Saturday, 4 June 2022

LOOKING FROM THE TOP

Come with me, my spouse, from Lebanon,
look from the top of
Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon,
from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the Leopards.” Sos 4:8 (rearranged)


 

“I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint” (Hab. 2:2).

 The Lord told him, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people” (Deut. 32:49, 50).

The Bible says,

“Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar” (Deut. 34:1–3, emphasis added).

We don’t need to stand on Mount Nebo to catch a view of that heavenly land. By faith we may gain a view from the top.

What is the Song of Solomon?

The Song of Solomon is a series of love poems. The Book is in the form of a song addressed by a man to a woman, and by the woman to the man. The book is attributed to King Solomon.

These songs have often been interpreted by Jews as a picture of the relationship between God and his people, and by Christians as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

Amazing invitation- “Come with me”

There has always been an invitation to you from the master beaconing on you to “come”

If you choose to go on this journey alone, I want to announce to you that it is a choice for you to suffer.

Throughout the Bible we find God calling us to come for so many things

He says so because He has completely prepared for you.

He’s ready to satisfy you and meet those demands/needs

He has the capacity to, because He is the all-powerful God.

He is reliable and dependable and when he says come you ought to do nothing but to obey Him.

When he says “come” trust him then and “come”


To the Thirsty -Isaiah 55:1

“Listen! Whoever is thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money can come, buy, eat! Come, buy wine and milk you don’t have to pay, it’s free!” God’s word version

 John 4:14

“But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gather up to eternal life”.

 Are you thirsty to know more about him? Then listen; come and buy, but you don’t have to pay, it is free. The currency for you to quench your thirst is your obedience and willingness to come to drink.

 To the sinner:

John 10:10

“The thief cometh not, but to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”

 Mark 1:17 - And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Matt. 11:28. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

See verse 29 and 30 also.

To the Disciple

 Luke 18:22 -“Now when Jesus head these things, he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and attribute unto the poor, and thou shall have treat me in heaven; and come, follow me.”

 Matthew 6:19-21

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

 To the Worker

 Mark 6:31-32

“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed unto a desert place by ship privately.”

To the hungry

John 21:12-13 –“Jesus saith unto them, come and dine, And more of the -durst ask him, who act thou? Knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and Bread, and giveth then, and forth likewise.”

 To the Troubled:

Matt. 14:29 – “And he said, come when Peter was came down out of the ship he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

 To the Sick:   

Mark 2:17

“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

 Luke 5:32

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

 To the Dead  

John 11:43 - Jesus called loud voice, “Lazarus come out!” NIV

 The Meaningful Separation – “From”

Whenever God calls or beacons on you, it is time to change your level. His call is an indication that something greater await you ahead. He never ever calls you to something lower or to a lowly enterprise.

  His call is always for you to

§          Look up

§          Come up

§          Soar higher

When he called John; he invited him to come up hither  - John 11:12

“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies reached them.”

 God will never call you to decrease you or to demote you. His call is for something better, bigger, brighter and you can trust him on this.

 “After this I locked and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet  talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.”

 Each time he calls you to come up - look ahead of you something is about to be revealed to you.

When he calls, a door would have already been opened for you to walk in.

His voice in his calls is so soft yet so clear and you will hear it as it were a trumpet talking with you.

His call is for ascension (See Rev 11:12) so that you can ‘ascend up’ not for you to “descend down”

He calls you to promote you so that your enemies can see it undisputedly.

  “Thou prepared a table before me in the presence of mine enemies’ ” Psa. 23:5.

 Therefore remember, God's call is always for you to be separated from something lower to another level that is higher. Today, he calls on the church to be separated.

 It does not matter what heights you think you’ve arrived at as there is always something better, something more glorious to look out unto.

 As the bride of Christ your present glory is immaterial, I am here to tell you that there is something more fantabulous than where you are now. And how, I pray you to hear his voice calling you to ‘come away from there to the new position, heights, elevation he has prepared for you.

