Divine Romance

God and His Beloved in the Song of Songs

By: Joel Hitchcock

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

About "The Divine Romance of Christ and His Bride"This morning, at 1:30am, I was suddenly awakened from a peaceful sleep. I took this time to commune with the Lord in prayer and by reading his Word. Right now, it’s just after 4 am. During this time, I read the entire Book of the Song of Solomon, the Song of Songs. In it, I read of Jesus and His Beloved. I made notes in the margins of my Bible, looked up corresponding verses, and saw the beauty of the Lord. My heart melted with love. In this Song of Songs, I saw Him of whom Peter wrote “...Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love...” (1 Peter 1:7-8, NKJV.) You are invited. Come with me on a journey through the Book of the Song of Solomon. Come, let us see Him whom our soul loves. We will see Him in the gardens, among the thorns, behind the lattice, touching the door of our heart. We will see Him whose name is as fragrant oil poured forth. Our desire will be that He kisses us metaphorically with the kisses of His mouth. We will smell the sweet scent of the fragrance of His love. We will see ourselves as His Beloved. We will see His love for us, and our love for Him. We will also see our times of seeming separation, and feel the pain of our hearts - His and ours. Yet we will see Him, skipping on the hills, coming to us. Nothing can stop Him. He is on His way to be with His Beloved. An excerpt from the last chapter of "Divine Romance" sums up the book: "Wow. What a journey this was! How awesome it was to follow the love story of the Bridegroom and His Bride! We investigated many prophetic details of Jesus and the Church in this most beautiful song - the Song of Songs. We learnt about the Bride and the Groom's mother - Israel, the mother of the Church, and Israel - the mother of the Messiah. We learnt that the Bride is neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ. We saw that the first marriage (that of Adam and Eve) powerfully reflected the ultimate marriage (that of Christ and the Church.) We delighted ourselves in the beautiful prophetic language of the love and relationship between Christ and the Church - what it means to be kissed by God, and other things. His love is better than wine, and wine symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We learnt about the scents of His holy anointing oils, and what it means. His Name is as these ointments poured forth.We learnt that the Church should cry to our Divine Lover to draw us, and that we would run after Him with love and passion. We learnt about the King's chambers. And about rejoicing in Him. Also, about the beauty that comes forth as we are beaten by the sun and the challenges and hardships of this life. We learnt that our relationship with Christ must be nurtured, like tending after a vineyard, and about avoiding the little foxes that attempt to ruin this relationship. We learnt what the prophetic symbolism of a cluster of camphire means, as well as the Beloved being a cluster of myrrh between the Bride's breasts. And oh, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, the Lily among the Thorns and the Apple in the Forest! We heard about the voice of our Beloved, and about Him standing behind our wall - right there, close to us, even when He seems far from us. We learnt about winter and spring, and about the seasons we experience in our walk with God. My Beloved is mine and I am His - we learnt about the total, reciprocal, committed relationship of the Divine Romance. We looked deeply into what it means to seek Him whom our soul loveth, and about the beauty of His appearance, when it says, "Who is this that cometh?" We saw the beauty and the love that radiates from Jesus to His Church when He says "Thou art fair, my love," and that there is no spot in us. We are without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish in His sight! How we long for the garden of the Lord - that place of intimate fellowship with Christ...." (continued)