WILDERNESS

WILDERNESS

“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like (stately) pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all (the fragrant) powders of the merchant?” the bride asks the daughters of Jerusalem in verse 6 of Chapter 3 in the Song of Songs, concerning her beloved. Surprisingly enough, the bride who is deeply acquainted with her beloved now suddenly asks, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness?” Since her beloved is coming out of the wilderness, she is unable to recognize and identify him. Your Beloved Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by the Devil. Even during the remaining part of His earthly life, He was in the wilderness, undergoing physical sufferings by way of toil and penury and temptations. He preferred to withdraw Himself into the wilderness when His fame was spread, and when people thronged Him for miracles. He had no place to lay His head as He was wandering hither and thither with His beloved disciples. Wilderness spiritually stands for a place of loneliness, a place where one is crucified to the world, a place whence one’s fame is hardly spread, a place where justice is denied, a place where one is humiliated and stripped of his worldly glory, a place of misunderstanding and reproach by his own people, a place of constant temptations, a place where one’s faith is tested through fire.

Jesus was in this wilderness right from the time of His birth as Herod hunted down the Baby Jesus. He was further thrown into this wilderness at the garden of Gethsemane (loneliness), at the Pilate’s court of justice in Gabatha (denial of justice) and at the ruffed Golgotha (stripping of His worldly glory).

The bride of the Song sees astonishingly that marvelous person coming out of this wilderness. How is he coming? He comes like stately pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh, frankincense and all the fragrant powers of the merchant. He emerges from the wilderness in a different form so as to raise doubts in the heart of the bride whether it is her beloved shepherd who was driven to the wilderness. Jesus too, after His resurrection, appeared to His disciples in a different form. And the marvelous Person of the Glorified Christ Who appeared in a vision to John at Patmos looked different.

To the bride of the Song, he is like a stately pillar of smoke. Dearly beloved, it is one and the same Person Who manifested the Father’s glory to the children of Israel in the form of pillars of cloud and fire as means of guidance and protection. The Pillar of Cloud and Fire is revealed as a stately pillar of perfumed smoke in the Song. The smoke emanates from the fire, which burns myrrh and frankincense (gums of perfume extracted from certain trees) and all the fragrant powders of the merchants. Myrrh and frankincense were presented as gifts to Baby Jesus by the wise men, and were also used in holy anointing oil. Myrrh and frankincense were the high-class perfumes, symbolic of Christ’s holiness fragrant through His Body. Jesus is the fragrance of God’s holiness. The fragrant powders of the merchants symbolize the holiness of God’s people on the earth. Such fragrant powders are too costly that the merchants trade them. These are like “pearls” not to be given to the dogs and not to be thrown before hogs (Matt.7: 6). God’s holy people have to separate themselves from sin, and to keep their bodies as “pearls”. Jesus is likened to the pillars of smoke carrying the holy fragrance of His Person, and of His bride.

The Pillars of Smoke can reach any person living in sin, bringing forth the sweet fragrance of holiness. This Smoke had emerged out of the Altar of God at Golgotha where Jesus was sacrificed as a Sin-Bearer vindicating God’s holiness. The Holy Fire had consumed the Lamb of God at Golgotha and the resultant holy smoke of the sacrificed Lamb is the eternal Pillars of Smoke.

The Pillars of Smoke can reach anyone who is on the death bed to heal the sick. You are well protected by the Pillars of Smoke. The devil cannot penetrate the Pillars of Smoke to reach you or your loved ones.

The bride sees her beloved gliding from the wilderness like the pillars of smoke. Because of His wilderness experience, Jesus is crowned with God’s glory. The bride, who sees her Beloved gliding from the wilderness, is also required to follow the footsteps of her Beloved in the wilderness. There is no other way for her to know more of the Person of her Beloved, except by following His imprint left on the wilderness. “Who is this who comes from the wilderness?” she wonders. She has thought that her Beloved, a King of Kings, was probably in a royal palace, enjoying all the paraphernalia of a king, and that she too would be taken to that place on the earth where she need not face loneliness, temptation, suffering, etc. Christians who always believe in all-round material prosperity don’t want to follow their Master’s footsteps in the wilderness. They tend to think that with the presence of God in their life, there would be no wilderness at all. Dear bride, as you emerge out of every wilderness experience in your life, you too would be clothed with God’s glory and power, and would carry the fragrance of His holiness.

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