalm 130. A song of ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Coming soon, coming soon. We're in the Song of Songs 6, it is verses 8 through 13. This is entitled, Return, Return the Shulamite. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners? I went down to the Garden of Nuts to see the verdure of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded and the pomegranates had bloomed. Before I was even aware, my soul had made me as the chariots of my noble people. Return, return, O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon you. What would you see in the Shulamite? As it were, the dance of the two camps? It kind of just drifts off, doesn't it? It's kind of hard to figure out what's going on in it. Having answered questions about the Bible for many years, one thing is evident. People will see what they want to see in a passage. Quite often it is about their anticipated departure via the rapture. People insert the rapture into innumerable passages that have nothing to do with it. But this is what we do. Frequently we take our thoughts and ideas and insert them into the text because that excites us and reassures us that the doctrine must be true. In this case, it is true. The New Testament explains the rapture quite clearly. Reading the words of Paul concerning the rapture, it is so clearly presented that to not accept it as a doctrine means that it has to be taught out of someone. Someone who picks up the Bible and reads the passages about it may not fully understand what Paul is saying. And in fact, most people in the church to this day don't know what the doctrine of the rapture is correctly saying. But they will conclude that what he describes is what is anticipated to happen. In other words, he says, we're going to be gone in the blank of an eye. People read that and they say, we're going to be gone in the blank of an eye. Okay? That has to be taught out of you. There are Old Testament hints of the rapture which are convincing enough to give us surety that, based on a proper understanding of the New Testament, they are valid. In the passage today, I see a parallel to the rapture. However, I would ask you to not make a brain squiggle based on what I present. The style of literature is poetic, so this could be me doing what I have seen others do. What I present is an observation, not an instruction intended to convince you. When I teach that way, it is because I am convinced the matter is correct. Keep that in mind. And don't feel that I am trying to convince you of anything. Please. Our text verse comes from Ephesians 5. It is verse 27. that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Kyle makes a statement about verse 6-8 that is correct. It is something I have demonstrated in typology many times in the past. You will see this when I cite him in just a second. Something or someone can anticipate Christ, but which is portrayed in a negative way in a given passage. For example, in Joshua 8, the king of Ai was captured and hanged on a tree. That pointed to Jesus' cross. In Joshua 10, the five kings of the Amorites were hanged on five trees. They each pointed to the work of Christ as well. They're all bad actors in the Bible, but they still anticipate the work of Christ. Guess what? When Haman was hung in the book of Esther, he pictured what? Christ! Okay, everything that is bad in the Bible does not mean that it cannot picture Jesus. It can, because bad things happened to Jesus because of our sin. That's the point I'm making. And yet, these were all enemies of Israel. Kyle says... The fact is that by a violation of the law of God, which is Deuteronomy 17.17, Solomon brings a cloud over the typical representation, which is not at all to be thought of in connection with the anti-type. Solomon, as Jewel Stern rightly remarks, is not to be considered by himself, but only in his relation to the Shulamite. In Christ, on the contrary, is no imperfection. Sin remains in the congregation. In the song, the bride is purer than the bridegroom. But in the fulfilling of the song, this relation is reversed. The bridegroom is purer than the bride. This is a good point about the song, the songs. The woman, the beloved of Solomon, is put in the highest light of perfection. Solomon, as seen in his life in the books of Kings and Chronicles, was not the greatest example of a godly king. But God can still use him to give us hints of Christ, just as he did with the kings in Canaan. From there we learn that it is Christ who makes us the height of perfection. Despite this, none of us are actually the height of perfection. If you think that way, you're probably not paying attention in church every Sunday. I can assure you that from myself down and across and up and to the side, we're all imperfect. Every one of us. We should never think that, oh, I'm perfect before God, because we'll find out next Tuesday that we did something wrong and we're getting a ticket from a cop. I guess I'm not as perfect as I thought. Whatever. But because of Jesus, everything changes. That is why we can have the hope of the rapture. For the saints of the Old Testament, the resurrection. God will bring to himself all who have looked to the Messiah in faith. The heavenly Jerusalem awaits. What a day it will be when we arrive. It's all to be found in His superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again, and may God speak to us through His word today, and may His glorious name ever be praised. I have a couple of thoughts for you today. The first is my dove, my perfect. It's verses 8 and 9. The chapter began with the woman being questioned about where her beloved had gone. This was based on her marvelous description of him from chapter 5. The other women wanted to search for him with her, but probably with the intent of moving in on her territory. She explained where she thought he had gone and that she was the only one for him with the words, I to my beloved and my beloved to me. Solomon began to speak in verse 6, 4, explaining to the woman how beautiful she was to him, repeating some of his thoughts from earlier in the book. Though the speaker is debated whether it is Solomon or the woman, it is probable that it is still Solomon speaking. If it is the woman, her coming words about the women would be like saying, I am just one of so many. If it is Solomon, he is saying, you are the number one out of so many. The way he expresses himself in verse 9 will tend to favor the latter, that it is Solomon. And so his words continue with, verse 8, there are 60 queens. Shishim himma melakhot. 