Page 174 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

SESSION 9 : Song of Songs Chapter 4:1-6

The pomegranate comes from a tree with scarlet flowers and deep green

leaves. The fruit itself has a brownish-yellow, tough outer skin that is
bitter to the taste, with a little crown on the top. Once cut open, it is full

of red, juicy, sweet seeds. Motifs of these fruits were used to decorate
the High Priest’s garments and the tops of the pillars in Solomon’s

temple.

The cheeks make up a large part of the face, and the face is what others
see and behold when they look at us. Our face, or countenance, is the

leading indicator of what sort of person we are. As we look into the
face of Jesus, we see with our spiritual eyes what He is like. That is

why it is essential that we spend quality time doing this.

Suppose you can imagine that before the revelation of Christ to our
hearts, we were like unopened pomegranates—tough and unattractive

in our natures. Notice, however, that even in our unredeemed state, the
crown was still there. This is because before we knew Him, He still

knew us. When the Lord chooses the time to show Himself and we
accept the revelation of who He is, the tough flesh has to be cut open

so that the seeds of goodness, mercy, kindness, gentleness, self-control,

joy, peace, love, and faithfulness—all that has been planted within us
by God’s Spirit—can first be cultivated, brought to fruition, and then

revealed to others (see John 15:16).

The Shulamite has now reached this level of maturity. But notice how

He talks about her being veiled with tender meekness. She knows that

He has done this work in her, and that it is not attributable to her efforts

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