Song of Solomon 7:1-10 – Part 13, The Shulamite is the New Garden

[Study Aired February 4, 2023]

‘The Shulamite is the new garden; her every bodily member is a delight of summer scents, blossoms and arousing ripeness of beauty for the salvation of all men’.

In this, the second last chapter of the Song of Solomon, the Bride and Groom in the Shulamite’s dreaming escalate their anticipated physical arousals spiritually.

Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. 
Son 7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
Son 7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
Son 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
Son 7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 
Son 7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 
Son 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; 
Son 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 
Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. 

Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

In particular, young women’s overall elegance is highlighted by proportional legs and further emphasised with beautiful shoes, and for us, today, by the Western fashion of high heels. Mostly unconsciously to the broadly attentive male eye, every refinement of her ensemble spontaneously captivates (beguiles – delightfully deceives; seduces) his heart.

The symphony of her entire presentation is “beautiful”, particularly her eyes that negatively once deceived us in our wilderness of sin.

Pro 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

However, if we walk with feet shod by the Lord’s word, as does the Bride, they harmonise perfectly with the eyes righteously.

Psa 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

It is interesting that Hebrew 6471 for “feet” references 1. stroke, beat, foot, step, anvil, occurrence. a. foot, hoof-beat, footfall, footstep b. anvil. c. occurrence, time, stroke, beat. [rythmn of…] 1. one time, once, twice, thrice, as time on time, at this repetition, this once, now at length, now…now, at one time…at another.

Solomon used the Shulamite’s image as “two armies” in the previous chapter. Armies are literally owned by the governing state and comply to the beat of a unified step, every command. So too, does the Lord’s “terrible” army, his “little flock”, the Bride of Christ, submissive to him and march in unity in Him.

Exo 13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him [Christ and His Christ] that sat on the horse, and against his army.

As such, the Bride’s beautifully shod feet highlight her spiritual walk in shoes He has chosen and are what pleases her Lord upon the mount, the holy ground of his kingdom.

Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains [the nations inwardly and outwardly] are the feet of him [Christ and his Christ] that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; [Shulamite-like peace] that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

The Bride of Christ is confidently standing before her Lord on holy ground in shoes, since He shod her feet. Moses was wearing his own walk, signified by his earthly shoes.

… the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

Moses’ Tabernacle represented her former state in the wilderness made of earthly riches by men’s hands. Solomon’s temple, designed by the Lord, was the grand finale and epitome of earthly achievement. Since the Lord crafted the Bride from conception, he made her the co-lucifer (light-bearer; morning star) in Him and knows her every joint. The individuals in the Body of Christ are becoming the jewels of cunning workmanship of her walk hinged perfectly in her thighs like the jewels bearing the workings of an analogue Swiss watch. Christ is the cunning workman for all occasions of her creation, from clay and self-worship to pure gold, in His image.

Isa 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isa 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Isa 40:19 The workman [mankind guided by their first goldsmith father, Satan] melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Isa 40:20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman [figuratively, Satan] to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Our former estate was ‘that great city’ cunningly crafted by our hands.

Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17 For in a single hour such fabulous wealth has been destroyed!”…

The final city is the heavenly Jerusalem, cunning workmanship of Christ, and full of spiritual riches, as seen in Revelation 21.

Son 7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.

Solomon is involved with every detail of his Bride’s body, as is Christ, spiritually. Even though “navel” H2854, 2324 and associated numbers; means swaddling band or cloth, enemy and twisting [umbilical cord?], its reference is an external visualisation and is round, like a goblet ~ Hebrew for bowl; basin; curves of a human body. Why would Solomon and Christ proclaim such a strange brooding for the navel, as small as it is, remotely looking like a goblet not needing liquor?

A goblet or cup is a receptacle for liquids, particularly in ancient times, mostly for water or wine. Since the navel is the entry point of nourishment for a baby, spiritually, it is only symbolic, as biologically are male nipples compared to female nipples. The Bride is the Lord’s workmanship made not of a woman but by His hands. His water and wine, being his word and spirit, enter the Bride spiritually, not through a navel. As such, her navel does not require “liquor”, symbolising the Lord’s spirit since it wasn’t given until Pentecost. The Lord’s spirit comes only through Him. The commandments are,

Pro 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Pro 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Pro 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Liquor H4197 1. mixture, mixed wine. – Origin: from an unused root meaning to mingle (water with wine); Strongs – tempered wine.

Additionally, the Bride had taken mixed wine (liquor) of chastisement for her former ways with relatively light chastisement, compared to her sisters in Babylon who will receive double the mixture she, the Whore dished out. In the positive, the Bride is looking forward to being the Wife of Christ and will consummate perfect wine in the fullness of her Lord’s spirit. 

Luk 22:14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
Luk 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luk 22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Son 7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.

Solomon’s visualisation of his Bride’s belly compliments her twin roes completing the portrait among the lilies. It overjoys his sensuality, as does the lily’s poetic imagery mentioned frequently in the preceding chapters. Having been a wheat farmer, I easily connect the allegory of a small spillage of wheat overflowed from a grain bin, biscuit coloured and smooth in a gentle curve as is her belly.

Freckles on girls look uniquely charming, yet, and for specific spiritual purposes, spots (blemishes or wrinkles) are not to be found on the Bride. Essentially, the smooth hue of a fawn’s coat (as perfect as a baby’s skin) and twin roes discovered innocently nestled in the sunny brush or lilies make us catch our breath. Two is the number for “witness”, and for this cause, the Bride’s purity, as opposed to the bruising of Aholah’s and Aholibah’s breasts (Ezekiel 23), represent a witness to our former dallying with Babylonian Christian suitors. The Bride’s perfectly innocent breasts are figuratively witnessed to her Lord’s consummative spiritual truth.