60 they, queens. Solomon begins a list of the women who belong to him, designating them by category. The first category is defined by the word malach, a queen. It is the feminine form of the word melech, which is a king. As for the designation queens, it is likely that these were daughters of royalty given to him for the purpose of making alliances. For example, we see this in 1 Kings 3 verse 1. Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh's daughter. Then he brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall all around Jerusalem. Being of royal blood, they were used for the purposes of security or the expansion of the kingdom. And so they are identified as such queens. Solomon next refers to another category. Verse 8 continues, and 80 concubines. Ushmonim pilagshim, and 80 concubines. The word is pilagesh. It is supposed by some to be a compound word that comes from palag, which means to split or divide, and the word nagash, which means to draw near or to approach. As such, it signifies that a man divides his attention between his formal wives and his lesser wives. The formal wives would have certain rights that the lesser wives did not. In the case of Solomon, or any other ruler with concubines, the king divided his attention between his royal wives and his concubines. This type of arrangement was seen in the life of Abraham, where it says in Genesis 25, And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had. And while he was still living, he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son to the country of the east. With other examples like this in scripture, such as in the lives of Saul and King David, the concubine is considered to be a wife belonging to one man alone, even if she is not a main wife. Therefore, it is likely that the children of such a union would be categorized differently as well. In describing the number of queens, Solomon is probably using a specific number to express a general number. In other words, there may have been 57 or 62 queens, but he had it rounded to 60. This would maintain the poetic flow. Sixty is the product of six and ten. Six is a number stamped with the thought of human labor. It is the number of man, but especially fallen man. Of the number ten, Bollinger says, completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything, is therefore the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting, that the number and order are perfect, that the whole cycle is complete. Eighty is the product of eight and ten. Bollinger defines eight as being associated with resurrection and regeneration. One can think of the idea of new beginnings as a simple definition of it. To give you an example that you will remember, if you take the name Jesus Christ from the Greek and you put it into Gematria, it comes out to eight 8, 8, new beginnings, resurrection, all of that is tied up in the name Jesus Christ. As for Solomon's harem, it also includes another category. Verse 8 going on, and virgins without number, va'alamot ein mispar, and maidens without number. Using the word virgin to translate Alma here may be wrong for at least a couple of reasons. This does not mean that they're not virgins, but it may be wrong. First, the word, though usually associated with young marriable women, of which a virgin is generally understood in such passages. There's like five or six of them. They always speak of a girl that's a virgin. It does not mean virgin. Rather, it is the feminine of elem. a young man, okay? So, it's a youth or a young man, and this is the feminine of it, so it's a youth or a young woman. Second, if they are a part of Solomon's harem, they are probably not virgins unless they are new ones added to the harem for him. Once they had been with him, they would return to the harem, but not as a virgin. This is the thought of Esther chapter 2, where it says this, Each young woman's turn came to go into King Ahasuerus, after she had completed twelve months' preparation according to the regulations for the women. For thus were the days of their preparation apportioned, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes, and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the woman's quarters to the king's palace. In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Sha'as Gaz, the king's eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name. So they go in as a virgin, they come out, obviously not that way. It could be that all the virgins of the harem became concubines once they had been with Solomon. However, it could be that they were neither wives nor concubines. But instead, we're subordinate to the other two categories. I don't know, and so I don't want to say virgins. I want to translate it, and that's why I'm giving you all of this information. As this isn't certain, it is best to define them as maidens. Regardless of this, the words here express a failing in Solomon in relation to the law of Moses. First, it was expressly forbidden for a king to have such a large body of women available to him. Deuteronomy 17, 17, which Kyle mentioned earlier, says, neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. The Bible doesn't say at what point multiplying wives becomes a violation of the law. David had wives and concubines, and nothing negative is said about this. But nothing is said about him having his heart turned away from the Lord either in relation to his responsibilities. On the other hand, it says this of Solomon. 