Recently a friend of mine, Rebecca Friedlander, was in Israel to capture some video footage for an upcoming music project. While there, she visited the famed desert oasis called En Gedi and came away with a deep insight which I want to share with you this month.
En Gedi is a lush hideaway retreat located on the western shore of the Dead Sea. It is a sanctuary of awe-inspiring beauty likened to Paradise itself. In the same way the Garden of Eden was watered by four rivers, En Gedi is water-fed by four fresh springs as well.
DISCOVERED BY DAVID
David discovered the haven of En Gedi when he was fleeing from the hand of King Saul. It was at En Gedi where David cut a piece of cloth from Saul's robe:
After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. (1 Samuel 24:1-7)
THE CAVE OF THE SHULAMIT
Today, if you should visit En Gedi you would find the very cave where David cut the cloth from Saul's robe. Interestingly, that cave is called the "Shulamit Cave" or the "Lovers Cave."
Many years after the incident occurred between Saul and David, Solomon took his bride, the Shulamite, to En Gedi to camp there in their private romantic getaway. The cave, where David had concealed himself from Saul now became the "Lovers Cave" where the royal couple pitched their camp and shared their most intimate love. Today, the cave is called the "Shulamit Cave" as a memorial to the famed bride of Solomon.
THE DEEPER INSIGHT
The Bridal Revelation is a precious truth to the remnant of believers who have embraced it as their own. To us, the mystery of Christ and His bride is a profound and beautiful revelation of the love of Christ. It beckons us to pursue and cleave to God with intimate affection while leaving the lesser rewards and idolatries of this world behind. The people of the world cannot see or understand this mystery. Neither can those whose hearts and minds are blinded by a religious spirit. Saul, was indeed chosen and anointed by God yet he lacked the passion for God that coursed through the veins of David. Likewise, many believers today, feel no real hunger for intimacy with Christ and therefore fail in understanding those who do. To us, the Bridal Revelation is something of great value to cherish and prize. We have found the "Lovers Cave" and pitched our camp there. Like David and his band of men, we have gone "far back into the cave." We have gone deeper into the boundless love of the Bridegroom. But others often do not share our appreciation of the revelation. Like Saul, who used the cave as a place to relieve himself, people who are chosen and anointed by God will unwittingly defile the very things we value the most. They do so not because they have an evil intent - but simply because they don't possess the same appreciation for the things we hold dear. The same cave where Solomon and the Shulamite chose to share their most intimate love was seen by Saul as nothing more than a toilet.
EYES TO SEE
In the Song of Solomon chapter 5, the Shulamite speaks to her friends and says:
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you — if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love. (Song 5:8)
To which the Daughters of Jerusalem reply:
How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us? (Song 5:9)
The words "most beautiful of women" is used by the Daughters of Jerusalem as an insult. It is like saying "you think you are so much better (beautiful) than us."
The Daughters of Jerusalem represent believers who are distinct from the Bride. They believe but have no eyes to see the deeper revelation of the qualities which the Bride sees in her Bridegroom.
Often I hear from people who say they have few people they can share their heart and thoughts with concerning the Bridal Revelation. When they try to speak to their friends about the things that mean so much to them, they are often misunderstood or even mocked. David's encounter with Saul in the Lovers Cave should teach us that not everyone is going to see the things we see or value the things we value. As the Bride, we must seek to cultivate a heart of humility toward those who unwittingly defile the things which are most precious to us. It grieved David that he so much as cut a corner from the robe of Saul. And so we should ask for grace to bear the reproach of being misunderstood.
3 comments:
Thanks for this reminder. I have gotten this response more then once as of late and I feel so sad because often times it is from people I have been very close to in the faith. They have no idea what I am really talking about. I want to leap over the wall and give them some of my oil, but that is not how the parable goes. We must all go buy oil for ourselves. We can't give someone else our intimacy with Christ. We can't share our oil. For many years I thought that the five virgins who had the oil were selfish because they did not share the oil that they had. It was pitiful in a way, because I knew I was one of the five going into the wedding supper, but I would repent because I thought the parable was also evidence of my selfishness! I didn't get it back then and thought that I would be held responsible for all of those people who were knocking at the door but were unable to enter. I understand now. We can’t share this oil. Everyone has the same choice. This intimacy takes time and time on this earth is our most valuable currency, not gold...TIME. What is interesting is the number of people who don't want to know Him because to know Him well is to interrupt a busy schedule of "well doing". There are many aspects to the Christian life from serving to feeding the poor and evangelizing, but given the season we are in our Bridal preparedness is at center stage. As you have said Pastor Mark, when a bride is preparing for her wedding she is laser focused on the preparations for this day. I find myself still alert to serving, feeding the poor and evangelizing, but am drawn more and more to intimate encounters with Jesus so our courtship deepens. The Bridal Company within the body is a small group and it’s so important that we encourage each other to buy this oil. One day we will hear the shofar and meet Him in the air. Come…the Spirit and the Bride say Come!
AMEN!!! What a BEAUTIFUL story and pics. Thank you for sharing and reminding us of this. ;)
I agree with Farfalla, Deborah it was wonderful reading your blog. A favorite verse of mine is,,"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days," Is.51:9
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