The Passover Prophecy in the Song of Solomon

Many see the book of the song of Solomon as a description of this relationship between a husband and a wife. And it is that. But it's also so much more than that. It contains a hidden prophecy about Yeshua and his love for his bride. And it gives us a glimpse of the love story of the Bible, why he came and then abruptly left this world, leaving his disciples somewhat in distress in that moment. But yet it all had great purpose. And today I want you to see the purpose that you have in the story of God himself. I would like to pick up in the song of Solomon, chapter five, where we read about this woman who is in her house and hears a knock at the door. I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound. My beloved is knocking open to me. My sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. My beloved put his hand to the latch and my heart was thrilled within me. So I arose to open to my beloved. And my hands dripped with myrrh and my fingers with liquid myrrh on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me. When he spoke. I sought him, but I found him not. I called him, but he gave no answer. See the similarities between this bridegroom and the coming of Christ. Just like this man comes to the door at an unexpected time where the bride did not expect him at night. So we also see him coming to the door of the house. Revelation 320. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. Matthew 24 33. So likewise ye, when you shall see all these things, these signs know that it is near, even at the doors. The scriptures all throughout prophetically speaks about the coming of Christ as him coming at an unexpected time to our doors. And the question is, are we ready for that arrival? We see in the song of Solomon that the woman was thrilled in her heart as she heard and saw of the signs of his coming. She heard his voice at the door. She heard his hands touching the latch of the door. But while she was thrilled with him being there, she misses him. See, it's not just about being thrilled about the signs of his coming. We must be thrilled about readying ourselves for that coming. The question is, really, how did she miss him if she's so in love with him? Is she so thrilled with him? How could she miss his coming? It's clear that she's delayed. For some reason, she isn't at the door quick enough, and by the time she gets to the door and opens the door, he's gone. It's kind of like that feeling when you know you have an appointment and you know when you need to leave to make the appointment. And so when the time comes to leave, suddenly you realize, oh, I forgot completely. I need this. And, oh, where's my keys? And, and where's my wallet? And, and, honey, are you ready? And all the kids ready? And, and is, are all these things in place for us to get to this appointment in time? Suddenly, the moment that it arrives, you recognize you're not ready. And so this is the warning. Are you going to be ready, or are there going to be some things that you suddenly realize are missing? See, that's what happened to the foolish virgins. It says that there was a cry and the bridegroom is coming, come out to meet him. But in Matthew 25 eight, we read that the foolish ask the wives, give us some of your oil for our lamps for going out. There's not enough for everyone, so they have to go and buy oil. And then in a moment, the bridegroom comes and those who were ready were able to go in to meet him, but the door was shut to the marriage feast thereafter. And those who weren't ready who went to get this and that, came back to the door and couldn't find a way in. And that is what the Passover is. It's about a door. In the exodus, God comes and says, take the blood and put it on the door posts. Ready your house for when the death angel comes. He needs to find your house readied. And so I want to submit. That is what is happening with the coming Passover. It's about the moment of the second coming of Christ where he is going to come to your door yet again to see whether your house has been prepared. And so I would like to speak to you more about readying your house for the coming Passover. First, I'd like us to ask, what was the life of Christ known by? It was known for an outpouring of love and serving others. It shouldn't be a shock that he's going to come back for a bride who's equally yoked, who, whilst he was gone, was busy loving and serving others. But this was the problem that Israel faced when Christ came the first time. They had all of the Torah scrolls, they had all of the synagogues, they had all of the religious works, but Israel had stopped loving. And because they had stopped loving and serving those in their midst who needed it most. They missed the knock of the first coming completely. Because when the Messiah, the bridegroom, came and he loved those they neglected to love, he served those they neglected to serve, all they could do is criticize him. All they could do was say, who is this man who eats with sinners and tax collectors? Yet that was what Israel was supposed to do. Who is this man who hangs out with these common men? Yet this is what Israel was supposed to do. And today the same has happened. Many today who call themselves his have stopped loving. And they will miss the