1 Kings 11, But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love, and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. Solomon not only multiplied wives, but he did so by marrying women from nations that the law forbade. One can see that despite him being used as a type of Christ, this only extends to type, and it does not express his general character. Because of the number of women noted here in Song, These Songs, and the number of them noted in 1 Kings chapter 11, People claim that there is an insurmountable contradiction between the two. However, this can be easily dispelled. Remember it said 60 queens and here it says 700? They say, well, that's a contradiction. It can't be resolved. One possibility is that this could have been written at a much earlier stage in Solomon's life. Acquiring 700 wives would take a long time. If he married one a month, it would take 58-plus years. How do I know? I sat down with a calculator and figured it out. Of all the women mentioned here, meaning 60 wives plus 80 concubines plus innumerable maidens, he specifically turns his eyes, thoughts, and heart to just one. Keep thinking of yourself. You are in Christ, you are a part of the church, and this is the Lord just rejoicing over you. That's what's being pictured. Verse nine, my dove, my perfect one, is the only one. Rather, ahathi yonati tamati. One, she, my dove, my perfect. He has made a contrast to all the others through these words. If this woman is his one dove, then the others are not. If this one is described as one, perfect, then the others are not. By jumbling the order of Solomon's words, many translations make it seem like he describes her and then explains her in relation to her mother, who is mentioned in the next clause. Rather, he is speaking of her as the epitome of his delight, contrasting her with those in the previous verse. His words have placed her as the superlative above all others. She is, verse 9 continues, the only one of her mother. Achat hi le'ima, one she to her mother. Though not certain, the words tend to the idea that she was the only daughter of her mother. Thus, all her other children were boys. Some, however, say that the girl mentioned in chapter 8 is her younger sister. There's no reason to assume this. Those verses could refer to her when she was younger, which is what the following verses seem to imply. However, even if she had sisters, the words here could still be used to express the finest of her daughters. The former option seems to be the most fitting, though, meaning that she is the only daughter of her mother. As such, Solomon is calling out her uniqueness in that her mother got it right with her first and only daughter. With that stated, he next says, verse 9 continues, the favorite of the one who bore her, bara hi leyodata, clear she to her bearing. The word bara is derived from barar, which can have a variety of significations. It comes from a primitive root signifying to clarify, as if brightening something. Therefore, it can speak of cleansing, purifying, purging, choosing, and so forth. The word describing the mother's daughter is most likely not a comparison to others, meaning favorite, but a description of her personal state. She is clear. She is pure. If the mother is describing her, she might say, I have only one daughter, and she is my perfect little angel. Solomon recognizes this and ascribes this quality to her in relation to her mother. poetically calling her her bearing. Thus she is the opposite of the one Solomon describes in the Proverbs. Proverbs 17.25, vexation to his father, son dullard, and bitterness to his bearing. His mother has bitterness because he is a dullard, right? Said plainly, the dullard is bitterness to his mother. On the other hand, this woman is clear to her mother. In a similar reaction, when seeing her, Solomon continues with, verse 9 going on, the daughter saw her and called her blessed. ra'ucha banot va'yashrua – saw her daughters and straightened her. The word ashar means to be or to go straight. Thus, figuratively, it signifies to make happy or to bless and so forth. When one advances, especially in a straight, even way, it is a happy state. That is the idea that one gets when reading the words of Isaiah, for example. Isaiah 40 verse 4, Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth. In leveling and straightening, it is a way of blessing the Lord for His coming. Therefore, rather than calling her blessed as the New King James Version does, it would mean, and they bless her. The figurative use of the word seen in the next parallel clause. Verse 9 continues, the queens and the concubines and they praised her. melechot u'pilagshim v'chal le'luha, queens and concubines, and praise her. The first clause referred to the daughters of Jerusalem, the women in general. This refers to the selected and choice in Solomon's house. They see her and praise her. One can see the parallelism between the clauses when they are properly translated. One, she, my dove, my perfect. One, she, to her mother. Clear, she, to her bearing. Saw her, daughters, and straighten her, queens and concubines, and praise her. Solomon next continues with his beautiful descriptors of his beloved. Return, return. We want to see you again. We want to know what to do. Return, return. Come back and then we will be instructed by you. It can't be too late for us. There must still be hope. Return, return. Don't put up a fuss. Unless you do, we just can't cope. Hurry back to us. We have learned our lesson. We will pay heed this time if you just come back. Return, return. Don't keep us guessing on how we can get back on track. Our second thought today is the two camps, verses 10 through 13. Verse 10. Who is she who looks forth as the morning? Though nobody translates it the way I do, the words are a verbal participle to describe the woman in a noun form. Mizot hanish kafa kemo shachar. Who this, the looking, according to the dawn? In other words, he is asking a question, but it is done in the form of an emphatic declaration concerning her appearance. Most translations are completely wrong in how they present the words. The NIV, though a paraphrase, gives the closest sense, saying, Who is this that appears like the dawn? The word is the noun shachar, coming from the verb shachar, meaning to dawn. Thus it is the earliest and to many the most beautiful part of the day. Just as the dawn begins to lighten the world, Solomon gazes upon her beauty and is enraptured by it. Now think of this. I get up every day at 3.30. The sun doesn't get up until 7 o'clock. But between, we'll say, 4.15 and 6.15, it's just getting light. It's so beautiful. The sun isn't even close to dawning, but it's just getting light, and that is the time of day he's thinking of, okay? It is during this early period of the day that she is likened to being, verse 10 continues, fair as the moon. Yafa khalevanah, beautiful according to the moon. At the dawning of the day, when the moon is visible, it is radiant, having a beauty about it that accentuates the lighting of the sky as it passes from total darkness until the moment of the sunrise. In his words, he introduces a rarer word here, levana, to describe the moon instead of the word normally used. It is derived from laven, to be white, purify, or to make bricks. Saying, fair is the moon, as the New King James Version does, misses the point. She has already been noted as being