Arise, And Come Away

Arise, And Come Away

Song of Solomon 2:13b Arise, My love, My fair one, and come away.

The Lord is calling His children away from the world to fellowship with Himself. In this Song by Solomon, Jesus (pictured by King Solomon) is the believers' Beloved, and we are His love. (This distinction is clearly used all throughout this song.) In His eyes we are fair - in fact, in Song of Solomon 4:7 He praise His bride in stating, Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee. All true believers (who have placed personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, believing and receiving the Gospel according to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) have been washed in the precious blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19 and Revelation 1:5) and credited and clothed with the righteousness of Christ (Romans 10:4); therefore in the Lord's eyes there is no spot in them. When our Heavenly Father looks at His children, He sees them through the righteousness of Christ, in whom there is no stain of sin or blemish. 

Do you arise from your busy pursuits, come away from the hustle and bustle of this dreary world, and spend time daily in fellowship with the Lord? Do you spend time listening to His voice as He speaks to you through the Word of God? Like the Shulamite, do you rejoice in the voice of your Beloved? (See Song of Solomon 2:8-10) 

Song of Solomon 2:14 O My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

O My dove... "She is Christ’s dove, for he owns her and delights in her; she can find no rest but in him and his ark, and therefore to him, as her Noah, she returns." - Matthew Henry. 

...that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs... Jesus is the Rock portrayed all throughout Scripture. (See 1 Corinthians 10:4) Is He your hiding place, your refuge? Is your soul hid in the cleft of the Rock? 

For a study on this theme of the cleft of the rock, see my study The Rock Of Horeb.

...let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. The Lord delights in His children, and wants to hear their voice. It is precious and sweet to Him. Many Christians treat prayer like a duty, rather than a delight. But, like any relationship, for it to grow and prosper there must be regular communication between both parties. Are you seeking the Lord regularly? Does Jesus hear your voice? He longs to! 

When we neglect prayer, we are not only missing out on the blessings our Heavenly Father wants to give us (needs met, peace, joy, assurance, contentment, boldness and souls saved), we are depriving the Lord of His delight. 

Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me. (In this passage wisdom is speaking, but I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is here pictured symbolically.) 

Proverbs 15:8b The prayer of the upright is His delight. Psalm 27:8 When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. This verse is stating that there are times when the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray, times where He is longing to hear our voice right then and there. Do we heed His tender prompting? Do we answer His call to intimate fellowship?

Song of Solomon 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. 

It is the "little sins" that disrupt our fellowship with the Lord; it is the "little compromises" that cause Him to remove His peace and joy from our hearts; it is the "little things" that we allow to take root in our affections that prevent the Lord from having the first place in our hearts and lives that He so desires. It is these little foxes that spoil the vines, that damage the tender grapes that we produce - the fruit of our service to Christ. Don't let the little things mar or destroy the good that He is doing in your life. Don't let compromise and sin hinder your effectiveness in His cause. 

James 4:8a Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. 

Someone has wisely said, "You can be as close to the Lord as you want to be." Do you want to be even closer, then remove whatever hindrances may be standing in your way. Capture the foxes and remove them from your garden; wipe out the Canaanites in the land; cast down the idols on the altar of your heart; tear out that root of bitterness - let nothing, great or small, hinder your walk with the Lord. 

If you desire to have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, then like King David, ask the Lord to reveal whatever sin or compromise might be in your life. Then make the choice to deal firmly with it today. 

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

John 14:21-23 He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 

Song of Solomon 2:16-17 My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved and be Thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. 

The Lord delights to walk in His garden in the cool of the day and fellowship with His children - in other words, the times of fellowship are refreshing and peaceful. (See Genesis 3:8 and Song of Solomon 6:2-3) He feedeth among the lilies (see Revelation 3:20 and Matthew 18:19-20), with the believers He is making like Himself, conforming them to His image (He is the Lily of the valleys, we are as the Lily - see Song of Solomon 2:1-2; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). 

Bether means "division." While our sin can cause the Lord to turn His face from us and our fellowship with Him is temporarily broken - much like a roe or a hind, being suddenly startled, leaps away (see Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; 8:14) - when we confess and forsake the sin that drove Him away (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:7, 9) our Saviour quickly restores that sweet fellowship - like a roe or a young hart gracefully leaping over the mountains back to us. Jesus is that Hind of the Morning that Psalm 22 speaks about (see title of Psalm), and will turn back toward us the moment our hearts draw nigh unto Him. 

One day Jesus Christ is coming back, in like manner as He went away. I can't wait until the day break and our Saviour comes leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills back to us, to take us (His bride) home to Heaven (see 2:8) - how about you? (See 2 Timothy 4:8 and Titus 2:13) 

Leaping over the mountains that divide this land of shadows from the land of eternal light, Jesus will come back and receive His bride unto Himself. He will take us to the mansions that He has prepared for us in glory, where we will be forever abiding in His presence. (See John 14:2-3; Revelation 3:12; 21:23; and 22:3-5) Then the words in Song of Solomon 2:13 will have taken on an ever greater meaning as they are fulfilled in the rapture of the church, Arise, My love, My fair one, and come away. 

"She begs that he would not only turn to her for the present, but hasten his coming to fetch her to himself. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Though there be mountains in the way, thou canst, like a roe, or a young hart, step over them with ease. O show thyself to me, or take me up to thee." - Matthew Henry. 

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

Revelation 4:1a After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither... 

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Study written September 20th, 2004

Jerry Bouey

For a list of studies that use the Song of Solomon as the springboard:

Song Of Solomon