EPISTLE TO THE SHULAMITE
(Preached in the assembly of Yop-Kuwait, Abidjan – Ivory Coast, on Wednesday evening, September 28, 2005)
I am grateful to the Lord for what He has just done again, the mother of our brother Fofana had her lungs deeply affected and medicine could no longer do anything and she was sent back home. Food was carried to her mouth, with her age and all that, you see? And our brother had a dream in which his mother looked upon him as her last hope. He prepared their heart because they are muslims and then I called over there, they live 379 km away from here and I do not know them, I spoke with her daughter, there was no hope. And I prayed saying: "Lord Jesus, I pray Thou that hearkens to the voice of your prophets, forgive the sins of this old woman and heal her miraculously and make it known that it is because I have prayed that it has been so! Amen!" … They have just called me, the old woman herself took the telephone. She thanked me a thousand times! You see? The only thing that can touch their faith, it is miracle…
Well, may God bless you brethren… we are delighted that the Message has reached Gabon and through this I would like to greet brother Ibouanga. He told me: "Brother Philip, I believe one hundred percent the Message even if I do not understand some points like the prayer…"
Well, this morning, I would like to preach on the subject: "Epistle to the Shulamite" going through the book of Song of Songs. It’s a wonderful book. Churches use it just to cheer up their marriages but for us, it’s a book as spiritual and prophetic as those of Ezekiel and Daniel. You see?
[… ] king Solomon had one thousand wives but that was no more no less but Jesus Christ whose Bride should come from all the nations. And this small Shulamite was one of them. She was a young woman who was well brought up, born with the virtues belonging to a good woman. She was more beautiful and worthier than any other woman of the earth. From Genesis to Revelation, such a beauty has never been mentioned. No Jew, no Babylonian, no Venezuelan… could equal her. And king Solomon, in spite of the anointing of king was delighted. O this small Shulamite! In chapter 4 verse 7, Solomon said: " Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee." All the book of Song of Songs praises this Shulamite, from one end to another. Each chapter, each verse, each sentence reveals the beauty of this black princess. And it is the great king Solomon, the man whose fame is spread all over the earth that is speaking. Could the man who was to have a thousand wives be so drunk with the beauty of this small black girl? In chapter 6 verse 4 to 5, he says: " Thou art fair, my love, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as troops with banners: Turn away thine eyes from me, For they overcome me." Except for the black skin of this Shulamite, there is no part of her body that Solomon does not praise. Oh! Sweet small Shulamite! And the twelve daughters of Jerusalem bear the testimony in chapter 6 verse 1: " Whither is thy beloved gone, Thou fairest among women?…" .
Yes! She was black. The 5th and 6th verses of chapter 1 say: "I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black; Because the sun hath looked upon me. … ". She was African. Who was she? Our great-grandmother. You see? Before the anti-Semitism, before any racism, before the racial segregation, before the Apartheid, a girl of the nations and on top of that an African, in the arms of a Jew, those who do not even have any portion with their neighbours the Samaritans!… breaking any natural and supernatural law! What is this? Jesus-Christ and us! That cannot be anything else but Jesus-Christ and us.
And the 5th verse of chapter 7 says: "The king is fettered by thy ringlets ". And she was not a careless woman running to all conventions, seminaries and others. She was not a prostitute church letting her pulpit to branhamist pastors, to some “ anointed” prophets. The Bible says in chapter 4 verse 12 that she… I read that: "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed." And the following verses say that the shoots of this garden which are the faithful of this Church are fountains and wells of living waters.