swarthy. Thus her color is not the comparison, but the beauty of the moon in its whitened state. Likewise, some translations add the word full to moon. That is probably not correct either. They say beautiful is the full moon. That's probably not what's on Solomon's mind at all. The full moon sets on the other side of the sky around dawn. He is likely referring to a crescent moon, which is in the area of the dawning of the sun where the sky first begins to lighten, long before the sunrise. He is as enraptured with her within his surroundings as he is with the moon at dawn. Solomon next notes another metaphor in regard to her beauty, also found at dawn. Verse 10 continues, clear as the sun, bara kachamah, clear according to the sun. At the rising of the sun it is bright but clear. Now think of the sun just above the horizon. Okay? The horizon is very dense, and because it's dense, it keeps the bright sun rays from getting into your eyes. That's the time of day I'm talking about. Later in the day, its light is so overwhelming that you can't look at it. Go out there right now and look at the sun. You'll have a tough time with it, right? The sunrise camera at the house, when the sun is just arising, you see a perfect circle right above the horizon. It's beautiful. Within about two or three minutes, The whole camera is flared out. It can't handle the sunrise anymore. It's just one big blob of light. So this is what Solomon is thinking of. When it is just rising, you can often look at it without anything to detract from its pure roundness and its beauty. This is the moment that Solomon equates to his beloved. When he does, he uses a rarer word, chamah, to describe the sun instead of the word that is normally used, which is shemesh. It is derived from cham, hot. Thus it refers to the heat of the sun more than its brilliance. Having noted this aspect of her beauty, he uses another metaphor concerning this early time of day. Verse 10 continues, Awesome is an army with banners, ayumah ka nidgalot, threatening, according to Bannard. It is letter for letter the same as the corresponding clause in verse 6-4 that we saw last week. In this case, it is as if she is an army set up for battle at the dawning of the day. They would seem threatening to any foe just waking and looking out at the masses of troops already standing in the early light, fully bannered and ready for battle. The prospect of a day of battle would be overwhelming. This is how he presents her. It is as if he is saying, my love, I am already defeated by you. Next, words from the woman start a new direction in the unfolding narrative. Verse 11, I went down to the garden of nuts. Rather, El ginat egos yarati – Unto garden nut descended. Very few translations are even close to being correct. Instead, along with other changes, they translate nut into the plural – nuts. Some, to get around this, will add in words and say something like nut trees. The Coverdale Bible of 1535 gives an early rendering that has sadly been departed from. I went down into the nut garden. That's rather close. It is a fact that not sticking with the singular is just nuts. Despite that, the word is a ghost and it is found only here. It is believed to be a word of Persian origin. Nuts are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, such as in Genesis 43.11, but only by their kind—the pistachio and the almond and so forth. In this verse, there is nothing further to define what type of nut or nuts is being referred to. Instead, it is just a nut garden. This makes the clause rather peculiar. There is nothing to compare it to in the New Testament either. However, there is more to see in the area that she is descended to. Verse 11 continues, to see the verdure of the valley. The word is plural, lirot be'ibei chanachal, to see in greennesses the valley. Based on the next two clauses, we know that she is referring to the springtime. As such, she is going down to see the many variations of green among the various types of bushes and trees. And each one would come forth and add to the display of beauty that arises at this time of year. The word is ev. It signifies green. It is found only in Job 8.12 and here, but in Job it is in the singular. Along with the various greennesses, she is going, verse 11 continues, to see whether the vine had budded. L'irot hafarcha hagefen, to see budded the vine. The budding of the vine is a springtime event when the daily temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees. This is typically around March. Likewise, verse 11 continues, and the pomegranates had bloomed. Henetzu ha-rimon blossomed the pomegranates. The pomegranates blossom in the late spring in Israel. Therefore, the time she is referring to is from March until May. We've already seen this pattern in earlier Song of Songs sermons. We have already seen how nuts it is to mistranslate nut, because when you do, it is nuts. You've taken an S and added it to the nut. However, what is also nuts is that the word translated as blossomed here is the word nuts. Something nutty is going on. But this nuts is pronounced newts, so it's a little bit less nutty than being completely nuts. This word ultimately comes from a primitive root signifying to flash because of brilliancy of the blossom. The pomegranate blossoms are a brilliant red that stand out markedly against the green leaves. This woman continues with more curious words. Verse 12, Before I was even aware, my soul had made me as the chariots of my noble people. The words are very, very obscure. Not known, my soul set me chariots, my people willing. It doesn't seem to make any sense and so many translations are all over the place. Depending on how you place the comma or commas to make a pause, it also changes the intent. What seems to be the case is that she didn't even realize that she had been so set. But then the word chariots has no connector, such as the as, according to, in, among, and so forth. The word sum, to place or set, is translated as make at times, but that's not really the intent. Such as, this is the New King James Version of Genesis 13-16, it says, and I will make which the word is actually set, sum, I will set your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. The Lord says, and I set your seed according to the dust. It is a done deal. It is as if he had placed the future descendants in the statement. The word chariot, being plural, along with the next verse asking her to return seems to make it mean, I became