Our Bed Is Green

A few months ago, God impressed upon my heart to read and meditate Song of Solomon. I am still on my little quest, but already I see there is so much in this book to be revealed to the body of Christ. I mentioned in an earlier post that God had revealed to me through this book the way he sees me, without spot, faultless. This was such an amazing revelation that it took quite a while to sink in. I would meditate this scripture (Song of Solomon 4:7) everyday and still found it amazing.

Today, I would like to discuss a scripture very closely related to the above. Song of Solomon 1:16 says, "Behold thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green." Remember, Song of Solomon is an ongoing dialogue between two lovers along with some background information to set the scene and mood of the script. This is a perfect depiction of the love and affection between Christ and the Church.

Here in this scripture, Solomon, representing Christ, speaks to his bride who represents the Church. He says to her "Behold, thou art fair." 'Behold' is a term that brings attention to a particular statement or truth about to be revealed. Just as in Song of Solomon 4:7, Christ is revealing to the Church just how He sees her. He says she's fair. This word 'fair', in the original Hebrew in which it was written, means much more than beautiful as in our modern, English vernacular. It means to be 'bright'. We, the Church, are a light unto the world. We are shining His love for everyone to see.

The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). It also tells us that God is light (1 John 1:5). We are the very embodiment of God, the 'body of Christ'! Yes, we are that "city set on a hill" as a light for the whole world to see (Matthew 5:14)! As long as we abide in Him, we should not feel as if we are trying to rob God of his glory. All through the Word, God confirms that he wants us to share in his glory, and the whole creation groans in waiting for us to get this revelation (Romans 8:18-22, but that's a subject for another time)! As he is, so are we in this world," 1 John 4:17!

After assuring the bride that she magnificently shines His beauty as a representation of Him (meaning, "When they see you, they see me. We are one!"), He calls her his 'beloved'. Now this is important because this is the only place in the book of Song of Solomon that the word translated 'beloved' comes from the Hebrew word 'ahab' or 'aheb'. All the others are translated from the Hebrew word 'dod' or 'dowd' which simply means lover or friend. The word 'aheb' means to have affection for. According to The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, this word means "to love in the sense of having a strong emotional attachment to and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object." Not only does he share his glory and magnificence with the bride, but he is so attached to her and desires to be in her company more than any other.

As if that isn't enough, he then goes on to call her 'pleasant', which means delightful. God tells us in Revelation 4:11 we exist and were created for his pleasure. Our main purpose in life is to give God the pleasure of delighting in us. Wow, what a calling! 1 Corinthians 1:9 tells us that God is faithful and has called us into fellowship with his Son. This would be sort of like a prearranged marriage! I always disliked the idea of prearranged marriages until I caught the Father's heart in this. It was a faithful act. He was fulfilling his promise to save us and make a new covenant with us based on His blood, not our works. God was saying, "I am your father, and I know what's best for you. I've been scouting out the land, and I've found the absolute best! I've arranged a wedding for you. I know once you meet him and get to know him, you will absolutely adore him!"

To top it all off, Solomon, our picture of Christ, reminds her, "...also our bed is green." The word 'green' here is translated from the Hebrew word 'raanan' which means verdant (green with growing plants, unripe, fresh), new, prosperous. He was in essence saying, "We have a whole new field to play on. It's untouched and it's just for you and me. We can explore this new life together. You are mine, and I am yours. We can have intimate fellowship anytime you'd like. I love getting to know you and revealing myself to you. I'm always ready."

This completely dispels the myth that we must be perfect before we come into the presence of God. He already sees us as perfect. He created us to bring him pleasure. He longs for our fellowship. This is why he tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He wants continual unbroken fellowship with us. Just as we don't divorce our mate when we see a mistake or flaw, God will not kick us out of His presence when we sin. Here you see that God gives us an open invitation. No more long baths and beauty rituals! We' have already been washed in His blood! He has beautified us! We are perfect just as we are because we are exuding His love, His light, His image! He beckons us to come to him, explore Him, truly get to know Him. When we see his heart, we will fall head-over-heels in love with him!

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
And having an high priest over the house of God;
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful who promised;)
Hebrews 10:19-23