knock of the second coming because the moment that he is at the door, even though they are thrilled with it, they will recognize he is the God of love, the messiah known for his love and serving. I need to go and do that. Let me go and do that. And then we run to hope to do that. But then when we get back, it's too light. He's already shut the door. See, dear brother and sister, studying the word of God and learning more about him is beautiful. But if it does not lead us to loving deeper it will puff us up. It will fail to produce in us that which God has called it to produce. God has called the word of God and the truth to produce the love of God within us. The commandments are there to help us to love God better and to love our neighbors better. That is what all the Torah and the prophets hang from. But see, something else also happened because we read in the song of Solomon, chapter five, verse eight when he says, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. So she, after recognizing that he has left the door, she goes out into the city and she starts telling everyone, I am sick with love for him. Tell me if you see him. And this is what also happened. For example, we see Peter who adds the Passover. He is sick with love for Yeshua. He is saying to him even in John 1337, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you and of course we know that there is no greater love than if one lay down his life for his friend. So he is saying, Yeshua, Lord, I am sick with love for you I will lay down my life for you I will do whatever, but I want to follow you. Jesus answers, will you lay down your life for me, Peter? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times. Wow. See, Peter, he wants to follow the messiah. And he's confused. Why can't I follow you where you're about to go? Well, of course we know, because Jesus was about to die. And that's why Jesus said, you can't follow me because I have a mission at hand and that's what I need to do right now. But you know what's so ironic is that the only real chance that Peter would have to follow Jesus in that way, in that moment, was for Peter to face death himself. And Peter facing death was the very thing that caused Peter to deny the Messiah, to try and get away from that potential death. Because remember, the people asked him, do you know that man? Are you not his disciple? That man who's getting crucified, who's dying now, are you not his disciple? Peter was scared that they would want to kill him, just like they killed his messiah, Jesus. And that's why he denied Yeshua. And that is the very thing he said, I will do whatever I need to follow you. But yet the very thing that he denied the messiah in was the very thing that was the reason why he could not follow the messiah in that way. Now, it probably wasn't God's call for Peter to die in that moment, but yet it gives us a glimpse of how unready he was. Actually, I want to submit to you that for all of us, the only way for us to follow the messiah is for us all to face death. Matthew, 1624. Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. If Peter indeed also picked up his cross alongside his messiah, as his messiah was on the way to the cross, then Peter could indeed follow his messiah. But he was left there alone to die. And the sheep scattered as sheep without a shepherd. Peter didn't lay his life down. And often we don't lay our life down because we are still living. People can't take something from you that you've already given up. Some of us are scared of death. We're scared of men like Peter was, because we have not actually given up our lives. What does it mean to lay down your life to follow the Messiah? It means you need to die. Die to yourself. Die to the opinions of men. Die to the possessions of this world. Die to your career. Die to this world and live for him. Live for his calling for you. Live for his possessions that he has for you in the kingdom to come. Live resurrected, not in the old man anymore. And this Passover is a great moment where you can come to recommit your life to him, to say, lord, I have said that I am sick with love for you, but I have not laid my life down for you to follow you as you face death. I have not done that. He calls you to do that. And then, number three, how we can ready ourselves for his past overcoming is. I want you to look at what happens next in the song of Solomon's story of verse seven. The watchmen found me, the bride as they went about in the city. They beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls. Now, this is interesting, because she, as she's looking for her bridegroom, as she is searching, the watchmen are the people who are guarding the city from the external threats, right? That is their job. They protect the people who are living in the city from those outside the walls, armies or enemies or trying to attack the city. But for some reason, they're not protecting those inside from those outside. They're beating someone who's inside the walls of the city. This bride, this lady who's looking for her bridegroom. Wow. And that's exactly what is happening today. We have been called to be watchmen. We have been called to protect God's people from those outside the camp. But we have been quick, in fact, to beat up those inside of our own