like a chariot. As such, she sped away. That's what chariots do. The adjective nadiv is willing. It comes from nadav, to be willing. It is a descriptor of my people. With all of this information presented, it seems to say, according to Charlie Garrett's thinking, I didn't know that my soul had made me like the chariots of my willing people. In other words, the chariots of willing warriors are set on their mission. They go directly into battle without hesitation. She had taken off without even realizing it. Therefore, this explains the fact that she had descended into the nut garden. Without even thinking about it, she made herself like a chariot that took off. That explains why the next words are spoken. Verse 13, return, return, O Shulamite. The words are imperative, shuvi, shuvi, ha-shulamit, return, return, the Shulamite. Here she is given a pet name, the Shulamite. The word is found only here in this verse. It is derived from the verb shalom, the same word that Solomon's name is derived from. It means to be safe. That can have a lot of meanings, such as making good on a vow, making amends, and so forth. All of them are making something safe, right? As such, it gives a sense of peaceful, as in, all is good. Because it is the same root as Solomon's name, some think that this is a play on his name, and it thus means the woman of Solomon, meaning his wife. That makes sense, and it would certainly be a reason for calling her this. I connected her travel to the city of Shunem back in chapter 3 based on scholarly notes, but it seems dubious to me that it is connected to that location. In other words, I'm telling you what I said in chapter 3 about Shunem was not a good analysis, but I had not gotten this far into the book to know that at the time. Shunem is noted in Joshua 19.18, and it is the only name that is close to any biblical location. Therefore, some have made this conclusion, something I did not consider while evaluating that passage. Rather, the idea of calling her the Shulamite after Solomon rather than a location agrees with the thought of Isaiah chapter 4. Here's what it says, And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel. Only let us be called by your name." So she is the Shulamite, the woman of Solomon, to take away our reproach. In other words, someone today may say about Hedecho, There goes that Garrett woman, if they knew she was my wife. This seems to make a sound explanation for what is being conveyed, rather than making a dubious connection between this woman, who they call Shulamite, and a person from the city that might be called a Shunamite. There's no reason for that. Next, the same thought is repeated with a reason for it. Verse 13 continues, Return, return, that we may look upon you. She is being asked to return because of her beauty. The word translated as gaze gives more than just a sense of looking at something. Instead it includes mentally perceiving or contemplating. She is so stunning that they want to feast their eyes on her. That this is men speaking is understood because the next words say, verse 13 continues, what would you see in the Shulamite? Ma tachezu ba shulamit? What gaze in the Shulamite? The verb gaze here is masculine plural. It is said in response to the that we may of the previous verse. She or someone else wants to know what it is that they want to see and gaze at. From there they respond with, verse 13 finishes our verses today with these words, as it were, the dance of the two camps. I'm so excited about next week's sermon because of those words right there. It's wonderful. Wonderful. Kim cholat hama chanaim. According to Dance the Two Camps. Translations are all over the place and some have nothing to do with the Hebrew. Many tie this clause in with the previous one, thus giving the sense of her explaining the question that she just asked. For example, why should you gaze at the Shulamite? as at the dance of the two companies. That's the NASB 1977 version. That does not appear to be what's going on. Rather, she or someone else asked, what is it that you want to gaze at in the Shulamite? This final clause provides a suitable response to that question. We want to gaze at the Shulamite according to the dance of the two camps. What this means is not agreed upon either. Some, such as the NIV, transliterate the words and say Mahanaim, the name of the place in Israel that comes from Genesis chapter 32. There it says, So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's camp, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. The problem with that is that Mahanaim is mentioned 13 times in scripture, but never with the definite article. Here, however, it says THE Mahanaim. Thus, it needs to be translated rather than transliterated. Mahanaim comes from machane, camp. The plural marker at the end, the i-m, signifies double camp or two camps. The words probably still refer to the place, but not because of its name, rather because of how it got its name. There was the camp of Jacob, and there was the camp of angels, if you remember that story. There were two camps, Jacob's camp, the angels' camp. That's what's being explained there. As such, there were two camps. According to dance, the two camps would probably signify an earthly, heavenly dance. That is speculation of Charlie Garrett. I think you will see that it's borne out next week. But as nothing else is said about dances in relation to Maha Naim, it seems like a logical inference that can be made. The only other thing I can think of comes from Exodus chapter 15, where Moses and the children of Israel sang the Song of Moses. There it says, then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with their timbrels and with dances. Then Miriam answered them, sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider, he is thrown into the sea. Using this, however, would assume that the two camps are those of one, Israel, and then two, the women of Israel. You got the two camps. However, the word meaning camp is not used there concerning the women of Israel. I'm just throwing that in as a possibility that somebody may someday say, well, this might be what it's talking about. It is not. I'm giving you that information as a negation to that idea. Therefore, this appears to be referring to the two camps of Genesis 32. This completes the verses for today. And so now we can search out some clues about what is being said while trying not to shove meaning into the text. The first thing of note is