Chapter 5 does not reveal her fall but the persecution of Daniel 11:33-35. What does the 5th verse of this chapter 5 say: " I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands dropped with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid myrrh, Upon the handles of the lock." The myrrh, it is persecution and death. The magi offered myrrh to Jesus to announce his death. Like the Bridegroom on the cross, this bride will be wounded. She says: "The watchmen that went about the city smote me and wounded me " because she went forth at the voice the Bridegroom. Read chapters 6 and 7 and you will see that these wounds took nothing out of her majestic beauty. You see? She has never sinned! She has never been lazy or negligent but she rose up in time to open to her fiancé. She never regretted it and that was never reproached to her. This Shulamite of chapter 1 to chapter 7 never fell! She is the living Church at midnight and she cannot fall! She could not fall and she will not fall! And his very name is: " He [that] feedeth [his flock] among the lilies "and she herself is an garden enclosed, a spring shut up and a fountain sealed! How can one destroy that? How can a branhamist or pentecostal pastor defile this Church since she does not want to listen to him? In the 2nd verse of chapter 5, she said: "I slept, but my heart was awake. The voice of my beloved! he knocketh: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, mine undefiled; … " You see? She can only open to her bridegroom and she knows his voice. She can’t let her pulpit to any pastor. The Bible says that she a garden enclosed, a spring shut up and a fountain sealed! You will say: "Brother Philip, in verse 2, she didn’t hurry to open the door to him?" She did! Verse 5 says that she did! She was neither negligent nor lazy and her Bridegroom reproached her nothing of that kind. And this Shulamite of before chapter 5 is even renewed after this chapter 5 like Sarah and it is this one in verse 8 of chapter 8. You see? It says: We have a little sister who is comparable to a wall then she says: I am a wall. Then how would the watchmen make their own wall fall? How would they break their own door?
And before that, in chapter 3 verse 3, these watchmen had met her and knew indeed that it was this little princess of the Pharaoh’s yard who would be the future wife of Solomon, their king. What was she? The beginning of King Solomon’s love. Wasn't it for her security that the watchmen were there? You see? She was the living Church, no more no less! She should go through this phase because the Church will go through it before the rapture. She should be a little shaken. Now look at the Bridegroom, this 5th chapter says that her head and the bases upon which she is set up are of fine gold and in her hands are the chrysolite set and filled with wisdom more than any man on the earth. What is this? Jesus-Christ and the seven assemblies which are the chrysolite set in his hand…
That’s it, everything is spiritual. 2000 years ago, this girl was an enchanting Asian then an enchanting European then an enchanting American then finally this little black. And all the book of Song of Songs takes place at night and that until… let’s read that in chapter 2 verse 16 and 17: " My beloved is mine, and I am his; He feedeth [his flock] among the lilies, Until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away …". Him that feeds [his flocks] among the lilies and we who are the true lilies of the valley. Amidst serpents, seductions and all Satan sends to get us stifled… you see? Tens of churches seeking to collaborate with her, tens of missions and ministries seeking to…, tens of vigils of prayer, tens of “anointed” prophets, persecutions but we strive to seek and reach the light. Thus is it of the lily of the valley, no matter the big stones which prevent it from getting out of the ground, it will avoid them and get out eventually. Thus is it of the true Church. You see? This little Shulamite keeps far from the daughters of the nations, far from the daughters of Jerusalem, far from any church. The Bible says that she is… "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed."
This Shulamite is… It was from Africa that this bride came taking with her this black sheep, this last sheep. She is the perfect Bride, more perfect than the Eve of before the fall! She that came out of Christ’s side on the cross. Flesh of Christ’s flesh, bone of Christ’s bone and her name is the name of the type of Christ. Her name is S… L… M… SoLoMon, ShuLaMite! What is it? the perfect Thing! He has finally found her and that is the song of our marriage with Him, the Song of Songs for the Marriage of the marriages! Where is Hegai, where is the chamberlain, the keeper of the Shulamite? He kept at a distance now because He is there. Where is Hegai? He took her out of Africa and took her up to him. It is Mat.25:6 and all is finished for him, thank you God! All is finished, thank you God! It is done! Shulamite, behold the Bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!
