July 30, 2006
Scripture:
Can we look at the first chapter of Song of Solomon; recently reading this chapter, I was struck by three couplets, three pairs of words. One struck me this morning, when we were reminded in Hebrews to “draw near.” The words of Joseph come to mind, “draw near to me.” So in the first chapter of the Song of Solomon, there are two sides to the drawing near. The first couplet is in v. 2, “kiss me.” The Song of Solomon is mainly the discourse between the Bridegroom and the bride. Here the bride is speaking to the bridegroom and we can’t help but say that there is intimacy, there is affection. We might well test our own hearts. V. 4 has the next couplet, “draw me.” The last is in v. 7, “tell me.” “Draw me” is the one that struck me this morning. If the Lord says, “Draw near,” and we say, “Let us draw near,” is there not something within us that says to Him, “draw me”? And he does; He shows us His love, and that draws us. That love has a drawing power; when we see how He died, doing it for us, that draws us. When we realize that He saw us as a pearl and gave up everything for us, that draws us. The Bride seems to have her arms open and says, “draw me.” We should want to be drawn; there is no doubt that he wants us to be close. He says, “come near unto me.” May we be drawn by that everlasting love.
EG Hymn 308 – I love to tell the story Prayer • Last time we saw that Joseph had made himself known to his brothers. After that, he gave them wagons and told them to bring all their belongings to Egypt to live in the land of Goshen. Genesis 47:13–31 • Because of the famine, the Egyptians ran out of food. Then they had to buy grain from Joseph. But soon their money was gone, too. They brought the problem to Joseph, who told them to bring their cattle. When they had given him all their cattle, he bought their lands from them. Now Joseph is the owner of all of Egypt; will he use his wealth for himself? No, v. 20 says he held it all for Pharaoh. Remember how we said that Joseph is a picture of the Lord? Well, one day when the Lord comes to reign, He will be the ruler over everything. He will not rule for himself, but for His Father. So in v. 23, Joseph gives seed to all the people to plant; this must mean the famine is over. During all this time, the Israelites have been living in Goshen and are flourishing; v. 27 says they, “grew, and multiplied exceedingly.” Yet, the time comes for Jacob to die, v. 29. He calls Joseph and requests that he be buried in his homeland of Canaan; Joseph and his brothers fulfilled this request. Interestingly, Joseph made this same request when he died. So when the Israelites left Egypt, under Moses’ leadership, they took the bones of Joseph with them. Lastly, let us turn to Philippians 2:10 & 11. Joseph is a small picture of how the Lord will come and reign in the Millennium. Everything will be under the Lord’s control. So there we leave the story of Joseph; I hope it has been a help to us.
Hebrews 11:15–21 • V. 15, in other words, seems to be God’s reminder that we, as well as these in this chapter, are free-agents—we have a choice. You can make a good start in faith, but it is possible not to finish, to turn back. Everyone has these choices. Here God has brought before us the worthies of faith, and the things they have done that got His approval. In the parable of the prodigal son, we see the prodigal at the lowest point in his life. Then he comes to his senses, repents, and goes home to his father. But then, what if, later on, he came to his father and said, “You know, I’m sort of hankering for that pigswill again; I think I’m going to head back.” It sounds foolish, doesn’t it; yet how many people do that today, after having made a faithful start. We have the opportunity to go back, the verse says. These faithful had the option, but they didn’t choose it. They continued, and God was not ashamed to be called their God. To go back is not to lose your salvation; it is backsliding, and it is still a definite shame. This verse is written as though these people did not even think of turning back; the prodigal son would not have thought of going back to the pigs. But the Israelites did want to go back to the onions and garlic of Egypt. Our old nature wants to go back, and we have an enemy that makes it all look very good; we need to draw near to the Lord to keep from backsliding. It takes a different kind of faith to do this. When we are saved, we use a faith that believes; this faith requires action: we are going to a heavenly country. But is it drudgery all along the way? No, we should have a foretaste of what is to come. We can enjoy all that while we are here of earth. Remember that backsliding has its consequences: “the way of the transgressor is hard.” We have a life to live down here; will we waste it for ourselves or invest it for the Lord. We cannot let what seem like unimportant things, such as times of meditation and prayer, slip. These are vital, and cannot be overlooked. We must go forth, as royal priests, showing the Lord to others and being faithful (I Peter 1:9). As we said, faith for the pathway requires action. Abraham had to leave his home, family, and country to go to live in a new country. We read about how God showed him the stars and said, “So shall thy seed be.” That took believing faith. But now, in v. 17, we have the other kind of faith, the action faith. God asked Abraham to offer Isaac, an act no father would ever want to do. James says “faith without works is dead.” Faith is the opposite of works; is this a contradiction? No, the works are not for salvation, but to prove that we have faith. This is what Abraham must do here. Now God does not ask his people to sacrifice their children; He actually rebukes those who do. But once, and only once, does He ask someone to, and it is in the hardest case: Abraham had only one son, the son whom God promised to bless the whole earth through. Abraham does not argue with God and say, “But remember what you said on that dark night …” He, full of faith, goes about his task. It is almost as though he says to himself, “I wonder how God will get out of this one!” The next morning, Abraham was up early, cutting the wood and preparing to go to the mountain. When he left the young men, he said he would return with the lad. But why did God put him through that? It’s because God was looking ahead, and He needed a type, a type of a father’s love and pain in giving his son. He needed a type of what it was for Him to give Jesus at Calvary. In Genesis 22, we find out that “God will provide himself a lamb.” Does this mean He will provide a lamb for himself? Or will He provide himself as the lamb? Both. God has promised not to test us beyond our ability; that shows what confidence God had in Abraham’s faith. Hymn 179 – Nothing but Christ as on we tread, Prayer