the numbers provided regarding the queens and concubines, 60 and 80. It was noted that six is the number of man, especially fallen man, along with human labor. Eight is associated with new beginnings, in particular resurrection and regeneration. One more example so you can remember it. How many people were on the ark? Eight new beginnings. Eight people went into the new world. Okay, so you got that. Don't forget that. Jesus Christ. Eight, eight, eight. Eight on the ark. Anytime you see eight in the Bible, think of resurrection, regeneration, new beginnings, okay? These summed up the numbered court of Solomon's women, and they appear to point to those before the cross under the law associated with labor, the number of human labor, and those after the cross in the church associated with resurrection and regeneration. Everybody seeing that parallel? Being multiples of 10, they point to the fact that nothing is wanting, the number and order are perfect, and that the whole cycle is complete. Together, they equal 140. That is the number of a double measure of spiritual perfection, according to Bollinger. In other words, all of the redeemed. If you add in the maidens without number, that makes a nice connection to those who come out of the Great Tribulation. You got before the cross, you got after the cross, and now you're going into the Tribulation period. Maidens without number, after these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger any more, nor thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Out of them, just one is singled out. Thus, she represents the cumulative desire of Solomon, just as the redeemed of the Lord from all people are included as his bride, as is seen in Revelation 21. The descriptions of the woman in verses 9 and 10 could easily be equated to notable aspects of the redeemed without any finagling at all. For example, the rare word translated as moon, levana, is derived from the same words as frankincense and Lebanon, both of which have been equated to the work of Christ that is imputed to believers. And we've seen those words again and again and again in the Song of Songs. Why? Because God wants us to focus on the labors of Jesus Christ, okay? Thus, the redeemed are beautiful according to the moon, or in type, beautiful according to Christ's work imputed to them." God isn't looking at us and saying, look at how beautiful they are because of who they are and what they've done. He's saying, look at how beautiful they are because of their faith in Jesus Christ. That is what is being pictured right in this Right now, the words from the woman going to the garden are looking to the redemption of Christ. The vine budding occurs at the time of Christ's crucifixion. The pomegranate blooms at the time of His resurrection. It's all focused on the work of Jesus Christ. It is similar to what was described in different terms in chapter 2, which identified these same two times of year. Thus it looks to the cross and that which stems from it in the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. Think of Acts chapter 2. The really complicated words of verse 12, which took me about two hours to evaluate, almost give a hint of the rapture or the resurrection, where the woman was, without knowing it, set as a willing chariot of her people. This anticipates the free will choice that believers have made to come to God through Christ. They have been redeemed. After that, they have been brought to Himself. There's no point in dwelling on that, but it would explain the reason for the very difficult terminology that is so abrupt and otherwise inexplicable. That's why I see the rapture in it, but I don't want you to say, well, the rapture's in the Song of Songs, Charlie Garrett said so. It's what I feel it is conveying to us. It would also explain the words of those calling out for her to return. Hey, what's going to happen after the rapture? All the people and families, they know their loved one is a Christian, and he's gone. What are they going to say? Return! Return! Right? Those who understand that they missed the boat in any dispensation would gladly call out to have another chance and join in the dance of the two camps, the earthly in Christ and the heavenly with Christ. Christ. As I said, I wouldn't want to shove these things into the text and be dogmatic, but the numbers, the timing of the events, being around the crucifixion, and the time of Pentecost, and so forth, do lead to the thought that this is pointing to what God and Christ would do for those who have so faithfully trusted Him. Be it before the coming of the Messiah in anticipation of Him, or after His coming in our anticipation of being joined to Him. All the redeemed will someday be brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, as noted in the previous sermon, to be in the presence of God forever. And again, the hints in this passage, like the others, point to why this is the song, these songs. why it is read each year at the Passover by the people of Israel. Though its content is obscure, it is sufficient to clearly point to the work of Jesus Christ. The rest of the details concerning the woman are convincingly set forth as a description of the redeemed. Someday Israel will understand what they have missed for so very long. God has set forth the epitome of all songs to show us His great love for those who will come to Him by faith. You, through His Word, are being implored to do so today. Trust His Word by trusting in Jesus, the subject of what God is conveying to us throughout Scripture. It's all about Jesus. There is nothing, nothing in the Bible that gives any hint of any person ever coming to God except through Jesus Christ. Okay? When we see Enoch taken by the Lord, we can know that Enoch is going to come back and be one of the two witnesses. Elijah taken by the Lord is going to come back and be one of the two witnesses because they are anticipating something in the redemption of humanity that must be played out. The people of the Old Testament are in Sheol. They're either waiting to be condemned or they're waiting to be raised because of their faith in the Messiah. The people in the world today are either in Jesus Christ or they are not. Those are the only two positions that matter on this planet. That's all that matters. Are you in Christ? Are you going to heaven? Or are you not in Christ? If you're trusting in yourself, if you're trusting in the law of Moses, if you're trusting in being a good person or anything else, you are not going to heaven without Jesus Christ. It is not going to happen. He said it himself in John 14, 6. Go check it out. I won't even quote it to you because if I do, it won't make you want to go check it out. Simple words. I typed them in the commentary in Matthew today. 