Song of Songs (Program #2) – Drawn to Pursue Christ for Satisfaction (1)

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.” (Song of Songs 1:2)

This intimate and tender language might be thought to be from a great love sonnet from Shakespeare or Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Yet it’s actually from the opening lines of the book Song of Songs in the Old Testament. Why is a love poem given precious space in the pages of the Bible? There seems to be no way to understand such a book by studying in a doctrinal or theological perspective. It is purely a book of experience and to understand it properly we must learn to interpret the types and figures.

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Song of Songs (Program #1) – An Introductory Word and Drawn to Pursue Christ for Satisfaction (1)

“The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine.
Your anointing oils have a pleasant fragrance;
Your name is like ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.” (Song of Songs 1:1-3)

Thus opens one of the most remarkable and mysterious books of the entire Bible – The Song of Songs. It’s the third of three books composed by legendary King Solomon, the son of David and the builder of the first temple of God in Jerusalem. It is neither a book of history, law, prophecy or gospel as are nearly all of the other books of the Old Testament; rather, it is a book of poetry – a beautiful poetic story of the love and romance between a great and mighty king and a poor and lowly country maiden. How are we to understand such a book? The key is to realize that this book is a book of figures and symbols.

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Psalms (Program #33) – The Saints’ Deeper Experience of God in the Identification with Christ

The book of Psalms actually a collection of 150 Psalms of poetry, prophecies and hymns show us many aspects of the Christian walk by ways of types and symbols.  Aspects of Christ in His suffering for example, in His death on the cross, His resurrection, ascension and even enthronement are seen in rich details in the Psalms.  But there is another aspect, perhaps the deepest experience of God that is also revealed yet seldom spoken of from this book and that is that Christ took God the Father as His very habitation.  What does this mean?  More specifically, what does it mean for us?  We will fellowship the matter of God’s habitation today.

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Psalms (Program #22) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (3)

The Bible contains many symbols and types.  We regard these symbols and types as pictures or photographs.  The reason for the photographs in the Bible is that Bible unveils many heavenly spiritual things and the photographs help us understand these invisible and mysterious things.  Today’s life study from Psalms 45 is a glorious picture that you will want to stay with us for.  It’s very special today.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #20) – Concluding Word of the History of the Kings among Israel

During the 400-year period when the kings rule in Israel, God witnessed the hearts of His people drifting farther and farther away.  Except for a very few exceptions this degradation was actually led by the kings themselves.  Idolatry, immorality and general hardness of their hearts were the things that characterize this dark dark period in the history of God’s people.  But actually there is much that we can learn even from the failures of those kings.  Because as we have seen so often in this life study, the Old Testament is a book of types of typology and the New Testament is the fulfillment of those types.  We will explore the New Testament fulfillment of the type shown to us by the kings in this final program in the life study of Kings

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #14) – The Reign of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam over Israel

In reading the Old Testament it’s easy to become lost at times in page after page of history because much of the Old Testament is devoted to telling this history, the history of God’s people Israel in both their triumphs and in their many failures.  To study it in this way does have some values, but if that is the extend of our realization of the Old Testament, we will miss a lot.  In fact, we will miss the Lord’s burden for us in that portion of Scriptures.  For both the Lord Jesus Himself in His direct speaking concerning the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in example after example of how he applied the Old Testament made it clear that in reality the Old Testament is a book of types and symbols that if properly understood reveal Christ to us in marvelously clear pictures that can often convey more of the spiritual reality than even the direct and condensed passage of the New Testament.  One of the great types of Christ in the books of history surely is the prophet Elisha, who typified Christ in his living, his ministry and as we will see today even in his death.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #10) – The Reign of Ahaziah Over Israel & Rapture of Elijah

In 2 Kings, the might prophet Elijah was taken up from the earth into the heavens in a whirlwind. At that moment Elisha who had been with Elijah picked up his mantle and the Spirit of God descended upon Elisha. This moment marked the transition from the ministry of Elijah to the ministry of Elisha. But is that all that was represented by this transfer? Actually if we understand the clear types and symbols of the Old Testament, we can see that in reality, this story unveils the transition from the Old Testament to the New.

1 & 2 Samuel (Program #14) – The History Concerning David (2)

Throughout the ages, many have opposed God and oppressed His people. On one hand, it could be said that God has many enemies; but actually God has only one unique enemy – man. Man fights against God and this man is the flesh. The teaching regarding the flesh is found in many New Testament books and passages like Galatians 5 that tells us that, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other that you would not do the things that you desire.” But it takes the Old Testament pictures and types to illustrate how we all are subject to the evil of the flesh and how diligent we all must be to keep it where the Lord Jesus left crucified on the cross. If our eyes are open, we will see these Old Testament books such as 1 Samuel in a different, fresh and very new way that brings these things into a sharper focus.

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Leviticus (Program #31) – The Cleansing of the Discharges from Within Man’s and Woman’s Body

The book of Leviticus tells us in clear and very vivid pictures the way for us as God’s holy people to live a holy life.  There are so many helpful and practical items here that can impact our spiritual life and they are depicted in these chapters in these life study messages.  We have to say that this has been an immeasurable insight into the meaning of these passages.  We come into another remarkable portion today from Leviticus chapter 15.

The Old testament is so helpful because what we have in the Old Testament is the types, the pictures of Christ and of the spiritual life that can help us so much live the christian life…..

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2 Corinthians (Program #23) – Transformed into the Image of the Lord by Beholding and Reflecting (2)

There are many marvelous word pictures or metaphors in the Bible. Without which the task of comprehending many of the deeper truths and thoughts of scriptures would be difficult indeed. But most of those whom were used by the Holy Spirit to bring God’s divine revelation to man were very adapt at the used of such metaphors and for those of us who love the Bible, the riches that it contains. We come to love the types and shadows and metaphors as well.

2 Corinthians, Paul’s autobiography in a sense is a book that is replead with such metaphors. And as we’ve seen in chapter 3 are among the most significant.

Listen once again to Paul’s word again in 2 Corinthians 3:

16 “But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

17 “And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

18 “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”

Just how is it that we can be transformed as spoken of in these verses?

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