camp. Perhaps someone who's delayed opening the door to the messiah, perhaps someone who isn't growing as fast as we are spiritually, perhaps someone who doesn't have our specific revelation on this and that area, or someone who is struggling to serve him in this or that area that we feel we're good at serving him in. And we even sometimes question their salvation, tearing away their veils from them, beating them up. And yet the messiah is going around bandaging their wounds, just as in the first century, he went around bandaging the wounds of the prostitutes, the alcoholics and the sinners, because the religious have rejected them. But the messiah was there to reconcile them back to the father, to love them. That does not mean that there isn't correction that he provides them. Of course he does, and there's a place for that. But he bandages their wounds and he says, what you do to the least of these, you do unto me. He says that, why did you not feed me? Why did you not clothe me? And then we will say, we have done that. What are you talking about? When did we see you that we could clothe you? And he said, what you did to those who were not clothed and who were hungry, you did unto me see. Some of us have become like the blind, leading the blind, like those spoken of by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 56, verse ten, where he says his watchmen are blind. They are without knowledge. They are all silent dogs. They cannot bark. They are dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite. They never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. The prophet Isaiah's words grieve me because they are, because I can see them come to life today. O brother, sister, do you not see his words come to life even today? He talks about these shepherds, leaders and believers, people who are supposed to know, who are supposed to be watchmen, who are supposed to guard against the actual enemy, or who is our battle against not flesh and blood, but principalities and dark powers of this world. Satan and his demons. But yet we devour one another. We have, as the prophet said, they're sleeping on their duties. They're not guarding against the actual enemy. He also calls them shepherds, leaders without understanding. In other words, they do not have the understanding to discern friend from foe or even to discern truth from falsehood. And he says that they are after their own gain, that they have this appetite that they have. They never have enough. And so because they have this appetite, they want to devour someone because they're not devouring the actual enemies of God, the actual demons and Satan that we are up against now. Instead, their appetite has become for one another, and they start devouring those inside their own camp. And God says, repent of this. Become the watchman that I have called you to be against the enemy that we have. We are united in who our king is, and we are united in who our enemy is. But we have lost sight of who our king is, and we have lost sight of who our enemy is because we're too busy looking at one another, missing the point entirely of the mission at hand. And this we can see, not only happen today, it has happened historically in our history. One example is how Christianity have treated the jewish people. Jesus came to knock at Israel's door in the first century, and she was not ready. And so when she opened the door and she went into the city looking for him, he looking for the messiah, right? And they're even today, still looking for the messiah in the city. Where is he? I am sick of love for him. Where is he? See, for thousands of years, as Israel have been looking for him, what have the gentiles done? Instead of provoking them to jealousy, they have come to try and take away her veil, just like those watchmen did to take away the veil of the bride. They have proclaimed replacement theology that we are actually the bride. You're not the bride. We are actually God's people. You're not God's people. We replace Israel now, instead of recognizing that we are grafted into Israel. Absolutely. But that does not mean that there is not an Israel that God is still uniting with him. That does include Judah. And so instead of protecting her, instead of bringing her the Messiah, some of us have tossed her aside, persecuted her even throughout all of the thousands of years which those persecutions are well known. I do not have to remind you, but what if the Exodus Passover was all about a restoration of identity? When God came to Israel for the first Passover in the Exodus, he said, I want to show you all who you are. Actually. I want to show Moses that he's not a prince of Egypt. I want to show Israel that they are not slaves, but they are children of God. And he in the Passover, in them, putting the blood on the door, that was the first step to restoring them to the freedom of freedom from Egypt and freedom to discover and recognize who they actually are. For her to know herself and to know then thereby who her God is. To bring her to mount Sinai. And if she recognizes her messiah, she recognizes herself. And so this is what is happening today. As our brothers and sisters of Judah are recognizing the messiah, they will recognize themselves, their true faith. Not the corrupted Judaism, but the true