14.6, John 14, go read them. There is one way to be reconciled to God, and it is through Jesus Christ. I will never waffle on that. I will never change my conviction on that. It is the one thing that is absolutely certain that you will get from Scripture, is that God sent His Messiah into the world to reconcile us to Him. There's nothing else that can do it. Nothing. Please call on Jesus today by simply believing that he died for your sins. You are imperfect, you are stained, and you are going to be removed from the presence of God forever without the imputation of Christ's righteousness. And once he gives you that imputation, you are deemed as beautiful before God. He does not expect you to do anything to be saved. He doesn't ask you to do any of the laws of Moses that were once imposed upon Israel. Why? Because that was a picture and a type leading to the coming of Messiah. He was the one that could fulfill what none of us could fulfill. Nobody could, but Jesus Christ did. And because of that, He is given the glory. If you're trying to earn your favor through observing the—the reason why I'm harping on this right now is I'm reading the Hallelujah Scriptures right now. What a terrible, terrible manipulation of God's Word is found in there. He changes all kinds of things in Scripture to justify the unjustifiable. You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses did this as well. Here's how they did it. They went in and they cite all of these Scriptures for the New Testament, which change, we'll say, Jesus to Lord or something, right? And they say, this is because this text says that. Well, if you go to that text and you look at the first thing it says, even before they start the translation, you know what it says? Translated out of the original tongues, meaning Greek. The Hebrew that the Jehovah's Witnesses are citing is translated from the Greek. Are you going to go to a translation of the Greek in order to set your doctrine or are you going to go to the Greek and check it out, right? If Charlie Garrett makes a translation, it doesn't mean it's right. It means that I made a translation of the Greek and you should go back to the Greek to check that out, okay? Well, this is what the Hallelujah Scriptures is doing. They've got a translation of the Hebrew New Testament and they're using that as the basis for their faulty Doctrine and people are being misled by that and they're saying I have to do this in order to do that The only thing you have to do is to believe in Jesus Christ Nothing else and if you add to that you're saying that this doesn't matter That his cross and the work that he did to get to that cross means nothing. Thanks a lot God I know you tried but I'm going to do better. I'm going to show you how good I am That is an insult to God and you will be separated forever from his presence because of that I can't wait to tell you some of the things that are in the Hallelujah Scriptures. As a matter of fact, I got it as an opening comment coming up in a sermon very soon. Just so you can understand how terrible it is, the agenda of people to pull people away from grace. Grace. Please call on Jesus today. That is what I would ask you. Don't get misled by people. Your doctrine and your theology is up to you. You may listen to people, but you better check it out, because Charlie Garrett could be completely wrong. And if I am, guess what? You may not be going to heaven. It may be Allah. All right? Might be Buddha. Check things out. But I am convinced in the heart of hearts of Charlie Garrett that Jesus Christ is the only answer to our dilemma because he's the only one that identifies and takes care of the problem. Sin. Jesus Christ is the resolution. Please call on Him today. Our closing verse comes from Psalm 46 verses 4 and 5. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. Think of how beautiful it must be in Israel at the break of dawn, right? If they're writing these things in the Bible, and then Solomon says of this woman, how beautiful you are at that time of day, and that's a picture of Christ looking at us and saying, how beautiful you are. I don't feel beautiful, but he's looking at me that way because of what he did. Thank God for Jesus Christ. Next week is the Song of Songs 7, 1 through 6. They are not at all like a bum who panhandles. It's entitled Your Steps in the Sandals. That'll be your 16th Song of Songs sermon. Once again, I'll say it again just so you know. the content of the sermon itself is not that risque. But if you're watching online, if you're watching a video of this, okay, I'm going to post videos or pictures in the video of a certain type of dancing. And in America, people may freak out a little bit about this type of dancing, which happens all the time in the Middle East, and they don't bat an eye about it. But here in America, we got every prude on the planet, and so people may be a little upset. Just turn off the video and listen to the sermon, okay? I'm giving you as a trigger warning, because I don't want people emailing me and saying, why are you showing that there? Listen, this is the culture that we're talking about, okay? I'm gonna show you what that culture is showing us. And I'll give you a hint right now, just so you know, it's belly dancing. I heard somebody say it over there, okay? You're gonna see some pictures of belly dancers. If that offends you, Don't watch that sermon, okay? Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and a purpose for you. He alone is the perfect example of love, untarnished, unblemished, and completely pure and holy. He offers this love to you, so follow Him, live for Him, and trust Him, and He will do marvelous things for you and through you, okay? I got a question for you here. Yeah, it's another easy one. There's a lot of easy ones in a row. They haven't come to anything I thought, well, that might be stumpy, but you'll get it. What was the name of the mountain where Elijah and the prophets of Baal had a contest? Carmel. That's right, Carmel. And it's also really good on ice cream, by the way. That's caramel. I don't say the A. I say caramel, okay? I understand. Everybody says caramel. And what's the other one that people do? They do it all the time. There was a lady. It drove me crazy. How do you say this word? S-A-U-S-A-G-E? Sausage. Everybody says. I went to a restaurant for a long time and the lady would come up and she'd say, would you like sausage? Hey, that drove me nuts, okay. Caramel, I love caramel. Mount Caramel, caramel on my ice cream, okay. Song of, just my translation of these verses. Song of Song 6, 8 through 13. 