Son 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.

As with the Bride’s breasts, her neck is flawless. Her Lord counted the cost of building the “tower” of her neck, the formally stiff-necked woman whose neck is now elegantly supporting the seat of her spirit, her mind. She trusted in Him to finish the tower upon the foundation he laid.

Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

All of the Song of Solomon is Solomon deeply and continuously musing upon the two representations of the Woman, finalised in the Shulamite as demonstrated in study 12 (Son 6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies). 

The tower of the Bride of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem made by God’s hands, has reached heaven, where her former state as a harlot failed. She is now one language in perfect harmony with her Lord to save her ‘children’.

Gen 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Gen 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Gen 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Mic 4:6 In that day, [today with the Bride] saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, [to limp; to be lame] and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
Mic 4:7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, [a “little flock”] and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
Mic 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, [heavenly Jerusalem] unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; [First Resurrection] the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

(… thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.)

The Bride’s eyes denote a sparkling intelligence that the name Heshbon (H2808) represents. For the Elect of God, that profound intelligence is God-given adoption and rebuilding of spiritual understanding. The origin of the name, Bathrabbim, means H1323 – 1. daughter a. daughter, girl, adopted daughter. Origin H1129 – 1. to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.

Remember that the Bride represents the city of both Old and New Jerusalem. Her nose is distinguished as a straight tower (visually strong nose) that is, unwitting to Solomon, by his imagery effectively ruminating her impending future of Israel going into Babylon since she looks to Damascus, the capital of Syria 205 km northeast of Jerusalem.

(Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.)

Carmel, particularly Mt Carmel, is a fruitful “garden-land” noted for orchards. The Bride’s spiritual seat of her mind, her head, is intelligent and fruitful. The glory of her wavy (“Galleries” H7298 – ringlets) hair is in the royalty that her Husband blesses her in his co-rulership and is noted by the priestly royal colour purple.

Son 7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!

The expression “delights” (H8588) indicates the Bride’s daintiness, her delicate and exquisite beauty.

The following verses, 7-13, all pursue the same theme of the beauty of fruitfulness.

Son 7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 
Son 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
Son 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 
Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The Bride is statuesque as a date palm whose clusters of dates, by nature of their rich spiritual fullness below her boughs (head and hair), add to the image of the perfect female figure to bring forth all the children of God.

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Again, and as with the entire Song, Solomon is dynamically expressing his intentions of physical love that remains intriguing yet, of secondary importance to us.

(Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.)

The honeymoon phase of marriage is the most anticipated and is when the newlyweds are consummated away from life’s usual routines. Effectively, the New Jerusalem (Christ’s Wife) and Christ are going out into the field and the world since they are omnipresent as one spirit, together as God.

In Eden, we first became a god to ourselves, unwittingly sitting in God’s temple within as the First and Second Beast, showing that we were God. In decaying flesh, we learned to die spiritually and, for some, physically.

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Christ impeccably fulfills Psalms 128 literally by “degrees” since Eden and particularly beginning with his ministry until now. He designed every refined detail of his Wife’s luxuriant body spiritually perfectly for himself as he begins to enjoy the fruits of his labour. This consummative phase of Christ’s marriage is immediately after the Resurrection to Life. For the Elect of God, the spiritual aspects of the Wife’s body are easily seen.

Psa 128:1 A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
Psa 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 
Psa 128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 
Psa 128:4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
Psa 128:5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou [Christ] shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life [eternity].
Psa 128:6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

Upon Christ’s death upon the cross, he announced that “it is finished”. The foundation of his ministry was finished when he returned to his Father. He is now about to “eat the labour of [his] hands” in his Wife and, shortly following the Eight Day, enjoy his children, the entirety of humanity to have ever been conceived. He and his Wife go into the field that is the world of humanity in the Resurrection to Judgment and see the results of the pattern that his Wife experienced in her time of fiery trials now repeated doubly in their children. He says,

Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The “field” was the rejected world signified by Esau and the rejected seed of Abraham. At this point, He resides in the Resurrection to Damnation on the Eight Day and learns fruitfulness that Christ and his Wife go to see whether their vines flourish and the pomegranates bud. This is a significant part of Christ’s love for his Wife, at which point he says, “there will I give thee my loves” [H1730 – beloved; to boil], his intense arousals for the impending salvation of mankind.

Eve was the mother of all physical living, and the Wife of Christ is the mother of all the now spiritual. Her children, who forgot their God, now painfully come to know the order of headship in the Father, Christ and his Wife; together, they go into their garden to see Christ’s “loves” budding from judgment.

Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

Hos 13:6  According to their pasture, [in the field of humanity following their first father, the Devil] so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; [announcing themselves as god] therefore have they forgotten me.

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s [“firstfruits”] at his coming. 
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

1Ti 4:10 Fortherefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. Of course, every man in this fiery judgment is guaranteed to believe.

Christ and his Wife, figuratively as did Satan, now joyfully walk to and fro upon the field of humanity, knowing that they will see their garden bloom and produce fruit at their chastisement since their children are raised from the final death.

Satan walked up and down in his time on the physical earth, seeking whom he may destroy. In the judgment, he, too, with his army of demons and the entirety of humanity, are in the same body of spirit, all together being changed into righteous spirit, as did Christ’s Wife before her resurrection to life.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Christ and his Wife joyfully stroll through their garden, stopping to delight in each of their children, budding without disease, blight and drought of truth. Some vines and pomegranates are more advanced than others, but ALL are in various stages of budding and fruit. The symbolic sounds of turtle doves calling, bees buzzing and warm garden scents of Solomon’s Bride are now a reality; Christ, and she blissfully delights as the Father indulgently looks on.