faith, what it truly means to be jewish. And that is to know the jewish messiah, who was the most jewish jew to ever live. But also for our christian brothers and sisters, for us to know who we are, we have to know who our messiah is who kept the Passover, which was God's biblical feast. He did not compromise, but he lived a life outside of the traditions of Egypt. And he, as he kept the Passover with his disciples, he is calling us as his followers, as believers who are grafted into Israel. Now as gentiles who are now grafted into Israel, he asks us to come to his Passover table. And then, as we do, we rediscover our identity and our messiah in deeper ways than ever before. But no matter who we are, whether a Gentile grafted into Israel or of the native born of Israel, we all have hands that are dripping with myrrh, just like the bride who came to her door, she says in the song of psalms, chapter five, verse five. I arose to open to my beloved. And my hands dripped with myrrh. My fingers with liquid myrrh on the handles of the bolt. So I opened to my beloved. But my beloved had turned and gone. I want you to see something as she comes to the door and her hands are dripping with myrrh. Myrrh is the same thing that Nicodemus brought to the burial of Christ. John, 1939. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds in weight. So they took the body of Christ and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. So the bride, in the song of Solomon, who is coming to the door to open for the bridegroom, her hands are dripping with myrrh. And suddenly, as she opens, he's gone. Because he has recognized that she is not ready. See, her hands were dripping with the same ointment that would be used to bury him. Because of her sins, because of her unreadiness, he had to go. But where did he go? He has gone to die for her. He has gone. And as she is looking from. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Running through Jerusalem if you see my beloved. I'm sick with love. Tell me where are you? Where are you? Song of psalms, chapter six. Where has your beloved gone, o most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned that we may seek him with you? My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine. He grazes among the lilies. We know where he has gone. He has gone to his garden tomb. John 1941. Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. How incredible is this story. He has gone and died for her because she was not ready. And he has gone to be with the father. Not just to go into the garden tomb on earth, but to enter the garden of Eden. To prepare a place for us, as he has said. And as he said, I'm going to a place right now where you cannot follow me yet. But I'm gonna come back for you. And I'm gonna come and fetch you. I'm gonna come and knock again one day. And you're gonna be ready. You're gonna be ready. Because I had died for you to be ready. You're gonna be ready because I made you clean. I cleansed you. You're gonna be ready because my sheep, they know my voice. And the stranger, they do not follow. They do not devour one another like the stranger asks them to do. No. They are in unity. They are one, as I am one with my father, declares Yeshua, brothers and sisters, he has come and he has asked us to be the bride that we are supposed to be. To no longer compromise, but to love one another as he has loved us. For us to be servants of one another. Not seeking to be the greatest, but to humble ourselves. He has called us to ready ourselves to enter the garden so that we would not be like Adam and Eve. Unready, but ready without sin and with pure hearts coming to him unleavened. Father, I pray right now for everyone who is listening, that you would come of your spirit and prepare them right now. That you would come and pour out your spirit upon them right now. That you would prepare them for the garden. Lord, that you prepare them for the place that you are right now. Yeshua, as I speak, you are walking among the lilies. Lord, as I speak, you are in the garden. And, Lord, I know that your greatest desire is for us to look like you. To be an equally yoked bride. Father, you're coming to our door soon. You're coming to knock soon. And, Lord, help us to be ready for it. Help us to not be like the first coming where you came and you knocked and you came upon the earth, but you found a people not ready and you had to leave to die for us. Lord, in light of that death, help us to grab ahold of your zit seat. Help us to be made whole. Help us to be changed so that we may not continue in the sins of yesterday. Father, we repent of our sins, and we repent of our pride. And we repent of our conceited desires and exaltations among men. And we ask that you would humble us. Give us new hearts. Put your law on our hearts, write it on our hearts and change us. We pray all this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. Thank you for joining me this Passover. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Shine his face upon you, lift up his countenance upon you. Give you his shalom and his mercy and his grace. If you would like to make an offering this Passover, if the father places that on your heart and if you feel that you would like to do it towards our ministry, you can go to risonfire.com.