60 they, queens and 80 concubines, and maidens without number, won she, my dove, my perfect, won she to her mother, clear she to her bearing, saw her daughters and straightened her, queens and concubines, and praised her. Who this, the looking according to the dawn, beautiful according to the moon, clear according to the sun, threatening according to Bannard? Unto garden nut descended, to see in greennesses the valley, to see budded the vine, blossomed the pomegranates. not known my soul sent me chariots my people willing return return the shulamite return return and we shall gaze in you what gaze in the shulamite according to dance the two camps heavenly father Thank you for the beauty and the majesty of your word and how it reveals the love that you feel for the people of the world. Enough to, instead of destroying the whole world a second time, is to send Jesus into it and destroy sin forever. Thank you for Jesus who has accomplished this and in whom we can rest, we can trust, and we can have absolute certainty that we are reconciled to you through his shed blood. There's nothing so wonderful as the feeling of knowing that we are saved because of Jesus. Nothing. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Heavenly Father. Oh, we know we're not praying out. We're saying the We get the instruction for the Lord's Supper comes directly from scripture It's from 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and Paul wrote these words there. He said for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And he would have blessed the bread. He would have said, Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu, melech haolam hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. And he broke it, and he said, take and eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, And he would have blessed that as well. He would have said, Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu, Melech ha-olam, borei peri ha-gafen. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death. until He comes. We're not proclaiming our deeds, we're proclaiming Christ, His deeds, culminating in the cross, in death, and that He rose again because He wouldn't be coming again if He was still dead. We are praising and worshiping a risen Savior who is going to come back for His people. Thank God for Jesus. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. And I'm blessing Shannon at the same time because she's in back hanging out. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. Good to have you here. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. That's exactly that was that was so good the body in the blood of the Lord Jesus. Thank you That's all right, she's only she doesn't weigh 15 pounds does she the body in the blood of the Lord Jesus oh My gosh, I'm over seven pounds. I'd better watch I'll put her on my hip the body in the blood I better not put her on that hip that hurt the body in the blood of the Lord Jesus I I'll hold her this way so people can see her. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. How can you be 22 pounds? How is that possible? I know. That's why she's sitting on my hip right now. I put her on this side, even though the hernia was on that side, and it hurt. But it doesn't hurt on this side. Oh, don't kick there. We don't do that. No, no, no. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. Can I have that? Let me have it. My children were never allowed to have them. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. She's waving at you hello hello the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus I'm so sorry. It's been like a year and a half now to Mine was one year and that was it so you're Probably sitting does it The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. Sweet girl. I can't believe she's 22 pounds. She's like a feather. She's a long and lanky girl. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. Cuteness subtracts pounds. Yeah, well that's true. Pounds subtraction. Cuteness, pounds subtraction. The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. Somebody was mentioning somebody else's stubbornness. I won't say any context for anything, but it's good to have you back. Yes. Just got you a big trouble. Yeah, man the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus I'm not stopping work for sickness. That's not gonna happen Yeah, cutie cutie cutie pie cutie pie the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus I The body and the blood of the Lord Jesus. So good to have you here and you travel say oh one more good I thought it was too. Okay. Good. Good. Good the body in the blood of the Lord Jesus Cutie pie cutie pie You've already been blessed. Dig in. It's true. Every day. Well, I'm talking about the... Yeah, yeah, yeah. The body and the blood. The Lord Jesus. You got it. There we go. Okay, you want to go to mommy? Take this. Don't put it in your mouth. Don't put that in your mouth. Go to mommy. Good girl. Oh, gotta get my lunch. This bag weighs more than she does. How can she weigh 22 pounds? That's just like a feather. But I violated my doctor-patient law, because they said 15 pounds for two weeks. Oh well, whatever. She was only 15 pounds. Yeah, we'll say she's 15, because as she said, cuteness takes off weight. Okay, let's see here. It's May 15th. Really nothing going on, is there? I mean, we got Mother's Day is over, Father's Day is a bit away, so. All right. What's that, Memorial, this week? Next, okay, we got Memorial Day coming up soon, so while I'm typing my sermon, you all have a good Memorial Day. It's not this week, but next week. Anyway, yeah, Heavenly Father, we're very grateful to you for the chance to come into your presence and to just hear your word explained. What a precious word. What an absolutely precious word you have given us. And it's there to tell us of Jesus. Help us to fix our eyes on Jesus, not just now in church, but throughout the day, throughout the week, and throughout our lives. Thank you for Jesus Christ, our Lord. And it's in his name we pray, amen.