When he calls you, he is committed to going with you all the way. You’ll fight the battles  together, cruise over to storms together, and with him, you will certainly never fail the test  that says, “come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, “

 What is Lebanon here?

Lebanon was a mountain range in the north of Palestine.

The name signifies white, applied either on account of the snow which for a great part of the year covers the summit of the mountain.

 It is often called the white mountain of Syria.

 The scenes of Lebanon are remarkable for their grandeur and beauty and often put smiles on the people beholding it.

 Lebanon is famous for its

-         Cedars

-         Wines (Hos. 14:7

-         It’s cool waters (Jer. 18:14

-         It blossoms (Nah. 1:4

-         The height of the Lebanon range is about 5000 ft. with its, highest peak at Hermon

 So it doesn’t matter what beauty you seem to have, what height you think you’ve arrived at. Come from your Lebanon, O ye bride of the most high. Your fragrance and beauty may be magnificent and unforgettable. But as soon as you hear his call then it means your time for something higher, something bigger, and something better has come.

 “Well watered is the tress of the Lord, the Cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.” Psa. 104:16

 King Solomon built the Lord’s temple with wood from Lebanon. No wonder Lebanon is mentioned more than 70 times in the Old Testament. In recent times in spite of the horrible conflict in Lebanon, its beauty has always grown back. Both in the land and in the people.

 Lebanon the Source of Building Materials

As I have said, Lebanon is the source of building materials ‘wood’ for Solomon’s temple (I Kings 5:6) stones for Solomon’s temple ( I Kings 5:14-18) and wood for Ezra’s temple (Ezra 3:7)

 When God calls you- move from your “Lebanon” and become a source of material for the building of God’s temple.

 Be the wood 

Haggai 1:8-11

“Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.  Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.  Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.”

 Be the “corner” stone that he needs to build is church that the gates of hell shall not prevail.

 Imagine, Moses pleaded with God to let him go over Jordan to see Lebanon a desirable place:

 “I pray thee, let me go over and see the good lands that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon” (Deut. 3:25).

 You are not meant to remain in your Lebanon.

God has something superior and he’ll call you at the right time to come to something higher. In spite of the amazing strength of Lions and Leopards, come away from them to something new. Remember even in Lebanon, there are lions and Leopards’ that are determined to devour you. Look from the top of Hermon, the top of Amana, the top of Shenir.

 A Fabulous Panoramic View - “Look from the Top”

 From that new lofty height of glory “lookout”

When you look out on his invitation, you’ll see the horrible Lion’s den and the offensive school of leopards out to devour you.

 “A Look from the top …” – The view is most outstanding when it is viewed from the top not from below neither from besides.

 Amana means integrity, truth, a covenant. The name probably means, the “firm” or “constant”

 Shiner means, “Lantern” or the  “light that sleeps.”

 By looking from the top – you align yourself to Paul’s counsel us in Phil. 3:12-14

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 From the top of Hermon

 Hermon means “Anathema” and “devoted to destruction”. It is probably the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. It is the highest point in the mountain range of Syria, beautiful to behold. But it also means a consecrated place as in ancient times.

 Psa. 89:12- “The north and the south thou hast created them:  Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.”


 
From this Exciting Elevation.  . .

You are called to look! 

“From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries looks down on us”. Napoleon Bonaparte

 Sos: 2:10 – “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”

Sos 8:14 – “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

 Look and live

Num.  21:4-9

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

 Isa. 45:22

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

 But if you stop and really look,

§ you will see people trusting the Lord

§ you will see people taking steps of faith,

§ you will see people coming together in small groups and ministering to one another when there used to be nobody to minister to them.

§ you will see something that was near death brought back to life,

§ you will see the glory of God being radiated from the people of God.

 

When Moses saw God in his glory on the mountain top, his face radiated God’s glory.

 

Exo. 34:29

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.”

 

When we experience the spiritual mountaintop, we can radiate God’s glory by the things we do and thus glorify the Lord even more. There is one final thing we see in the passage that we need to do if we are going to experience the spiritual mountain top and that is to Listen to Jesus’ Words to Us  - Come with me From . . . and Look from the Top . . .”


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