Friday

Related Verses
S.S. 4:3, 12-15 (13)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread, And your mouth is lovely; Your cheeks are like a piece of pomegranate Behind your veil.
12 A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates With choicest fruit; Henna with spikenard,
14 Spikenard and saffron; Calamus and cinnamon, With all the trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, With all the chief spices.
15 A fountain in gardens, A well of living water, And streams from Lebanon.

2 Cor. 9:8
8 And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that, in everything always having all sufficiency, you may abound unto every good work;

Col. 1:9-11
9 Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 To walk worthily of the Lord to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and growing by the full knowledge of God,
11 Being empowered with all power, according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and long-suffering with joy,

Related Reading
Cheeks are the place where beauty is displayed. All our outward expressions (joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, and so forth) are seen through the cheeks.

“Your cheeks are like a piece of pomegranate / Behind your veil.” This is not a whole pomegranate, but an open one…Pomegranates are full of seeds, and every seed is juicy, red, sweet, and beautiful. This means that the outward beauty of the believers comes from an overflow of the Lord’s life. Still, everything must be veiled from the world’s eyes. This is the significance of the pomegranate being within…the veil. In other words, the only One who is aware of our beauty is the Lord. Although we should have a good testimony from those outside, and although our light should shine before men, such acts are not for our exhibition. Our expression is only before the Lord. The principle of a believer’s living is forever one of being within the veil and behind closed doors. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 60-61)

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Song of Songs 4:12 says, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, / A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.”…God’s first thought in the Bible was that of a garden. After God created the heavens and the earth, we see Him immediately creating a garden. A garden is not ordinary ground; it is not for ordinary planting. Nor is it a field, which is for tilling. It is specially designed for beauty and enjoyment…Its attention is on the flowers; the flowers are there for beauty and for pleasing the eyes. At this point, we see that the maiden has satisfied Christ. She realizes that her existence is not for herself, but for her beloved. This, however, is not just a garden, but a garden enclosed; even the spring is shut up and the fountain sealed. This means that she is exclusively for her beloved’s pleasure. Although she is a garden, she is not an open garden, but a garden enclosed. The beauty within is not seen by every eye. All that she has is for the beloved’s delight and for no one else.

Although this is a garden, it is not lacking in fruit [cf. vv. 13-14]. The Bible calls the believers “shoots” in a few instances…It means to be filled with the power of life, to overcome death, and to have the power of resurrection (e.g., the budding of Aaron’s rod). This power of life is like an orchard of pomegranates. Pomegranates signify the abundance of fruit. This means that the maiden is full of the power of resurrection and filled with the fruit of resurrection. In the previous verses, pomegranates were used to describe her two cheeks. Pomegranates are not just for fruit-bearing, they are also for beauty. Verse 13 speaks of “an orchard of pomegranates,” which means that this garden is not just beautiful, but fruitful as well.

The flowers and plants that follow are noted either for their color or for their fragrance. In the end, there are also trees of frankincense and all the chief spices. This means that a variety of things is needed in the believers to satisfy Christ (2 Cor. 9:8; Col. 1:9-11).

Both the well and the fountain are in the garden [S.S. 4:15]. In Eden there were four rivers which watered the garden. In the New Jerusalem, there is one river of water of life. The New Jerusalem is a garden-city, and the water there is for the irrigation of the garden. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This ministry brings forth better and finer gardens. This ministry does not have the garden as its source, but flows from the hills of Lebanon. Therefore, without Christ’s ascension, there is no descension of the Holy Spirit [cf. John 16:7]…All the spiritual watering that comes to us today is a result of Christ’s appearing before the Father on our behalf. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 72-74)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” section 3