“A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” (Song of Solomon 4:12)
This is from the book Song of Solomon. Keeping in mind that Solomon has been granted wisdom from God, this lyrical poem can be understood as practical with wisdom for a marriage as God intended or metaphorically describing one’s relationship with the Lord.
In verse 12, the groom calls the bride my sister, my spouse. This is confusing in our western world thinking. The bride is not the groom’s sister. In Egyptian love songs, a female lover was called a sister. Solomon uses two terms for the endearment of his bride endowing her with double virtue. By calling his bride sister, he conveys that her relationship to him is as close as a sister’s, a blood relative who he loves purely. Their relationship can never be dissolved. And as his bride, he loves her passionately.
We can make analogies to our relationship to the Lord. He calls us brethren because we are children of God. (John 1:12) As children of God we become brethren with Jesus. Before the work of Jesus on the cross, Jesus called His disciples friends. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15) But the relationship with Jesus changes after His resurrection. He is perfect in His speech, choosing words that reflect a change in relationship when He appears to the two Marys calling His disciples brethren. “Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.” (Matthew 28:10) Every word that God speaks is intentional and important. We are the Lord’s brethren.
As the church, we are also the Lord’s bride. Paul referred to this in writing to the Corinthians about how possessive he felt about their faithfulness to the Lord that no other idol or gospel that would lead them astray from Jesus. (2Corinthians 11:2) John the Baptist also referred to the believers in Jesus as the bride. “Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:28-30)
Solomon writes that his bride is “inclosed,” meaning locked up and bolted. The garden is meant only for the husbandman, the one who cares for it and cultivates it so that it will grow sweet and succulent fruit. He locks it up so others can’t invade it and take its fruit. This has spiritual implications for us. Jesus made this analogy of God the Father as the husbandman, Himself as the vine and His disciples as branches. It’s the Father Who prunes us so that we may bring forth fruit and more fruit. (John 15:1-8) The fruit we are to bear is the fruit from Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) The list seems simple, but we cannot bear this fruit in the natural. It’s the work of the Father in our lives.
It was common practice in the desert that when one found water, one would guard it by rolling a large stone over it, hiding it and shutting the flow of water off, reserving the water only for his personal use. Solomon calls his bride a spring and a fountain sealed, stopped and closed up. She is only for him.
The Bible uses the analogy that the Holy Spirit in us is like a spring of water. The prophet Jeremiah referred to God’s refreshing and life-giving Spirit (Isaiah 44:3,4) as a spring of water. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7:37-39) Believers in Jesus have been given the Holy Spirit. He is God the Third Person living in us, Who teaches us, leads us and speaks to us. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is private and secret. No other person is given access to this relationship we have with Him. By the Holy Spirit, we are sealed as a guarantee of the inheritance promised to us. (Ephesians 1:13,14) This relationship is unknown to any other who is not a believer. It’s guarded and kept secret from others who don’t believe. The living waters are only for the believer.
Just as the garden and springs of water of Solomon’s bride are sealed and hidden from others, so is the life of the believer hidden in Christ. “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3) The unbeliever is not privy to our relationship with God. And although hid for now, we will appear in glory with Christ when He returns. “When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
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