Christ Searching For A Bride

King Solomon was looking for what we may call "true love"… Oh, yes, many beautiful women were part of his royal harem, but they were there as exhibits, displaying his earthly glory as rich king… He was looking not for beauty, but for true love, a woman to love him for his character, not for his position or money…

King Solomon’s practice was to travel around disguised as a shepherd while looking for his dream-woman… On a journey Solomon met a young shepherdess of surprising beauty. She fell immediately in love, and she answered in the same manner to him. And he promised to her to bring her to a palace and be a queen.

- "Oh sure” said the girl laughing. You are dreaming, you are just a shepherd, but doesn’t matter, I will be your bride anyway because I love you I’m not interested to live in a palace or a garden like papardise, but to be with you".

Solomon left and for a while the girl felt lonely, and not understanding why the shepherd is not coming back… She was deeply in love and waiting. In the mean time the King’s chariot came to bring her to the palace. By the order of the King she was immediately taken captive and brought to Jerusalem. She did not understand… And Solomon dressed as king approached her pretend as to win the love of this simple shepherdess, a peasant girl (Shulamite). But she rejected him:

- “My place is not here your Majesty. My heart belongs to a poor shepherd whom I love as nobody else in the entire world.”

- "OK, I see - said Solomon - and where is that shepherd? He left you, didn’t he"?

- "Oh no, he will come back some day. I will wait, even my whole life if will be the case. I am his".

And King Solomon, revealed himself to her, as Joseph did it before his brothers. "I am that shepherd, and now I know that you love me indeed and you are ready to be my wife and my queen not for what I have here at the palace, but truly for me"!

The Song of Songs is a poetic love story between the King and a lowly country girl, which uses exotic and striking language. It celebrates love and affection between a man and a woman that cuts across class barriers.

But what did God intend in including it in the Old Testament canon? The great key to understanding it is to see that it describes the spiritual relationship between Jesus, the Bridegroom King, and the Church, the peasant girl Bride.

We could close the Bible here for now and go home, being blessed so far with this input from the Song of Solomon… but we need to furthermore, to find another … by CONTRAST this time.

Isaiah 4:1 - "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothes: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach".

Seven Women Shall Lay Hold of One Man! According to the prophet Isaiah, two kinds of churches will exist in the last days. And I believe these two types of churches are already in existence. We do not have to speculate about what they will be like - because Isaiah gives us a very clear, prophetic description of both.

Isaiah 4:1 is one of the most misunderstood verses in the entire Bible. I see this entire chapter in Isaiah as one of the clearest, most unmistakable prophecies about how Christianity will look just prior to the coming of the Lord.

In Revelation 1, John sees Jesus standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks - "...and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace..." (Revelation 1:14-15).

John was smitten by this frightful sight - and he fell on his face in fear! Remember, this was the same John who once leaned his head on Jesus’ bosom. And now, as he sees the Lord in this state, he is utterly stricken.

Scripture makes it very clear that these seven candlesticks represent seven churches - that is, the entire religious body of believers in the last days, all that we call "the church." And Jesus walks among these seven candlesticks, His piercing eyes searching the seven churches. Because He is looking for a bride…

SCRIPTURE ALWAYS REFERS TO THE CHURCH AS A WOMAN/ BRIDE!

The seven would-be brides Isaiah mentions are clearly a type of the characteristics of many in the last-days’ church. I am saying that I believe you will find the characteristics of all seven churches in all churches through the ages. But also, a second application, all churches who were the tag - CHRISTIAN…