This Shulamite is the Church of Jesus-Christ at midnight and the two camps in the 13th verse of chapter 6, they are on the one hand the foolish virgins and on the other hand the wise virgins. And the Bible says "stir not up , nor awake" in chapter 2 verse 7; in chapter 3 verse 5 and chapter 8 verse 4 because there is the camp of the foolish who had fallen asleep and who need to be awoken but there is the camp of the wise who had grown heavy, who simply need to be stirred up. You see? It is perhaps the same word that is used there but by the Holy Spirit, J.N. Darby wrote: "stir not up, nor awake". Louis Segond and the others wrote: " awake not and awake not…". You see? That is what makes the difference between him that has got the Spirit and him that has not. No one if it’s not by the Holy Spirit can translate the Bible. How can Darby write that if it’s not by the Spirit? You see? All the Bible agrees perfectly.
The book of Song of Songs takes place overnight and ends at dawn. The 6th verse of chapter 4 says it as well: "Until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense." You see?
And notice that this book is visibly made up of eight chapters as we can see it but actually, there are seven. The eighth is a summary but spiritually, a restitution of the first seven.
Well, in this love affair, what happened? Jesus-Christ, he that rides on the mountains and hills, gave her a Message and it is the voice of verse 8 in chapter 2. Can you see the asterisk which is there? Do you know that Genesis 2:4 is the beginning of the 2nd chapter of Genesis? And that Psa.119 is an assemblage of 22 chapters of 8 verses each and beginning each with an asterisk? You see? There was a voice in the 8th verse of chapter 2 and what did that voice do? It called a pure virgin! In the 6th verse of chapter 3, he cried out: " Who is this, she that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke…" You see? In the same way Israel went up into the wilderness with Moses, thus does this Shulamite go up into the wilderness of Rev.12:14. and in the summary, in verse 5 of chapter 8 where the 8th chapter actually starts, this same voice sounds saying: " Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved?" . You see? And at the end, chapter 8 verse 13, a voice said to Shulamite: " Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken to thy voice: Let me hear it." O You, the happiest one to whom God gives the grace of the interpretation of the white stone mystery at midnight, we, your companions of the other countries, are waiting for your voice! We are waiting for the voice of Mat.25:6. In the very middle of this spiritual night, your companions who did not prostitute themselves are waiting for this voice of Mat.25:6 from you, let them hear it! What is this? To the most beautiful woman, the most loved one has been given the most precious thing which is: the interpretation of the unknown language and it was this joy which made that in the 16th verse of chapter 4, she called all the virgins of the North, the East, the West and the South to come to rejoice with her. It is the same thing in chapter 4 where the Bridegroom calls the bride from everywhere: " Come with me, from Lebanon, my spouse, With me from Lebanon, --Come, look from the top of Amanah, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards." You see? Come from all the nations, come from all the churches, come from all the races of the earth. " Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken to thy voice: Let me hear it. " You brethren and sisters, who have received the Bridegroom’s voice at midnight, let me hear it! You, sweet small Shulamite, let Europe hear it! Let Asia hear it, tell America that the Lamb of Rev.5 has come down here in Africa to interpret the unknown language. Tell Africa that Jesus-Christ is visiting the great-grandsons of the Ethiopian eunuch! Tell the great-grandsons of the Shulamite that Him that their heart loves is knocking at the door! Tell the whole world that the midnight Cry has sounded! Like Anna or the Samaritan woman, bear witness of what God has done and let everyone know it around you. May God bless you! Let’s sing together this beautiful old song… "Why couldn’t I praise Thou… "
CHORUS:Why couldn’t I praise Thou, for all Thou hast done for me?Thou hast always been my help, whenever the enemy comes against me!
1°. I had no consolation; Thou sent me Thy Holy Spirit;I was down because of disease, Thou sympathized, Thou healed me.
2°. I was away from Thy Word, Thou sent me the midnight Cry;I was away from Thy Word, Thou sent me Thy holy prophet.
3°. When people talk evil about me, in Thou I’ve found my sole Friend;When people talk evil about me, in Thou I’ve found my sole Support.
|
