THE SLEEPING BRIDE
Reading Song of Songs 5:2-8
2I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 3I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 5I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 7The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. 8I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love ove.
The Lord Jesus spoke much about the Bridegroom and the Wedding of the Son of the King, the Supper and the Feast… Mathew 22: 2The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding
Luke 5 :34 Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? 35But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
John the Baptist mentioned something similar when they asked him about who he is, and whether he was the Christ….. John3: 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Paul also said something about the matter ….
. Eph 5: 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives
be to their husbands in every thing. 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
John the Apostle saw in a Revelation and wrote
Rev19: 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev21: 1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband
Rev21: :9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
So it is clear that the Bible talks about the Church as the spouse of Christ , and Christ the Son of God , as her husband.
In this Book of Solomon, the Song of Song, a Revelation from the Old Testament, about Christ & Church. Solomon wrote 1005 songs, according to 1Kings 4:32And he spoke three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
But this one and only Song was considered to be one of the canon of the Holy Scriptures .
I sleep but my heart waketh, …this is what the bride is saying in Chapter 5:2
Isn’t she a sleeping bride?
THE SLEEPING BRIDE
1-Many reasons for Many People
Proverbs 24:33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
This what happens to the lazy!
Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
So it is normal for the laboring man.(and woman)
The Lord and His disciples needed rest!
Mark 6:31 there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while.” Good News Bible
So the bride is the Church, and the bridegroom is Christ. But what is applicable to the Church of Christ, and the kingdom of God, is applicable unto the individual.
In Mathew 25 the Lord talks about the kingdom of God, which is similar to ten virgins, five were wise and the others were foolish. He says in verse 5 while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept
Though some are wise and some are not, but they all get tired at a point. Some people sleep and their heart is awake, like this bride, some others sleep in darkness.
For those the Lord is calling... “Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ
will shine on you.”Ephesian 5:14
For those appointed, for the bride who is in bed, He is knocking at the door of their hearts. Rev 3: 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me
She heard his voice, she heard the knocking, but she did not open. She hesitated. WHY?
3I have put off my coat; so what ? are you lazy to put it back on ?
how shall I put it on? or did you forget how ?
I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
You want to keep clean ? Sometimes we do that. We don’t wnt to serve the Lord and of course people, and especially God’s people, and we are afraid of getting tired, or be defiled, and dirt our hands or lose our serenity, and so we do NOTHING.
We don’t want to pay any price.We are not ready for that. Listen to what Peter says.
13 So then, have your minds ready for action.!!!!!!!! Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing, which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant.
Many reasons might have kept her from rising and open the door, and who knows which reason we hold for an excuse ?
Sometimes it costs too much to learn. Not money. Not time. But too much.
5I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone.
2- sleeping a little but losing much
It seems He tried to open the door, 4My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. But then He left.
Was He offended, was He angry ? Was He dissapointed ? Because He loved me and expected me to love Him, but I didn’t open the door. HE LEFT !
Was it an urgent matter, will He search for another to do it. Am I rejected ?
Many questions, and no answers…is it not difficult for the church to face such a case, and more dificult for the individual. Was it an assurance of salvation He wanted to give me, and I lost the opportunity. It might be the last. Was it a ministry he wanted to assign me to or testimony that would cause salvation for a lost soul ?/?
HE LEFT !!!
What shall we say if the Bride’s knocking at the door is a prophecy of His second coming ? Isn’t He the expected bride that will come to take the five wise virgins ?
Am I among the unwise ? DANGEROUS QUESTIONS . Paul the Apostle says test yourselves are you in faith .
This is why v6 says… my soul failed when he spake.
She quickly looked for Him.She shouted calling Him, but there was no respond.
HE DID NOT ANSWER.
I say we automatically punish ourselves, once we are not flexible and obedient.
All that to have a little rest.
The problem is the consequences were more severe .
The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me
No matter what is your case, there is always a remedy, for today is the day of salvation, we are in the covenent of grace, and He loves us. In Chapter 6:4 we read:
Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
9My dove, my undefiled is but one;
No matter what is the case, we should learn a lesson.
3-THE LESSON WE LEARN
She did not give up, even after being beaten, but she kept on looking for Him. And while doing that she was confessing to everyone the love she has towards Him, and His beautiful attributes. When we confess Christ, people will surely ask us about the blessed hope we have.
9What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
Now she remembered His beauty and His uniqueness ??? Why not remember this on your bed ? If you did you would have been ready to open the door then. If you are busy thinking in the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then you will be ready and spare a lot of troubles for yourselves.
Now she is counting His beautyful attributes. His hair, His head, His eyes, His cheeks, His lips, His arms, His body, ……….(verses 10-16).
See what happens when you witness Christ ?! In chapter 6:1 1Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee
She mentioned His beauty with so much fervance and enthusiasm, at the point the friend listeners asked her where they could find Him!!! They want Him too!!!
Let us be sober, let us be digilent, for the Lord is at the door …..Let us think of Him always and be prepared to receive Him and have our Holy fellowship with the one that loved us first and layed himself for us on the cross to redeem us.Let us appriciate His love to us.
( There is nothing beautiful about the bride, if it was not for her bridegroom.) (5I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem)
We are sinners in our nature, we became sanctified by the blood of Jesus, to enter into a covenant with the Lord, to become saved sinners that stopped sinning...and this is by his grace. Each one may say with Paul:
[15Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief:
PREACHED IN BADARO at the Ethiopian Congregation
on Sunday morning the 15th Octobre 2000
